The Surprising Benefits of the Treadmill

The treadmill is not my favorite apparatus.  I much prefer running outside, no matter how cold, windy, etc. As long as the roads are safe to run on, you will find me outside, usually.

Yesterday, my mom and I went to the gym together.  I took this as an opportunity to tackle a treadmill run. Because, you see, there are benefits.

1. There is no mental game about speed here.  If you want to go a certain speed, you turn it up.  What it feels faster than a 7:40 pace?  Well, you can't say it's the wind, or the cold, or the stop lights, or the icy sidewalks, or even the hills (cause you control that too).  If the 7:40 feels too fast, it's you.

2. I find myself reverting to the swimmer in me and making up fun sets when I'm on the treadmill.  I have to, in order to survive the mental anguish of such a dull machine (sorry it's hard to list its positive qualities without including some of its no so positive ones.)

3. It is cold out, and though I love running in the cold.  There's a fairly good chance that it wont be cold in Nashville on April 30th or in Burlington on Memorial Day Weekend.  Therefore, getting some indoor training should make that adjustment a little more possible.

Yesterday, I ran 2 main sets on the mill for a total of 8.5 miles.  My first set was 3.5 mile repeats (don't ask about the .5 I changed my mind into running my 8 mile run instead of my 5 after I finished the mile repeats).  First mile was at 7:54 then 7:45 then 7:36 and then 7:27/7:18.

Then I decided I wanted to do my 8 mile run so I hopped back on the treadmill for a 3.2 mile progressive run at an average of about 8:29.

All in all, a pretty good workout!  Headed out for a 12 miler in a little bit.

Have a happy hump day.  And don't forget today is the contest deadline. Guess my training mileage total with a $2 donation to Team in Training (per guess) and you can win a $50.00 gift card to a favorite restaurant.