treadmill running

Ups and Downs

Friday was an unexpected rest day.

Now that school is in session, my planned rest day is Monday. I have class starting at 9 am and don’t get home til 8 pm, so it’s not a day conducive to working out. I don’t like the situation because I like having the flexibility to slack off when I feel like it, rather than on a schedule, but I guess I’ll have to take two rest days in a week if that comes up.

Friday was an unexpected rest day because I went out to start my car to let it de-ice a bit and fell down the four concrete steps from the door to my yard. I didn’t realize that the stoop would be icy under the awning and stepped out confidently into the warm air, only to completely lose my balance on the invisible coat of ice, tumbling down the stairs. I actually rolled down them, rather than sliding like I have in other stair-related incidents in my life. I kind of wish I had a video of it because I am sure I looked ridiculous. I wasn’t hurt that badly (just some bruises) but I had some stiffness in my back (which could have been from sit-ups from Thursday) and some random twinges, so I chose to take the day off.

Saturday I felt good, apart from the bruise, and it was a beautiful day (any warm day in winter is beautiful, even if it is cloudy), so I drove to Hartley Nature Center. There’s a trail map here. I enjoyed running there last fall, although the trails I typically ran on are groomed for classic cross-country skiing, so I chose to stay off them. I tried out a new trail, the Guardrail, which is not shown on the trail map I just linked to. I should probably look around the interpretive center and see if there’s a better map, but I spend most of my time on the Guardrail trail wondering if it was a loop, an out-and-back, or part of a larger trail. I wondered if I was actually going around in circles or possibly getting farther and farther away from the nature center. It turned out I was not, but it was a bit nerve-wracking. I ended up running just under five miles, a lot of it at a pretty slow pace. My GPS was acting kind of funky and giving me 19:xx paces when I was flying down a hill and quicker than expected paces when I was walking, so I was having trouble gauging how things were going. I was also fairly cautious because the last thing I wanted to do was fall again, especially if I fell on my already-wounded right side.

The Guardrail trail is actually pretty nice and I would like to run it again soon. I planned to do a full trail review but I’ve already forgotten my thoughts about the trail.

Sunday I was really struggling to get moving. I got up, had a bagel and cream cheese, and got dressed in my running clothes, but I couldn’t get my butt out the door. I kept stalling. I was having an “I hate being slow” moment. Even a few miles at my sloth-like pace ends up being a major commitment. There’s no such thing as a “short” run for me, time-wise. I can’t fit a run in at lunch or between classes; it’s not worth the hassle for a measly 1.5 miles. I want to be at a point where I can put in 3-4 miles and have it be over like *that*. That is a long way off.

I finally got off my butt and headed out, running along Skyline to Chester Creek Trail. This stretch of Skyline Drive has some of the best views (I should have brought my phone to snap a pic or two), but I also don’t feel safe running on it because it doesn’t have a sidewalk, and just before the bridge over Chester Creek, there’s a nearly blind curve. I end up running on the wrong side of the road at that point because I am concerned about being struck by a car coming around the corner. I had to kind of sprint (relatively speaking) across the bridge because half the sidewalk was under construction and blocked off. I hate road running.

I wanted to do a trail review of Chester Creek Trail from the Skyline bridge down to 4th St, but in order to do that, I would have had to slide down on my belly like a sea otter. It was horribly icy, and even with my shoe chains on, I didn’t want to risk it. One slip at certain spots along that trail and I’m falling over a cliff. I was really bummed because I like that trail and because I wanted a little extra distance. Instead I had to circle back home and didn’t even get to three miles.

Monday I got out of class about an hour early, and decided to forgo the rest day by running an uneventful 40 minutes on the treadmill. I managed to run an average pace of 15:33 with an average heart rate of 142 bpm, so I guess I’m improving? That should be a pick-me-up after Sunday’s crabbiness, but I’m mentally drained. I also won’t get a chance to run outside until Friday, thanks to work and a meeting, so I’m disappointed about that. I’m going to need to end this post before I complain about something else.

To end on a high note: I have no lingering effects from my exciting tumble down the stairs on Friday.

To The Core

Well, I didn’t wake up sick yesterday, so that was a plus. I did wake up with my back and hips still creaky, which was a minus. I didn’t have any coffee today, so I can pat myself on the back for that. Just a mug of chai tea and two pops! (FYI I do drink water too, I’m not solely subsisting on caffeinated beverages.)

I thought a bit about my overall soreness situation yesterday while trying to loosen up my muscles at work via sporadic stretching in my chair. At the beginning of the day I was fairly certain I was going to have to either take another rest day or just walk on the treadmill in order to minimize stress on my poor old lady joints. I absolutely do not want to get injured. It would be incredibly stupid to get injured by pushing too hard while running at a 16:xx pace on the treadmill. There’s nothing more ridiculous than over-training while running mediocre times. Of course, I would like to actually run times that would be considered mediocre, but that doesn’t mean I can’t roll my eyes at someone killing themselves trying to run some crappy-yet-still-faster-than-me time.

