Thursday, January 8, 2009

Run like a hamster


I have always had trouble with running on a treadmill. For some reason I feel like a hamster on a wheel--going round and round. Yesterday, since my half marathon schedule called for tempo training, I decided to break out my new Runervals DVD titled, "Tempo Training".. Perfect, right? 45 minutes of tempo training was exactly what the schedule called for and that was the length of the DVD workout.

I started off with a base pace of 3.5 mph as Coach Troy suggested (using a recent 5k time).. All was good. But then, Coach Troy started on the actual workout.. Increasing the run by 3mph and increasing incline 2%. My treadmill has incline, but no way to measure it, so I just guessed.

It was hard. Really Hard.
It didn't help that RugRat#2 and hubby kept coming into the room and asking me questions which required long answers. Like, "What are we having for dinner?" Or "When are we going to eat?" or my favorite, "What happens to an isotope when a beta particle is removed?" Really? REALLY??? I'm kind of busy right now. Trying to breathe.

So after 20 minutes of the 45 minute DVD I quit. I was getting too many distractions, and my water bottle kept threatening to jump out of the holder on the top of the machine. With a vision of what would happen to me as I slipped off the back of a water-soaked treadmill, belly down (a la Brady Bunch Movie)--I quit.


Dejectedly, I started figuring out dinner for my aparently helpless and ravenous family only to find out that they had just ordered Chinese take out.
Great.

In any case running 3 tomorrow per schedule then heading to San Francisco to visit family members and do a long run there.

4 comments:

  1. I have a Runervals DVD and had to start with 3 as a base pace. I still cannot do 3.5, tho I keep trying to see!

    Lock the door or put up a big sign saying Do Not Disturb!!!!!1

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  2. The treadmill can be quite boring. But I try to distract myself with my music and the tv's in front of me. Turn on a good game and I am glued!

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  3. Yep, treadmill distractions can be really irritating, not to mention dangerous. Perhaps it's time to lay down the rules when you're using it (if you plan to be using it a lot more). Oh, and a 2% grade is not much at all. Most people recommend setting treadmill grades to 1.5-2% to simulate wind resistance which is not present indoors (fans don't count).

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  4. I don't love treadmills either, but they do help us Minnesotans when it is winter...

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