Road Warrior Blog

12 February 2008

Treadmills……………

Posted by Matt Stargardt under: Matt Stargardt .

There is no sugar coating it….. Running on a treadmill sucks.  I feel like a hamster on a ball running on one.  When you run outside you get to feel the wind increase on your face as you speed up, the  scenery moves faster, you can feel the results of your effort.  You feel alive and free. On a treadmill you put in more effort and the only response you get is more pain in your legs and maybe a different tone coming from electric motor.  It makes me  feel like a character from TRON. 

Something happens to runners that run too long on treadmills……..they get this look in their eyes like the machine has started to take over. The sky threatens and they retreat inside.  When they race they have that safety clip on their jersey as a “good” luck charm.   They reach out and punch an imaginary button in the air before they speed up. 

When I run I have control over my motion, and the road never threatens to grind me up.  On the treadmill, I am in a John Henry like battle with a machine.  The machine will always win as long as electricity flows to it.  Take a couple slow strides and your shoes start dropping over rear roller, a couple quick strides and your toes are clipping the front guard, and God help you if you take a step to the left or right.   The “wobble” effect alone that you experience after you get off one is not right.

In my mind a treadmill only has two advantages: Convenience and Climate Control. Ok, maybe a third… they also provide the “perfect” running surface…you get then same surface every step, no potholes, a nice cushioned surface with the perfect “give”.      There is a 4th …..personal security and protection… Very few people have been mugged on treadills and getting hit by a car on one takes some real work. So 4 pros for treadmills.  For those with kids there is baby monitor bonus…….You can run when a baby is asleep.  5 Advantages…..no more.

 I have been trying to stay true to RunGazelle’s training plan…..something that I am not very good at.  I tend to take liberties with most plans I have ever followed.  I am great about getting long runs in, but I am hap hazard about doing any sort of speedwork or workouts.  This always comes back to bite me when I race.  To me feeling good both while I race and the day after the race are as important as any PR. 

So tonight I was planning to go down to meet RunGazelle for speedwork until I saw the snow flying. I decided an hour of driving in the snow wasn’t what I was up to, and the notion of sliding through 4 inches of snow trying to do mile repeats just wasn’t doing it for me.   So I stayed home for the Treadmill speed workout.  

I bought the treadmill for my wife several years ago  as a way for her to walk and run on due to ankle troubles she had developed.  It is a good one, bought at a bonafide treadmill store and  it was marked down.  The reason it was marked down became apparent pretty quickly.  It must be Canadian as it only reads in Km and Km/hr.  Don’t email me on how to change it….I’ve been through the manual and I’m ok with it now. I also don’t care that its Canadian…..Canadians are great.  

 The treadmill lives in the basement.  I have a floor fan and a TV mounted directly in front of it.  Cable is strung through the floor joists which gives me about 74 channels to watch. It is not High Def; however, if that could make running on it better, I could easily be convinced the I need it.  When I run I turn out all the lights to make it a dark “cave”.  This way I can fool myself that I am actually running some where (it doesn’t work).  I take a magazine and cover all the stats on the machine….other wise I will stare at the numbers.  43 steps and it will change.  43 steps and it will change.  The only number that is visible is the speed which requires a bright scene on the tv so I can see it.  The floor fan is set to 2, and I find the Pistons game,….time for the workout.

I warm up for the first 3.2 K, then ease into my first repeat. The program wants 4 x 1.6K repeats and I’m game.  I crank the speed up and start my watch, I figure I will do repeats for either 1.6 or a time 6:30, whichever comes first.  In between I slow the machine down to recover. Surprisingly, the workout passes quickly, the Pistons win, and soon I am cooling down 3.2 k.

A treadmill run will never feel natural to me, but tonight it was convenient.  I don’t think a run a treadmill is easier.  In my mind, any advantage you get from running on a “perfect” surface is countered with the mental games you have to play to stay on the thing. The fact is on a run you have to get home, so if you run 3 miles out, you are running 3 miles back….no excuses.  On a treadmill, however, you are always 3 steps or one push of a button away from being home.  Its like walking around with a package of Oreos in your pocket and trying to convince yourself not to eat them.  Now that I could never do.

Matt

3 More Long Cold Runs

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