On Saturday our training schedule called for 18 miles. It was 7 degrees outside. As much as I couldn’t stand the thought of running the 18 on the treadmill, I couldn’t stand the thought of 7 degrees even more.
So at 10:30 I made my way over to LA Fitness and camped out on a treadmill for 2 hours and 40 minutes. I had made a new playlist in the morning, so I hoped that would motivate me to run strong and fight boredom. As as I am driving to the gym I realize I forgot to sync my ipod. Boo! There was no way I was going back home to sync it, that would only delay the time for when I would be done.
It was a long, boring, and pretty hard 18 miles…. especially the last 5. Usually when I finish a long or hard run I feel great and think “I’m really glad I just did that”, but on Saturday I was kind of thinking Why the heck do I put myself through this? Most people would be very satisfied with a good 3 mile run on a Saturday. I have built up this idea in my mind though that Saturday mornings are reserved for 8 miles or more. I would say 80% of the time I feel great and really happy I put the time in on my feet, but this Saturday I just wasn’t feeling it.
We are going to Crown Point this weekend for Glenn’s dad’s 60th birthday. I think we are going to try to squeeze in the 20 on Friday so we can just enjoy the weekend with the family, without the commitment to running 20.
Back to the treadmill though…..How does one possibly manage to run that far on a treadmill without going crazy?
Here are my strategies:
- Â Always have a good playlist and change it up!
- Â Bring a shirt to cover the treadmill
- Bring a magazine to put over the shirt
- Open the magazine to an article and read one paragraph at a time, taking breaks between paragraphs… you want to really stretch the article out so that it takes a long time to read. This is a tough one though because some people say they could not possible run and read at the same time. If I am doing a tempo or speed workout, no I can’t read, but if I am running 8:30 minute miles or slower, (that’s 7.2 speed or less) then it’s not problem. Obviously the slower you go the easier it is to read.
- People watch (although this can be annoying sometimes)
- DO NOT look at the treadmill time or distance… that is murder to your motivation. One look if you have more than 6 miles to go and you are mentally screwed.
- Count songs. I like to count songs and say “after 5 songs I will read another article” or “After 23 songs I will check my progress.
- If the person beside you is running fast and you feel motivated to speed up because of them… remember you are running 18 miles… and they are more than likely runningÂ
- Picture yourself walking out the the gym feeling accomplished.
- Like in any long run or race… just KEEP MOVING.
