Treadmill Surrender

This morning I woke up a few minutes before my alarm went off to the crack of thunder outside my window.  So much for my tempo run, I thought.  I guess it will have to wait until after work when the storm has cleared out.  I set my alarm ahead another hour and tried to go back to sleep, but it just wasn't happening.  I lay there for a few minutes tossing and turning and then finally decided to get up.  I decided to succumb to my treadmill.

It had been almost a year since I last got on my treadmill.  It's a cheap Pro Form from Sears, and it's been collecting dust and cobwebs in my garage for a long time.  A lot of people call it the dreadmill for good reason, and I'm one of them.  When the temperatures were in the single digits a couple of weeks ago I never really considered staying inside.  To me it turns running into a chore instead of a pleasure.  It doesn't matter if I'm staring at a tiny TV or drywall - it's just the worst.  I'm the type that has to see and feel, and there's not a lot of that going on when you're running in place.

As I said, the training plan I'm on called for a tempo run.  Since it was only supposed to be for 30 minutes I figured I could tough it out.  I walked into the garage, snapped a photo of my old enemy, cleared everything out from around it and moved it away from the wall.  The first five minutes of the run called for a warm up, so I punched in 6 mph with a 1.5% incline and spent it trying to reacquaint myself with the device.  Seriously.  It had been so long since I used it that I almost forgot how.

As I was warming up a couple of things occurred to me.  First, I hoped my neglected treadmill actually would work.  Sitting in the corner of my garage unattended couldn't be good for it.  I'd already had it serviced a few years ago after I first got it.  And second, I was crossing my fingers that the lightning echoing around me outside wouldn't cause a power outage.  I don't think my Road ID bracelet would have come in too handy if that were to happen.  Fortunately, neither of these things transpired.

Per Hal Higdon's plan I spent the middle 20 minutes (5 minutes on each end for warm up and cool down) gradually increasing my speed.  Here are my pacing splits by time:

5-10, 8:34/mi (7.0 mph)
10-15, 8:13/mi (7.3 mph)
15-20, 7:53/mi (7.6 mph)
20-23, 7:35/mi (7.9 mph)
23-25, 7:19/mi (8.2 mph)

When it was all said and done I have to admit I didn't hate the workout as much as I'd expected.  Having a specific task to focus on made the time fly by, and knowing exactly what pace I was running was helpful.  Maybe in the future I'll be less resistant to using it.  It'll take another good storm though.

Oh, and the workout?  I felt damned good.