Tag Archives: treadmill

Running Long on the Treadmill without Losing your Sanity

My husband has been out of town this weekend for so I wasn’t able to get in my normal long run outside.  I was faced with the following choices:  skip the long run, move the long run, or get it in on the treadmill.  All of these sounded terrible so I considered the one that would help my training plan the most – the treadmill.

The cons of treadmill workouts are many:

  1. It’s boring.
  2. No fresh air.
  3. It’s boring.
  4. No sense of adventure.
  5. It’s boring.
  6. No natural hills.
  7. It’s boring.
  8. Nothing to look at… and it’s boring.

There are some pros though as well:

  1. Convenience to home amenities.
  2. You can “bring” more stuff than you could outside – food, fluids, band-aids, technology, etc.
  3. …. alright I just have those 2.

But sometimes you just *have* to do it!  Here is a short video I put together to sum up how I execute a long run on the treadmill when there aren’t other options.

I also filmed a short video recap of my week’s training. 🙂  Hope everyone is having a great week!  Have you ever had to run long on the treadmill?  How did it go?  Would you do it again?

 

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Happy National Running Day!

What a cool day.  I’ve loved watching my twitter feed blow up with running stuff all day. 🙂  I got in 2.3 miles myself this evening.  We’ve had crazy thunder storms in my area of Minnesota all day today but I finished my 7 max pace sprints on the treadmill followed by some strength training.  I am pooped!  I’ve somehow been able to get through all of my planned workouts this week, even with the recovery issue.  IMG_0439

Happy National Running Day!IMG_0438

Training Plan #57

Guess what kids?  I have a new training plan!  Shocked?  You really shouldn’t be.  I change my mind on my training every 10 seconds.  When it comes to picking a plan I have the attention span of a 3 year old.

What happened to Simply Shredded and 20 miles a week?  I will spare you the details (because they are boring) but in a nutshell, no strength training (not even body weight training) on Dr.’s orders until mid April.  Definitely cuts out the dead lift, bench press and barbell squat in Simply Shredded.  Also, as it turns out 20 miles is a lot to squash into my schedule each week.

Capture2

I have been wanting to run this route for over a year and finally did it! Victory!

And thus, a new training plan is born. 🙂  Since I can’t do any strength at the moment, I have the opportunity to focus on my running.  Last week I ran sprint intervals a couple times, did some cross training on the bike and topped it off with a 12.5 mile run from my house to work with a friend on Saturday.

My BRF just started using a new app called Gipis so of course I had to check it out.  I really like that it gives you an estimated race time and shows how you can improve.  It is super customized to you and your goals.  It adds a good combination of easy runs and speed work.  So I’m going to try the Gipis, spruce it up with a little cross training and some hypothetical strength training days (for later).  And there you have it, my latest and greatest.Capture

Monday: run & strength
Tuesday: run
Wednesday: cross training & strength
Thursday: run
Friday: REST
Saturday: long run
Sunday: cross training

I’d like to say that this is *the* training plan that will support me all the way to marathon day.  But let’s be honest folks, it probably isn’t.  I know I will probably “upgrade” to something newer, better, shinier, fancier.  The good news is, I’m still learning what works for me, I’m still getting stronger and faster.

And I’m not stopping.  Ever.

Outside!

Capture1Wow.  Wow wow wow.  37 degrees, in Minnesota, in JANUARY!  The weather today was the very best present I could have asked for.  And it truly felt like a gift to be given a spring day in the middle of winter.  I went for a fabulous run with a good friend and let me tell you, the experience was just phenomenal.  I invested in a nice treadmill with some really cool features a couple months ago and it’s been great and super convenient.  But let me tell you, nothing compares to that fresh air, wind in your hair, sunshine on your back feeling of a good run in nice weather.  My pace wasn’t great.  I didn’t achieve any personal records.  I didn’t run any huge distance.  But I ran.  I ran outside and I had fun.  It was a great day.

Back in Business

Got my groove back this week!  I’ll admit, last week was rough.  Not every week will be spot on or perfect.  What’s important is recovering and jumping back in to keep the momentum going.  That grad paper I put a million hours into last week?  Got it back today – 100%!  Making progress on the new projects at the office.  Husband was out of town the past few days so it was just the kids and I.  No hockey practice the past couple nights (weird) but we’ve been spending time on their homework and piano practicing.  My grad work for this week is about halfway done which is a comfortable place for me on a Thursday.  I was able to get an earlier start to it this week which has made all the difference.

