I did a treadmill run tonite at the local gym, the purple palace, also known as Planet Fitness. First off, i am not a treadmill runner, in fact, i have scoffed at these machines for the first 30 years of running. My first TM run was last May because the weather was lousy and i thought i would give it a try. Strangely enough, i came down with a knee injury the day after the run and just figured that they were evil machines and would never use one again. Now that everything is healed and i am trying to get back into running shape and a snowstorm hit Monday, i decide to give it another try because i really wanted to run. The run was OK, i did a few miles and felt it was a decent workout, then did the same tonite. My question is, how do you actually put up with the boredom of running on a treadmill? There are 24 TM's at the gym and after work, they are all full, so how bad can it be? Well, on one side i have someone with a book propped up on the machine and on the other is a guy that stops every 5 minutes to adjust his ipod. I need something to keep me going, why can't i have the New England Patriots cheerleaders working out in front of me? I feel way out of place but press on at a slowish 7.30 pace, but feel guilty, like i am rubbing it in to all these casual workout people. I also wonder why i am the only one who is sweating during their workout, am i a freak? I used to do the elliptical machines, there would be someone in front of me on their cellphone for twenty minutes, why do these people even bother? You can't get a workout while yakking on a phone. I guess we all have our priorities. Back in the day, i would run in any weather, afterall, isn't that why they made goretex. Have i really gone that soft that i even thought about running on a treadmill? I did not care if it was snowing, pouring rain or even a thunder storm, I RAN OUTSIDE! I am becoming a wimp. We were talking tonite at the local watering hole and Turtle Prez Dave Principe put it best, it is a necessary evil. F that, if i am going to get back in shape, i have to run outdoors. For those of you who run treadmills, i give you all the credit in the world, but they are so boring to run on! Running in lousy conditions helps build an inner strength that you need for racing well. I can only hope that i get that feeling back again real soon. That is my rant, agree with it or not, don't matter to me :)
Speaking of treadmill running, we have my friend and teammate, Martin Tighe. Now we all know that Martin is somewhat of a freak when it comes to running, but how did he ever manage to run 85.83 miles on a treadmill in 12 hours? It is still the standing World Record even though there is one better time that hadn't been ratified yet. During the same run, he also set the current 50 mile WR of 6:06.19 and is 2nd for 100k in 7:39.31. We are talking about a treadmill run, that is sick!! Of course, this is a guy who would do treadmill runs in an ice cream cooler for hours at the local dairy in preparation for his North Pole Marathon attempt, which he won, of course. I don't doubt there is anything Martin can't accomplish.
Three weeks from now, Martin will be running the UK 100k Championships in Galway, Ireland. Best of luck to you, Martin. I can see a top three performance happening.
