At least the gym has a bathroom!

Tuesday, May 4th:

Running the Numbers ~ Training Stats:

Training days to go: 95

Longest run: 6 miles

Mileage this week: 9.75

Total training mileage: 49.25

Workout Stats:

Location: The gym: treadmill

Time of day: 4:30pm

Time Running: 44 minutes

Planned Distance: 4 miles with 5:00 TUT (total uphill time)

Actual Distance: 4.5 miles with 12 TUT

The Run:

Even though it was a gorgeous day outside today, I jumped on the treadmill to make sure I got in the allotted 5 minutes of uphill time suggested in my training program. The last time I ran 4 miles on the treadmill, I had to reach down to the bottom of my willpower to keep myself on that dumb machine for the full 4 miles. I wasn't really looking forward to a similar experience, but I wanted to get to yoga class after my run, so figured I would do a one-stop-shop. 

Turns out that, even on the sunniest of days, everyone and their mother wants to get on a treadmill ... weird. So I got stuck with the only treadmill left; the one that faces the window and looks out on the street. So now, not only was I going to try and drag out a full 4 miles while running in place, I got to look at everyone outside who was smart enough to soak up the afternoon sun. At least I wasn't facing the line of tv's that tend to play the history channel with "A Violent History of (fill in the blank)" or the food channel with "The Weirdest Food" programs (both of which are really hard for me to watch, but are even harder NOT to watch when they're right in front of me).

So, I begrudgingly started up the belt and jumped into my stiff start-up stride. At least when I'm on the treadmill, I can keep my beginning pace a bit slower to prevent burnout by the end of my run, something with which I tend to have serious trouble. 

I have rarely ever had issues with needing bathroom breaks during the middle of runs (aside from a vivid memory of desperately trying to find a Starbucks with available facilities while on a run in Puerto Rico), and didn't figure today would be an exception. But less than half way into my run, I couldn't hold out any longer. With as much grace as I could muster, I stopped the belt, prayed there would be a free machine when I got back, and stumbled toward the restrooms. I always feel drunk when I get off a treadmill - I'm sure I try to overcompensate for that funny feeling of floating forward when you're not really moving. 

Luckily, my machine was still free when I came back out, and it was easier for me to mentally get back into my rhythm. I only had 2.25 miles to go, but told myself I had 2.5. That way, if I was totally ready to quit by 2.2, I would REALLY only have just a few seconds left, as opposed to an entire extra lap around a track's length. Oh, the mind games we play with ourselves.

In the end, I actually ran 4.5 miles, instead of the originally allotted 4, and pushed the total uphill time from 5 minutes to 16 minutes. I also tried to wake up a few different groups of muscle fibers by pushing the elevation for as long as I could stand at a set pace, and then decreasing the elevation, but pushing the pace to the end of the run. 

So all my grumbling about using the treadmill just to get to yoga seemed silly in retrospect - I got to push myself longer and harder than I would have on the road. I was, however, the only one in yoga who was slipping all over my mat from lack of time to cool down and de-sweat before the class. D'oh!