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Posts from the ‘Treadmill’ Category

Dec 18

Treadmill troubles

I have a confession to make: I love my treadmill.

It’s something of a sin as a runner to say that, though. I’m supposed to love running outdoors. Feeling the breeze through my hair. Enjoying the sun beating down on me. Blah, blah, blah.

The truth is, running outside is sometimes not very glamorous. I’ve had guys yell at me from cars. I’ve nearly been hit by cars. I’ve had to make unexpected pit stops at not-too-pleasant park bathrooms.

I only really like running outside in Mountain  House. My long runs in Tracy have a tendency to be incredibly painful at times.

So I turn to my treadmill.

I do it often. Sometimes it’s a mid-length eight-mile run. I’ve done as much as 15 miles on my treadmill before.

Why? Because, unfortunately, my treadmill is always ready. It gets dark and my running buddies are unavailable. I don’t want to run alone, for the reasons I mentioned above.

And I love my treadmill. I can put on Netflix on my iPad and watch crazy programs such as Destination Truth or Ghost Adventures. I just kind of go on automatic and push through. I’m admitting now, much of my marathon training was done on the treadmill.

So when it started acting up about four weeks ago, I panicked a little, but didn’t overreact too much. My treadmill is four years old. I’ve never had is serviced.

And it needs to be serviced. But I kept going on it. Why? The marathon was only weeks away. And it’s been getting cold here.

I know “cold” is a wussy reason to not want to go running outside, but my last long run before the marathon was a 10-miler through Tracy and I was cold and tired all 10 miles of it.

I took a week off after the marathon.

To be fair, my legs are still tired. But they are also itching to run. And I’m overeating. Bad combination.

So I readied myself to hop on the treadmill earlier this week.

The belt was slipping before. When I hopped on this time, it WOULD NOT MOVE.

Yep. It was stuck. And I haven’t gained THAT much weight not running since the marathon (I’m still swimming and I’ve gone to another fitness class with Sam twice).

I turned it off. And on.

Started with a walk (rare for me).

Go. Go. STOP. Go. STOP. STOP.

Well there goes that.

One of my running club buddies wrote on my Facebook wall that it was pretty badass to run down my treadmill.

And that’s essentially what I had done. I’ve run a ridiculous amount on my treadmill this year staring down this marathon. It fits in with the two-jobs, multiple responsibility work environment I’m in. It fits in with my lifestyle.

So I placed a call to the treadmill repair folks who hold my warranty. They said they’d send a kit out to my house. Then I’d have to call another number.

This is a dumb process to say the least. Shouldn’t the repair person come BEFORE to diagnosis the problem? I’m so glad they take my word for it.

I was expecting a large package (maybe a new belt?), but instead, I got a small brown envelope with two items:

In this bag is a new drive belt. I’m not 100 percent sure the guy knew what I meant when I said my belt was “slipping.” He should have. But I got this nonetheless. I’m a little confused by this.

Oh, and they sent me lube. I thought this was kind of funny. It even came with a “lubrication pattern” diagram to make sure the person who eventually comes to fix my treadmill knows what he or she is doing.

I called the number back for treadmill repair and was told someone would be calling me within 48 hours to schedule an appointment. That was Friday afternoon. I haven’t heard yet and it’s Sunday night.

I’m assuming I’ll get a call at some point Monday. I better. I’m a little annoyed by this not-happening-quickly repair so far.

And I’m worried that once someone comes, it still won’t be right.

I just want to run again. I know I can open my door and move outside, but right now my treadmill feels comfortable to me. Maybe it’s post-marathon anxiety, but my treadmill is where I want to be.

I can’t wait to have it back functioning.

Dec 16

Things to catch up on

Over the next couple days I need to blog about several things: swimming, biking, a broken treadmill and pole dancing class among the topics.

I need to get on this.

And I need to start running again.

Oct 9

Finally 15

I was supposed to wake up this morning and head to Mountain House for a 15-mile run with Jennie. That didn’t happen. Instead, I woke up at 2 a.m. with a bloody nose. I didn’t think much of it outside of it being annoying. When I woke up again at 5:45 a.m. I sneezed and my nose started bleeding even more. Then it didn’t stop.

Well, crap.

Sorry for the graphic nature, but the blood was running down my throat. I held my head back. I tried to make the nose bleed stop in the bathroom so that I’d still be able to run. Nope. I texted Jennie. We were a no go on the run.

I got the nose bleed to stop, temporarily, and went back to bed. I didn’t wake up again until after 10 a.m. and the nose bleed came back, a little. Great. It was turning out to be a not-so-great morning.

