Back on the Treadmill
There's a pun in the title, and I will explain near the end...
It was raining quite a bit on Sunday morning when I woke up and I really didn't feel like going slow for over an hour while soaked and cold right from the start so I packed up and drove (and that alone doesn't make me happy, having to drive in order to run) down to the gym to use a treadmill for the first time since last March. The goal was to run at least 10k, but I was hoping to go a bit longer. Last weekend I ran 12k and I really wanted to go longer than that.
I got to the gym just as it opened at 8am and was the second person in there. Lots of treadmills to choose from, which is nice. I got changed and hopped on, setting the pace at a pedestrian 6:00/km, or 6.2mph on these machines that don't seem to work in metric.
I ran steady for an hour to complete 10k while watching a documentary on the brothers Wahlberg without headphones on, just reading the closed captioning. It was not a particularly inspiring performance, and I mean both my run and the program. After that hour the treadmill automatically stops since it's set to only allow a max of 60 minutes to be set, but given that the gym was still pretty bare and only one other treadmill was in use at this point I did not feel bad about starting things up again for a few more clicks. This time I set the speed at 6.7mph, which translates to 5:34/km, and actually rates a bit faster since I had the machine set at a 1% incline, and proceeded to run for another few clicks. I started overheating a bit as I ran and with a quarter-mile left I lowered the speed to 6.2mph for a short cool down of sorts to complete my 14km run (8.7 miles). I wore my Garmin to keep an eye on my heart rate and it was definitely higher than it should have been for the pace that I was using. After about a half-hour or forty minutes of running it jumped up into the 150s on account of the overheating. I wasn't struggling at all and was surprised by this. At the faster speed setting the heart rate was pretty much up in the higher 150s or ever low 160s, which was totally due to my inability to cool off. I was sweating more than usual and my body is definitely not used to indoor running.
The other thing it's not used to is treadmill running! I never feel right after stepping off of a treadmill, and this time was no different. My knees feel tight, and my lower back typically seizes up a bit. By later in the day, and into this morning, I was having real trouble bending over without feeling twinges in the lower back that are perilously close to a complete spasm. Not good. I will try and avoid the treadmill as much as I can throughout the winter, and if I do have to use it I will try to limit my distance to a max of 10km.
At least I got my run done! And, BTW, as a side note the rain totally stopped just as I started running. In retrospect I should have just stepped out the front door and done the usual thing.
It was raining quite a bit on Sunday morning when I woke up and I really didn't feel like going slow for over an hour while soaked and cold right from the start so I packed up and drove (and that alone doesn't make me happy, having to drive in order to run) down to the gym to use a treadmill for the first time since last March. The goal was to run at least 10k, but I was hoping to go a bit longer. Last weekend I ran 12k and I really wanted to go longer than that.
I got to the gym just as it opened at 8am and was the second person in there. Lots of treadmills to choose from, which is nice. I got changed and hopped on, setting the pace at a pedestrian 6:00/km, or 6.2mph on these machines that don't seem to work in metric.
I ran steady for an hour to complete 10k while watching a documentary on the brothers Wahlberg without headphones on, just reading the closed captioning. It was not a particularly inspiring performance, and I mean both my run and the program. After that hour the treadmill automatically stops since it's set to only allow a max of 60 minutes to be set, but given that the gym was still pretty bare and only one other treadmill was in use at this point I did not feel bad about starting things up again for a few more clicks. This time I set the speed at 6.7mph, which translates to 5:34/km, and actually rates a bit faster since I had the machine set at a 1% incline, and proceeded to run for another few clicks. I started overheating a bit as I ran and with a quarter-mile left I lowered the speed to 6.2mph for a short cool down of sorts to complete my 14km run (8.7 miles). I wore my Garmin to keep an eye on my heart rate and it was definitely higher than it should have been for the pace that I was using. After about a half-hour or forty minutes of running it jumped up into the 150s on account of the overheating. I wasn't struggling at all and was surprised by this. At the faster speed setting the heart rate was pretty much up in the higher 150s or ever low 160s, which was totally due to my inability to cool off. I was sweating more than usual and my body is definitely not used to indoor running.
The other thing it's not used to is treadmill running! I never feel right after stepping off of a treadmill, and this time was no different. My knees feel tight, and my lower back typically seizes up a bit. By later in the day, and into this morning, I was having real trouble bending over without feeling twinges in the lower back that are perilously close to a complete spasm. Not good. I will try and avoid the treadmill as much as I can throughout the winter, and if I do have to use it I will try to limit my distance to a max of 10km.
At least I got my run done! And, BTW, as a side note the rain totally stopped just as I started running. In retrospect I should have just stepped out the front door and done the usual thing.
posted by Vava at
10:09 AM
1 Comments:
Yeah, I try to avoid treadmills as much as possible too. Sometimes though, there's simply too much snow to run in. And I hear we'll have a big snow season in my part of the world. :(
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