This running business; its not for beginners. Trust me, I know. In the go hard or go home mentality, I'd rather go home. I don't know why people do this, just to do it and not have a goal to achieve...like "don't be last". Those 3 words, along with the singsong voice in my head whose one hit wonder is "you're gonna be last" are the only two things that are getting me on that treadmill. Who's idea was this anyway?
At present day, I can "run" 2-minute intervals. While that is pretty impressive for me, it’s really not that presentable for a triathlon. Or a handful of 5Ks. Okay now, really, let's be honest. My version of running is really a slow jog. I "run" at a 4.2 pace on the treadmill. I've seen people at the gym walking a 4.5 pace, with a 15% incline. Okay, it was really only this one lady, but I'm more scared of her than I am impressed.
Here’s my hang-up. I can't run at the gym. Two big reasons why.
One, the treadmills are at the front of the gym. In my mind, everyone in the gym is watching me and wondering why the fat girl is attempting to run in a triathlon (apparently in my mind, I'm also holding a sign that says, "Look at me! I'm doing a triathlon!"). Reason number two, and probably the most important; I’m afraid I’m going to fall off and go flying across the gym. This fear isn't irrational. I almost fell off the treadmill today. Almost.
At the end of a running interval, I was so excited that it was over and I planned to jump off, onto the sidebars. I guess I was a little too excited. My foot slid off the side of the sidebar and as I tried to catch myself my other foot went onto the running treadmill. My leg flew up into the air and I did some kind of Tae Kwon Do kick before landing on the tips of my toes on the sidebar. So, again, let me stress. I almost fell off the treadmill. Imagine if I had done that at the gym?
It only makes sense that I have confined myself to my treadmill at home. But that won't last long. According to research, and by that I mean my own web surfing, running on a treadmill and running outside are very different. Since this triathlon is not going to be in my basement, I'm going to have to run outside. Sure, it won't be as open and inviting as a front row of treadmills at the gym, but you know people drive on roads.
And they are going to see my sign.
LMAO! I've done that Tae Kwon Do kick myself a time or two. Treadmills are for the coordinated it seems.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that according to your "About Me" you plan to live to 120+ years of age!
Thank you. Math always has been my strong suit. I certainly didn't want to plan my death for 62 and I thought "third life crisis" sounded odd. So I decided to go for the gold!
ReplyDeletePlus, I'm really only 25.
I know first-hand that running outside and on a treadmill are so different. Outside is actually harder, but I prefer it. I feel like I'm actually going somewhere when I "run" outside. (I actually "jog" too, but to me, it's running. lol) The treadmill kind of assists you and forces your legs to move, but outside, it's all your own power getting your body to move. So yeah, for this triathlon, I definitely recommend doing at least half of your running exercises outside. Have you tried the Couch 2 5K? Is that what you're doing?
ReplyDeleteRunning on a treadmill is easier because the machine does some of the work for you. I prefer running outside. It's nice to get out.
ReplyDeleteI've totally tripped on the treadmill. More than once. Haven't fallen yet... knock on wood.
Amanda - I have tried Couch 2 5K in the past and it hasn't worked out too well for me. The large jumps in running times were too much for me. The first big jump is from 90 seconds to 3 minutes. I could barely keep up with 90 seconds and there was no way I could do 3 minutes, so I always seemed to drop out around week 3. I started following the tri training schedule that I got from beginnertriathlete.com but again, with big jumps, the running just seemed to fall by the wayside. I recently started a six week beginner 5K program from Runners World because I realized that my first 5K is in 4 weeks. I can do about 2 miles in 35 minutes But that's walking and running. I won't be able to run the first 5K or maybe not even any of them that I have scheduled through April and May, but it's all just practice for me.
ReplyDeleteJust yesterday I upped the incline on my treadmill to 1% because I read that it will help mimic running on the road. Of course, no wind resistance, but I can definitely feel a difference in my legs. They are more tired! Eventually I will get outside.
Which program did/do you use?
Meg - I have tripped on the treadmill before as well, but never anything as serious as this time. If I hadn't been holding onto the bar on the side, I'm sure, I'd have slammed into the wall. The bar is what saved me. And of course allowed me to be creative with my Tae Kwon Do kicks.
ReplyDeleteOh man, dude, I'm totally with you about being self-conscious about running on treadmills at the gym. Although last summer I did C25K and ran 'til the cold weather set in -- and actually restarted this morning -- and I was amazed by how unselfconscious outside running is. Still not my favorite thing in the world, to go jiggle in public, but no one's mooed at me! Most of the people out before 7am are other joggers, and I'm always surprised and happy to see how many real runners give me an "awesome! keep it up!" smile as I huff by.
ReplyDeleteGood job running, and hope you keep fightin' the good fight against gravity and winning.
Congrats to you!! How far along did you get in C25K last summer?
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt my ass would be out of bed before 7am, willingly, to run. Although an upside to that would be since I live in the boonies, not much traffic would be around! Keep it up, and let me know how you do this Spring/Summer!
I really wish you still lived down here so we could do some 5K's together! My pace was about the same as yours when I was doing it. When I finally did my 5K, I finished in about 48 minutes as my fastest time. So by no means was I ever "fast", but it was the best I could do. It would be nice to have someone at my level to workout with! I'd probably even do the triathlon with you too, training and all. Dang Boston! lol
ReplyDeleteYou should look up sprint triathlons down there! I'm sure they have some! They have to! You're right though, it would be fun to train together!
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