Capture2This week I powered through 3 out of my 4 lifting sessions, 1 HIIT session with my trainer and then 5 miles on the treadmill yesterday.  Another lifting session with HIIT to follow tomorrow and will round out the week with another 5 mile run on Saturday.  Weather is forecasted to be a balmy 32 degrees on Saturday so I may be able to run outside comfortably.  Comfortable running weather in Minnesota in January is such a treat so I plan to make the most of it. 🙂

Fastest Mile in a While

I wanted to get in a quick warm up before my strength routine today so I figured I would get in another mile on the treadmill to contribute to the weekly total.  I ran it in 9:08.  That is the fastest I’ve been in a long while.  My fastest mile ever was a 7:06 during the Sioux Falls half marathon this past September.  I must have been somehow magically (and briefly!) possessed by a cheetah.  I’m still not sure mapmyrun wasn’t experiencing some sort of technical glitch.  But I haven’t run anything under a 9:30 in about a month and a half.  I’m so excited to start to get some speed back!

Weight routine was good.  It took some time to figure out what to set the machines to for the assisted dip and pull up exercises but otherwise it was fun and got a good burn in.  So far the first week on the Simply Shredded has been going really well!  Today was incredibly busy at work.  One of those back to back meeting kind of days and I needed the good sweat to clear my head.  I notice I always come back sharper after working out over lunch than if I had stayed at my desk.  However, what I do not recommend is an appointment with the personal trainer for a strenuous HIIT routine the same day as weight lifting.  Let’s just say I’m glad I survived.  🙂

On another note, I’ve been excited to find some simple meal ideas that are incredibly quick with few ingredients and minimal clean up.  They’re not fancy, they’re not pretty, but they’re fast and nutritious.  Here is one but I think I’ll start a new page and keep some ideas there so I don’t forget them when in a pinch.

Turkey Cheeseburger with Peas
Calories: 405
Protein: 23, Fat: 28, Carbs: 20
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Told the hubs I would write at least 3 pages of my 9 page paper tonight.  It’s due Sunday.  I should probably get on that. 🙂

Treadmill Vs. Cupcake

So you may wonder what lead to this epic battle of treadmill vs. cupcake.  Lets rewind to two days ago.  Monday I hit a personal record on my deadlift of 40 lbs.  Left the gym with shaking legs feeling pretty proud of myself.  Decided to hit the treadmill for about 2.5 miles later that evening.  No big deal right?  Wrong.  Major DOMS the next morning.  Spent all day yesterday trying to move as little as possible.  Walking was almost unbearable.  Stairs?  Forget it.  Yesterday evening after work I threw everything at it I could think of: foam rolling, ibuprofen, epsom salt bath.  Results?  Still really sore all day today.

Other factors at play: I track all of my calories and macro-nutrients pretty religiously and a few work eating events today lead to an over indulgence in fats.  Aforementioned work events also happened to put me on the side of town where my favorite cupcake bakery is located.  Coincidence?  Maybe not since I planned the event. 🙂  So since I was there anyway may as well pick some up right?

Super sore legs?  Cupcakes in hand?  Sounds like the recipe for a rest day to me!

Until I remembered I have a 5 mile run on my training calendar.  Bummer.

Thus begins the epic war in my brain.  Take the night off and eat the cupcake?  Hit the treadmill and hope the legs can take it?  Can’t fall behind on my training.  Can’t just NOT eat the cupcake!  So I could maybe run AND eat the cupcake right?  But then end calories would basically balance out so what’s the point of the run?  This is the time I had to really dig deep and refocus.  What are my goals?  Lose some pounds to get to my ideal running weight and run a marathon in 9 months.  How important is my goal?  Extremely.  Is the cupcake going to help me achieve my goals?  No.  Is the run going to help me achieve my goals?  Absolutely.

So I fired up the ‘mill with the plan to just do as much as I could stand with my sore legs.  Just get walking a little and then see if I’m up for jogging.  Even if I don’t get in the 5 miles, 1 mile is still better than zero miles.

0107152130It only took 45 seconds to fall into a rhythm and the soreness started to dissipate.  I worked up to my easy I-can-run-at-this-speed-forever pace and kept at it for the full 5 miles.  Sometimes all it takes is a reality check and a healthy dose of motivation to get what we want.

Breakfast tomorrow?  You better believe I’m eating that cupcake.