Back-up Plan

Runners have different opinions on a lot of things. One of those things is the treadmill. I'm in the "hate the treadmill" camp. Last year I ran one and only one time on a treadmill. That's how much I dislike them.

Having said that, I *am* training for a half-marathon. And the weather is *not* cooperating. It's time to make a tough decision. Do I despise treadmills enough to sabotage my half-marathon training? Or can I tolerate it as a back-up plan while the weather isn't playing nice? Decided to find out.

Monday morning I packed up some running clothes with the plan to stop at the gym after work on my way home. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack my ipod. There wasn't any music playing at the gym, so I found myself slogging away silently on the dreaded machine. After what seemed like an eternity, I checked the distance. 0.75 miles. Are you kidding me?!? Is this thing some sort of time machine? Anyway, I finally made it to 2.0 miles and just couldn't take it anymore.

At that point I was ready to swear off treadmills for good. Maybe I do hate treadmill running enough to sabotage my half-marathon training. But I decided to be fair, I really ought to give it another chance, this time with music. Reluctantly packed up my running clothes again Tuesday morning. This time I was darn sure to toss the ipod into the bag. Stopped at the gym on my way home from work. And I must say, my Tuesday treadmill experience was more tolerable. Although not necessarily because I brought my ipod.

The thing about the gym at work is that the elliptical machines, treadmills, and spin bikes are all in the same room. I was probably 5 minutes into my run when some lady came bouncing into the room energetically. She started messing with some speakers, a microphone, and turned on some music. It didn't take long for me to realize that she was preparing to teach SPIN class.

I turned up the volume on my music and kept plodding away. Students started showing up. Soon she cranked up the volume on her music and class began. Glanced down at the treadmill. I was roughtly 2 miles into my run in at this point.

I gave up on my music (I would have gone deaf trying to drown her out). This lady was LOUD. She was telling them to breathe. Telling them to count.Randomly screaming out words to the song. Grunting. I sweat it sounded like she was giving birth. I played with my speed a little while she was telling them to change resistance or increase cadence. Didn't really care for that, but it was a distraction. Glanced at the treadmill. 3.5 miles done. Half mile to go. Yes!

Stuck it out for another half mile while she led them through a few more drills, then decreased my speed for a short cool down. When it was all said and done, 4.1 miles were accomplished.

I still don't like the treadmill. Clearly, my preference would be for the weather to cooperate with my schedule so that I could simply resume outdoor running. But it's good to have a back-up plan. At this point, I know that I *can* get through a 4.0 mile run on a treadmill. At least during SPIN class.