I decided, based on no medical knowledge and just how I feel, that I’m not in danger for injury just yet, but I do need to be careful. So I ran for an hour (with a short potty break halfway through just because) and while it didn’t feel great, I don’t feel worse. Yet. We shall see.

I also have some theories on the causes of this soreness.

1. I am running more slowly, so I am on my feet longer to run the same distances.
This is not such a big deal when I’m on the treadmill, because I can cut the time short if I’m feeling fatigued, but it will be a problem if I haven’t made much progress by the time I can run outside frequently again. (And that time is coming soon! School starts this week, and I’ll have afternoon time to run during the week!) I am going to have to continue to focus on time rather than distance and be careful not to increase the overall time I spend running by too much from week to week.

2. I am spending too much time on the treadmill and not enough time on varying terrain.
Running on the treadmill is repetitive, so I’m stressing the same spots on my body over and over again, rather than making little adjustments along the way as I would on a trail or even road running (since a flat, even stretch of road is hard to come by in Duluth). I also think my posture is different on the treadmill, but I don’t know how I’d verify that beyond someone watching me run or take photos of me running, and I don’t want either of those things to happen. There’s not much I can do about this now, like I said above, I just need to be mindful of my mechanics and get outside whenever I can.

3. My core muscles are not strong enough.
This is an obvious one. I need to start doing at least a little strength training in order to progress. Yes it is dumb that I was not doing it already, and I’m obviously paying for it, but I started yesterday! I did a groundbreaking regimen of sit-ups and push-ups. Real push-ups, not fake ones with my knees down. I didn’t go hog wild and try to break any records for consecutive push-ups, but it’s a start.

Be Still, My Heart

Here is a partial list of things that increase my heart rate while running:

  • Caffeine (even hours later) (duh)
  • How full my stomach is (Because running on an empty-but-not-hungry stomach isn’t always possible)
  • Needing to use the restroom
  • Taking a drink of water
  • Blowing my nose
  • Coughing once
  • A bad turnover in the Wild’s defensive zone
  • Talking to my cat
  • Thinking about something annoying for a second
  • Fixing my hair
  • Shouting at the television
  • A very slight change in incline (I usually run at a 2, knocked it down to a 1 in order to get a little speed back during this training period)
  • The Wild scoring a goal (fortunately doesn’t happen very often)
  • Changing the channel

In these first few weeks of training I’m being hyper-vigilant about checking my heart rate, since I really don’t have a good sense of how I feel when I am running at 142 bpm vs 150 bpm, or at least I don’t until I’ve been running for a little bit too long at that higher heart rate. I am trying to be a little more patient with the 146-147s that flash across my watch display, since they do tend to settle down after a few seconds. I know from day to day I will feel differently and some days it will be harder to run the same pace than other days; I know that patience is key to success with this kind of training. I’m trying to cut down the caffeine (only one cup of coffee today instead of two! Let’s see if that works!), and most of the other things on the list are blips on the radar that can’t be helped. Not watching hockey during a run would also help, as would avoiding emotional investment in a sporting competition meant for entertainment purposes only, but I assure you that ship has sailed.

The good news is running slowly on the treadmill has made me hate it less, so I am able to run on it longer. I spent an hour and a half on the treadmill last night, the longest I have ever spent working out on a piece of equipment. Of course, I also covered a bit over 5 miles, a distance I used to be able to cover in an hour, so there’s still that trade-off.

Slowing Down to Speed Up

I took my first stride toward becoming a faster runner by running even more slowly than usual last night.

It’s counter-intuitive, and maybe it won’t work, but I’m going to try it out. I’m jumping on the metabolic efficiency training bandwagon, kind of. As usual, I am jumping in with both feet without any education or research on the subject. I will figure that out later.

I read about this a few months ago in a few different areas and thought it would be great. I can run slowly and have a reason to do it! Hooray! My version of metabolic efficiency training SO FAR is trying to build an aerobic base by keeping my heart rate under 142 at all times during my runs. That is not at all what metabolic efficiency training is really about. It is also about burning stored fat instead of stored carbohydrates while running, and it also involves nutrition planning. I will eventually need to make some changes to how I eat, for a variety of running-related reasons, but for now I am just running slowly.

Actual real runners do this training too, and I find it interesting to read some of their accounts of the training. Almost every speedy runner who starts this training talks about how embarrassed and ashamed they are to run so slowly. Most of them don’t even put up their times, but I guarantee you those times are still faster than my maximum speed for even a single mile. Welcome to my every day, speedsters!

I really, really, really had to slow down for my first run (on the treadmill, bien sur!); I ended up running about 17 min/mile. That was interesting. I can also walk at that pace, but resisted the temptation. And even then, I still ended up with my heart rate a little higher than it should have been by the end! I averaged 143. So I failed. But I didn’t mind running three minutes slower than my usual pace, because I was running with a purpose!