I put away my hopes for a 15-mile run. I decided to just relax.

By 2 p.m. I was feeling A LOT better. But it was past the point I like to run outside. If I venture out at 3 or 4 p.m. I usually end up being held up by traffic lights and not-so-nice motorists who refuse to wait for me to cross.

So I opted for a treadmill run.

Yikes. I’ve done 10-mile treadmill runs. Never 15.

So I prepared.

First, I found the non Band-Aid brand band-aids. I know there’s another term for them, but it escapes me. I still have a bad blister injury from last week’s half marathon. So I wrapped my toe.

I prepared for a slowish run because I wanted to make sure I could last the whole 15 miles. I aimed at 12-minute pacing. I started quick, though, under a 10-minute pace.

I loaded up my 20-ounce Amphipod water bottles with a mix of 50/50 water and Gatorade.

I have two because one typically has a sleeve to keep the water colder. I use the sleeve more during the winter so that my hand doesn’t get as cold. I took it off today so it was easier to hold on to mid-way through my run.

I kept one bottle in the refrigerator. During my long treadmill runs I usually get off the treadmill a couple times. I do that for necessity rather than a real want to get off and start over.

My treadmill maxes out at 99 minutes or 999 calories. After 99 minutes the treadmill shuts down. Everything stops.

That’s part of the reason I invested in a Garmin foot pod for my Garmin 405CX.

This way I can use my Garmin to accurately reflect how far I’ve gone. It’s funny, though, even though I have the Garmin calibrated with the foot pod, my 12-minute miles were coming up short in the beginning and long at the end. It’s likely because I slow down as I run longer distances.

So I use the Garmin and have to get off the treadmill about 7.5 miles in just to reset the treadmill. I usually take this time to also grab the second water bottle, go to the bathroom, give my dog a hug, etc.

It’s always the time I want to stop as well.

I finally didn’t today. I just kept pacing through, usually doing miles under 12 minutes. I just kept moving along.

By mile 14, I was starting to get tired. This is why training runs are so important. I’m not convinced it’s about the mileage I am racking up, but rather about the time I am running. I need to be able to run 4-plus hours in order to run the marathon in less than two months. Whether it was a good idea in between two half marathons is another question.

Either way, I finally hit the 15-mile mark in slightly under three hours.

I know treadmill training isn’t the best for marathon training, but I know it can be done. I’ve read a lot about busy people who only train on treadmills, so I never feel bad running on mine. In fact, it helps my joints and is really better for me in general. So I’m slightly more back on track for this marathon.

It was really starting to worry me, not  getting in the 15-mile run. Now that I have it’s a huge weight off my chest.

On to the Nike Women’s Half Marathon next week. I’ve decided, particularly with the running of three half marathons this month, that I’m going to approach this race as a good opportunity to pace myself and really enjoy the whole 13.1 experience. I’ll be with two friends and my Team Somersaults teammates and I just really want to finish strong and have an awesome time.

Sep 30

The road to 103

I started today with 98 miles for the month of September. I’ve come a long way since January’s 68 miles. Up until June I averaged 60-70 miles a month. Then I went to New York City on vacation and only ran 38 after a horrible run (and 2:42 time) at the See Jane Run Half Marathon in June.

In July I was prepping for the San Francisco Second Half Marathon. I finished that in a redeemable 2:35:30. Better.

This weekend I run the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon. Outside of an injury that derailed my training for two weeks in August (I only ran 88 for the month) I’ve been fairly consistent in ramping up for the Dec. 4 marathon.

I rolled out of bed this morning and put on my running clothes.

“Guess what my run today means?” I asked my husband who was in the shower.

“I don’t know,” he responded. (He’s not much of a guesser or anything.)

“When I finish the first two miles, I’ll be at 100 miles for the month,” I said, digging through my collection of sports bras.

“Yay,” he said from the shower.

“I know you’ll care for about two minutes about that,” I said back. (This is our relationship, it’s fine, he just isn’t as into running as I am.)

I grabbed my waterbottle, filled it 50/50 with cold water and Gatorade. I hopped on the treadmill and started going.

Two miles later I had my 100.

I kept going. It’s not a rest day. I could keep running. I did three more miles to not overdo it before Sunday’s half.

It’s two miles short of the 105 for July. But I passed the 100 mark then somewhere in the Haight.

The mileage is harder now. It will continue to get harder. The runs are longer. They will continue to be.

The passion is deeper, though, on the road to 100+. But maybe that’s just me.

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