Tuesday and Thursday I rushed home from work for my week-day long runs. On Tuesday I was set to run indoors, then realized it was actually warm (for the Midwest in February) and the wind was tolerable. Toward the end of the run the temperature started to drop, the wind picked up, so my cheeks were a little red by the end! Thursday's outdoor run was much better, with a little rain but warm temperatures. Two days of outside running felt wonderful.
I'm not anti-treadmill; in fact I'm just the opposite. I think it's a great tool when circumstances make an outdoor run not possible, for whatever reason. It can be weather related, health related, time related, or anything else. My advice to anyone is to not think of using a treadmill as a failure, or not a "real" run. It's a good way to stick to a training plan and keep on going. I believe a run is a run, and better than no run at all.
One thing I have realized as I have matured is that running doesn't have to be something to suffer about. I don't mean that training should be easy. In order to get better, I need to push myself. What I mean is that if I feel the weather is too cold for me, I should not feel it's a training failure to use the treadmill. Some runners may look down on others as "fair weather" runners or even not a "real" runner, but I am my own self and will do what works for me. A few years ago I had a cold virus and continued to run outside (because isn't that what "real" runners do?) during an spate of unusually cold, windy spring weather. These were the types of runs where the cold/wind takes your breath away and can make your chest hurt. As I was at the peak of marathon training, these were 18-20 mile runs. I ended up with bronchitis and lost three weeks of training. It wasn't worth it just to prove I was a "real" runner. Not so coincidentally, my running partner also ended up with bronchitis.
Another use of a treadmill is for hanging wet running clothes :) Since it was wet on Thursday, I used my treadmill as a running clothes drying rack!
This weekend I had to run Saturday morning, instead of the warmer afternoon, because of family obligations. I felt it was too cold and windy in the morning, so I put on a good movie and got my miles in on the treadmill. Sunday was a shorter, on tired legs run, and again I ran on the treadmill. And I don't feel like it was a failed training weekend. I was able to break in some new, different brand and heel drop shoes on Saturday without the worry that I'd have no way to stop and change them if I had issues. And I accomplished my scheduled miles.
So far, the running plan is working. I have completed every training run I have scheduled. I know circumstances in the future might cause me to make adjustments, but it's a great beginning. Also, by running four days a week, I'm not feeling any unusual muscle strain. I'm taking my non-running days more seriously this time!
I haven't been as faithful to the strength training. Sometimes life just gets in the way. My goal over the next few weeks is to find a strength training schedule that works for me, and add it in a more concrete way to my training schedule. I find if it's written down and I can cross it off as I accomplish the goal, it keeps me motivated.
On to another week!
No excuses/Gotta Run
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