On the plus side, the pace is supposed to be sustainable forever, figuratively speaking, and it was. I didn’t end up red-faced and I wasn’t nauseated or crampy. It also made the treadmill bearable because I wasn’t pushing so hard while bored out of my mind.

On the minus side, I ended up going over my heart rate target by doing my favorite form of cross-training: shoveling snow. Well, I assume I did based on how I felt, because I don’t have an orthorexic need to track every calorie burned in any activity anytime.

Just so you know, I do plan on doing actual research on this method of training to make sure I’m not completely screwing it up. I’ll share what I learn as I go along.

Like Magellan

I took a rest day Monday, and then had a homemade-Chex-Mix-fueled 3.2 mile run on the treadmill yesterday while watching the first period of the Wild game.

Treadmill Strategy: Run til the game starts (I started about 5 or 6 minutes before the broadcast began, which was maybe 10 minute before the game started, which I didn’t plan for), and then recover during the commercials. This is great in theory because it isn’t based on anything on the treadmill display, so it helped my running posture.

It didn’t work out exactly as planned, as the game didn’t start on time and a commercial didn’t come until I’d been running for almost 25 minutes nonstop. I did take one recovery break of about 30 seconds when I thought they were going to commercial but they didn’t. When I’m watching hockey live it usually feels like there’s a commercial every whistle, but I guess my perception is off. After the first break, I was cruising along and with about ten minutes to go on the treadmill clock, I decided there was no reason for another walk break and just kept running. So, hooray.

For years, I’ve been using shoe inserts while running to cushion my feet. It’s probably not good for them or for my stride or something, but I did. My insteps were very sensitive and I thought I needed the extra support. I also spent a lot of time on my feet when I worked as a makeup counter jockey so I used them in my work shoes (sensible flats!) too. I really hated those stupid “gellin’ like a felon” commercials so for a long time I resisted using the massaging gel inserts, but I finally gave in and used them for a few years.

This summer I started noticing hot spots on my feet when I was running, mostly on the heel base of my left foot. I’d never experienced them before, but it was a very strange sensation, slightly gentler than what I imagine it would be like to have a cigarette extinguished on the bottom of my foot. It happened with different socks, so I don’t think that was the culprit.

I also read a little bit about running shoes and how they are sometimes overly cushioned, and that a more minimal shoe might be a better choice. I am easily persuaded of things, and instead of doing research, I decided to quit using the inserts when I bought my most recent pair of shoes. I didn’t buy a super-light shoe, but I figured my first step toward minimalism was ditching the insoles.

I was concerned I would get foot cramps, which I have in the past, but so far so good. I’ve done long runs and short runs, indoors and out, and haven’t had any issues with foot pain, or with hot spots. I have only run indoors with a fan on or in cooler temperatures outside, so I can’t say the hot spots won’t be there once it’s warmer again (in six months). The shoes, I could take or leave, but that’s a post for another day.

Owning A Treadmill

I think the high today yesterday (forgot I wrote this late and scheduled it for the morning) was 0, but that’s a bit optimistic. Since I don’t have proper gear for running in really, really cold temps, and didn’t feel like improvising and trying to shuffle along in the bitterness, I reluctantly clomped down into the basement to run a couple slow miles on the treadmill.

I hate the treadmill so much. I just hate it. I hate that a slower pace for on the treadmill is harder for me than a longer run on pavement/trails. I ran a 13:30 average pace for 4.6 miles yesterday, and a 14:37 pace (with a little incline) for 2 miles on the treadmill today, and I was huffing and puffing the whole time on the treadmill while I felt great yesterday even with some little hills thrown in. There must be some kind of scientific reason for this, but that’s not the point of the post.

Even though I dread running on the treadmill, I’m glad I have it. I think owning a treadmill is a great decision for runners who can afford it and have space for it. This isn’t ground-breaking for most runners, I know, but for slow folk like me, or sporadic runners, also like me, it’s still a good idea. Even for folks who have had trouble committing to running (like me), it’s still a good idea.

It’s the same cost whether there’s one runner in a household or many, unlike a gym membership.

It will eventually become more cost-effective than a gym membership. It’s a lot of money up front, but that’s it. There aren’t joiner’s fees or contracts or recurring fees. Even after a lapse of months or years, there are no fees or hassles to jump back on the treadmill.

It’s there in cold weather or hot weather, when it’s icy or there’s rain, or when it’s Grandma’s Marathon weekend and I don’t want any actual talented runners watching me run.

I can wear dirty workout clothes, fart while running, blow my nose, or watch terrible movies and TV shows.

It’s there to walk on, on days I can’t fathom doing any other kind of workout.

I don’t miss “appointment television,” like hockey games. I’ve even lugged my laptop down to the basement to listen to a UMD women’s hockey game. I can scream at the TV (or stream) without disturbing other people.

So, bottom line, I love having a treadmill, even if I don’t love using it, and I try not to let its presence make me feel guilty or reproached if I let it get a little dusty.