#Juneathon Day Something or Another - The Treadmill and Bowflex

So I had this thought.  Now it was partially born out of the fact that I didn't have clean running shorts, and my manpri pajama pants were awful comfy, but it was still a thought.

If impact levels make a difference to Plantar fasciitis (to be fair, I couldn't remember if they did or not), and a treadmill has more give than the sidewalk.... Would running on a treadmill hurt less?  See how well I rationalized not going outside?  So with this thought, I went downstairs to the dreadmill.  I set the speed at 7.6, figuring if I was going to torture myself with two miles on the dreadmill, I should at least do it at a sub-8 minute mile.  Then because I felt guilty being on a treadmill, I set the incline to 2.5.

Inspiration

[caption id="attachment_2388" align="alignright" width="206"] Jeremy's 10 mile treadmill run.. Picture by Jeremy Buck[/caption]

Every runner, runs for a reason. It may be health and fitness, it may be that it's a wonderful stress release, or countless other reasons that are as individual as a snowflake. Yet, regardless of WHY, we will find different sources of inspiration. Obviously this isn't true only of runners, but of everyone for various aspects of life.

I have many sources of inspiration for running, and they inspire me at different times and to do different things. My kids continue to inspire me to keep running over-all. I want to be a good example to them, and show them that having good fitness is important. But sometimes it is one person that I know that gives me the inspiration just when I need it. Today is a great example.

A friend (and former co-worker) of mine in NY started running a year or two ago, and now runs 30-40 mile weeks. In fact, he even runs twice a day quite frequently. Many of these long runs are done on a treadmill.  Today I was hitting my treadmill, but had to do it without head-phones.  (In the process of a road trip, I lost mine.)  Now 4 miles on a treadmill isn't the world's worst run - but by 2.5 miles, I am ready to scream.  I thought of Jeremy's run  (See the picture above) and thought that if he could do 10 miles (even with music) then I could definitely finish out 4 miles.  And I'm pleased to say I did.  Thank you Jeremy! 

Starting the Cherry Blossom 10 miler Training Plan

I mentioned a few weeks back that I was fortunate enough to make it through the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler.  One of the really excellent things about this (in addition to getting to run it,) is the fact that they will give you a free training plan.  All you have to do is sign up for the Beginner, Intermediate or Expert level.

I went for the intermediate, as that seems to fit with where I was (As opposed to where I wish I was) the best.  Today's run was listed as a 2-4 miles, so 3 miles seemed the obvious choice!  It was on a treadmill, so it was fairly dull.

#janathon - Day 7 - a SLOW REST day!

OK, So I admit it.  I overdid it this weekend.  Apparently following a fast (compared to my recent running) 6 mile run with a fast short run wears the legs out.

If it wasn't Janathon, I would take today completely off from running and give my legs a chance to heal  But it is Janathon, so instead, off to the treadmill.  While it is only 45 degrees out this morning, I think I have proven that I can't be trusted to run slowly on my own. But that's OK.. Why? Because the treadmill will take care of that for me.

I hopped on, did my warm up walk and went to 6 mph.   And WOW are my legs tired! It felt like I was trying to run faster than I did over the weekend!

oh wait.. I hit 8 not 6... That is certainly not right!  Back to 6 where it belongs, and a nice easy mile ensued, followed by a nice stretching session.

There is no way my legs could do yoga today.  They are FRIED! (and sore.)

#janathon - Day 2 treadmill run

I certainly wasn't going to mess up Janathon on day 2!  I had planned on heading outside when I got home, but it was cold and I didn't want to go back outside.  I changed and headed down stairs to the old dread mill!  I went without my usual Netflix and watched my son play Skyrim instead.  I went with my Saucony Kinvara 2 over the Vibrams (and will for the next few days) due to residual soreness from doing the resolution run yesterday in the VFFs.  (Don't tell my wife, but I MAY have ordered a new pair of shoes today.)



I did feel like picking up the pace from my usual slow plod, so I started off at 7 mph.  There is nothing like a road-race to remind me that I'm not quite as slow as my treadmill makes me feel.  Part way through the first mile I decided that a 20 minute run would be about perfect.  Good enough to get the blood going and burn some calories, but hopefully not to much for my sore calves.




That about sums the run up!  I debated extending it to three miles, but exercised this new running-self-control that I am working on using to keep from getting injured.  Yay Me!

Treadmill Speed Work (I'm too dumb for the Kinect.)

Every now and then, something happens that opens my eyes.  Yesterday's recurring theme was speed-work.  Half-athoner mentioned it in a blog posting I read and responded too.  My friend Jeremy (he doesn't have a blog) and I talked about it on Facebook.

[caption id="attachment_1965" align="alignleft" width="298"] My feet at 9 mph.[/caption]

After a while (and in re-reading the Curvy RoadRunners Treadmill Workout From Hell), it occurred to me that I didn't have any speedwork going on.  Bad enough I am being lazy cautious and keeping my speed down, and only increasing it by .1 mph a week - but no speed work?  How is that going to make me any faster?  As I thought about it, I also realized that with this workout, I can't watch TV - so I don't have to worry about the fact that I haven't made a choice on a new show to watch while running.

So, off I went.  I figured I'd start slower to let my legs get warmed up.

Disaster strikes (no, not that)

Last night, a true disaster occured.  Before I go further into it, let me reassure you - I am not injured so its not THAT sort of disaster.

