January Running: starting the New Year on the right (and left) foot

[Helene2013]

I love my treadmill. I am not allowed to run much due to knee injuries (overused) and this is why my PT said to get myself a bike as it is easier on my joints. Running outside may be too risky for holes, slipping, etc (especially being winter).

I can be on treadmill for an hour and loving every minute of it. But I am well equiped too. I have virtual running videos that are amazing and challenging. I have a huge sound system with the best music to run (at least for my taste), etc.

I do not run full throttle but more like fast babysteps to avoid the heavy pounding. I can't allow myself to injure my knees again. This seems to work well so far. The pounding is also absord by the rubber/pounce of the TM floor. I'm not afraid of twisting an ankle, etc. So my confidence is running is much stable and enjoyable then outside. I have no pain vs running outside.

I do intervalls of running, hiking (I can do 10% grade) and walking. All good to me. Especially with being inside, no need to worry about the crappy weather we've had in the past month (cold, deep cold, freezing rain, over snow, then freezing rain again). I put on shorts and t-shirt and ready to train and hop into shower as soon as done. No waste of precious time.

[skhill]

It's the boredom that gets to me on the dreadmill. The right music helps, but sooner or later I'm just mentally done, usually well before I'm physically done. It's also always too warm for my tastes there at the gym. So I tend to do a lot of short but fast runs on the treadmill, trying to get some benefit before I'm too fed up.

I haven't run since last Saturday. It was warm enough this morning outside, but there's enough lingering ice on sidewalks that I decided to head to the gym for the treadmill. But when I started the car, the check engine light came on and I drove to the mechanic instead. Tomorrow, I swear I'll run somehow...

[emily_in_nc]

Call me crazy, but like Helene I enjoy the treadmill -- did it for years at the work gym. I think for me it's because I can use my music, which makes the minutes fly by and gets me out of my head. I go into a zone and just run without thinking about the fact that I'm hurting, bored, or too hot/cold. I don't do well on hills and have a hard time running in either hot or cold weather, so the treadmill, being in a climate controlled place, and with a pace and incline I can control, works for me. I am always nervous about cars when I run outside with earbuds/music, but not so on the treadmill. I do like running outdoors when the temperature and environment (i.e. few or no cars, or non-hilly trails) is right, but seems like those times are few and far between.

We're staying in a condo complex this month that has a gym, and I've been doing walk/runs on the treadmill every couple of days. The weather hasn't been good for cycling (rainy and foggy), so it's good to get some cardio in, even though it's only 30 minutes. I hadn't run in over a year so am starting back slowly. Looks like tomorrow's going to be a great day for cycling, so I'll be on the road instead!

[yellow]

Apparently the dreadmill originated in prisons. Now I understand!

[OakLeaf]

Hahahahaha! Now if we were grinding fresh flour that would make it worthwhile. Straight from the treadmill to delicious baking!

So, I got my tempo run in. It was really hot and humid, my schedule didn't let me run earlier (and I'm not sure it would've helped anyway, earlier in the day it was 75° and 90% humidity, instead of the 80° and 70% I ran in).

I was pretty intimidated by it, but DH gave me the BEST pep talk before I headed out. He goes, "It's just feet vs pavement. And feet always win. You know how you know that? Look at any marble or stone staircase that's been used for years. Feet win."

One mile warmup, five miles at goal race pace (so, the last mile was 10 sec/mile slow, it's what I had in me), five minutes of dry heaves and seeing spots, 6 x 100m strides, and I am DONE for today and really looking forward to a nice SHORT and easy 10 miles on Monday. It's supposed to be cooler then, too.

[Catrin]

I've a question that came to me this morning, and while I will be asking my coach, I am very curious to hear what you ladies think.

I like deadlifting. Let me rephrase that, I LOVE to deadlift - it really doesn't matter which style, I just love to it. I am also working, again, to build running-related conditioning for trail running this year. This morning I was torn between deadlifts and running...and I came down on the side of deadlifts. I've been having a few issues with a hammie that troubles me when I run, so I decided that I probably shouldn't do both activities on the same day especially since I normally mix up regular style and RDL. I don't go THAT heavy, currently I am about 10 pounds over my body weight, I hope to get higher at some point but the number isn't my goal.

Anyone have an observation on mixing the two activities? I just figure that since both impact the posterior chain that I shouldn't run more than a brief sprint or a couple hundred meters - not the 30 minutes I had in mind (run/walk mix). I will likely do that tomorrow. Just wondering if I am over-analyzing things - but am trying to avoid over-use injuries from taking on a new activity (trail running).

Oakleaf, you rock woman, that sounds great! You also are in much warmer climes than I thought, good for you!

[skhill]

I ran! Outside, even! Last week was a total of 2 miles, so it's been a while. 3.75 miles, with a stiff headwind for the first half and tailwind for the second half. I'm committing myself to run at least 3 miles a day every day this week, trying to get back in a routine. Looks like a lot of it will be treadmill miles, given the weather forecast. So ready for spring...

Maybe I should sign up for our terribly hilly late March half marathon, to force me to get on a solid running schedule. But it's really miserably hilly, with a scary downhill. So I don't know.