Cool Runnings

MARIA:

The first week of training has gone pretty smoothly…except for the cold weather. Now, I know that the UK is having one of the worst snow storms on record, but we are having some near record lows ourselves, and even South Floridians are contemplating moving to warmer climates! So, because I couldn’t bear to deal with the cold, there have been a couple of runs on the treadmill at the local gym.

I find running on a treadmill excruciatingly dull. If you’ve ever run outside I’m sure you can relate. When you run outdoors the scenery and the ground are constantly changing, you have to be aware of people (and traffic in the cities), and you are both physically and mentally engaged in the whole experience. Not so the treadmill. To me it’s the exact opposite – total disengagement of mind, body and soul. I have to give myself mini goals for each miles to be able to get thru the training otherwise I’m tempted to cut the mileage and jump off the treadmill, telling myself that at least I ran ‘most’ of the miles.

An observation: Having a news channel and a sports channel on the TVs in a gym is not sufficient distraction to get thru the workout. What about showing people training for or running a marathon? Or bodybuilding competitions? Or bike racing? Wouldn’t that be more physically inspiring than political debates and discussions about sports personalities on steroids?

For my sanity, I can only run a few miles indoors so I did have to brave the 40 degree (F) cold on Sunday to run my eight miles. I layered up: as well as a sports bra, I also wore a sports top, dry-fit t-shirt, long-sleeved cotton shirt, dry-fit zip-up jacket, long trousers, woolly hat and gloves (and socks and running shoes, of course). The hat and gloves made all the difference. The weather forecast shows improvement with temperatures back up into the 70s (F) by the end of the week. I’ll be glad to shed the layers and the soul zapping treadmill.