I was running on my treadmill after deciding that five miles in my Sauconys would be nice, watching Battlestar Galactica on the tablet... And then.. It happened.  I suddenly realized, I didn't really care what happened.   It seems I have over-done it on the show, and I am sick of it.  I must have felt it coming on as I wasn't as excited as usual to get running.  Now, I am faced with the disaster of not knowing what to watch while I run.



You see my friend, if I don't have something engaging to watch - then it goes back to being the "Dread Mill."  My warmup, five-mile run and cool down will be come the longest hour of my day. IT might even be longer than that last hour, spent tossing and turning in bed just wishing I could sleep.

This is where you, my friends and readers come in.  Please, help suggest shows that I can watch on Netflix/Hulu to stave of the eternal boredom that a treadmill represents!

An influential person, running on a treadmill

[caption id="attachment_1794" align="alignleft" width="300"] If the treadmill is good enough for George Jetson and Astro...[/caption]

Last night I got four miles in on the treadmill.  I have been running at 6 mph, with a goal of limiting the pain to my feet.  This seems to be working pretty well, but as I train toward longer and better things I don't want to be doing it at a ten minute mile.  As such, I am increasing the treadmill speed, I have gone up .1 mph per week  for two weeks.  (For the math challenged that is up to 6.2 mph.)  I have also been running exclusively in my Sauconys, also with the goal of limiting foot pain.  This has led to some slight knee pain, though not much. 

Productive Weekend!

Not a bad weekend, especially running-wise, although it was all treadmill based running.

Friday evening I hoped on the treadmill and turned my Battlestar Gallactica on.. Well, it seems it was a season premiere - so it was not the usual 35 minutes in length.  After watching the first half, I decided I wanted to see the whole episode, so my nice 2 mile run turned into a 5 miler!  I will be honest with you (after all, this is the internet and everything on the internet has to be true) - it was not just the show.  I also wanted to see if I still COULD run five miles.  Not only did I run it, but I wanted to go further.  discretion being the better part of valor - I did not.  (That and the fact I was fairly certain walking was going to be a problem on saturday, simply from being a moron and running 5 miles instead of the usual 2.)

I went up stairs and did the first 20 minutes of the Yoga program, just to stretch everything out.   I am VERY happy to report, that I had no out of the ordinary tightness the next day!  GO YOGA! I put out another 3 miles on saturday, followed by a brief stint of yoga afterwords (my wife walked by and accidentally kicked me... Combined with my being a bit self-conscious about doing yoga in front of her

The belt on the treadmill goes round and round.

The first thing I want to say is thank you to all those who have served in the armed forces of the United States of America.  Without your sacrifices, your risking of your life/limbs/sanity and missing countless family events that all of us take for granted - than we would not have the freedom to say we are the land of the free.  Thank you.

[caption id="attachment_1717" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Thank you to our Vets, that risked losing all, in the belief that their country and its people were worth that risk.[/caption]

Now on to the running talk.

Hanging at the parents

This weekend we headed up to see the loved ones we left behind in NY. We came up Friday evening with the goal of seeing my wife's BFF (and our kitties that now live at their house.). The fun part of surprising people is when they aren't home! We did however get to see our cats, and their kids! The babysitter (also a friend of ours) seemed to think it was funny, at least she did when she got over the shock of us "out-of-staters" walking through the front door! We had come, supposedly, for the Annual Penguin book sale, so we did head out there on Saturday after visiting people (and eating a cinnabon. Sooooo good, and luckily we haven't found them in Maryland.). We stood in line in a cold drizzle and decided that this year it simply wasn't worth it. This morning I did three miles in my parent's treadmill. Booooring. Yet it was still a far better idea than running in the snow flurries! Its 20 degrees colder than Maryland was. I will say that it was awesome seeing the whole family, my brother and sister brought their families. Seeing my ten month old niece Micah Rose was awesome!

Weekend in Review - Treadmill, Trail Run and pain on the bottom of the foot.

Friday was a nice day off with the kids (Easter Break started.)  Since I had both of them home, my choice was to wait for my wife to get home (5:00 pm) or run on the treadmill.  Rather than wait, I decided on the treadmill.  I seem to be spending a lot of time on that treadmill lately.  I did a nice easy 6 mile run, and an incredible Chest/Tricep/Shoulder workout.  I started watching "Season of the Witch" on my wife's tablet while I ran, but it wouldn't connect to the wireless for the cool down run. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of it, and it certainly  beats staring at the white wall - or watching the numbers on the treadmill go.

Followed it up with a lunch at Panera Bread.  With their "you pick two" lunches, it's really easy to get a healthy AND tasty meal!

[caption id="attachment_1441" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Derek right before his run!"][/caption]

Saturday I met up with Derek, a coworker of mine that is bound and determined that I am not going to be faster than he is in a 5k.  Personally, I think he doesn't want to get beat by an "old man."  We headed up to Chenengo Valley State park to go for a run on some trails.

Working on Speed - Without moving forward!

[caption id="attachment_535" align="alignright" width="300" caption="This week's Temperatures.. And that 97, is before humidity is taken into account. Heat index for today is 101-108!"][/caption]

Since the thermometer's mercury is rising - I decided to stay inside yesterday and use the treadmill.  I suppose it was easier to breathe, but it was STILL hot.  Oh.. And BORING. (<-- Notice the capital letters? it was THAT boring)  It seems my intense dislike of treadmills has not changed at all.  Some gyms I have belonged to in the past, have had a television in front of the treadmill (you use a radio for the sound.)