W4D3 - Treadmill Attitude

Over the years I have done a fair amount of my training on the treadmill in a local gym. I have been in a good few on-line debates at Cool Running or Kick!, with many a runner, about the benefits or otherwise of using the treadmill, and I have to confess I have always defended the use, and always argued that I could use them for longer runs as well as short bursts.

Well, I have to admit that I believe my attitude to them is changing. When I lived in England, I was in a country village environment, where, in winter time, I would leave for work in the dark, and return in the evening darkness. The roads and trails, the canalbanks etc, which were a summer delight, were impossible as training routes in the winter months, and so the gym and treadmill were a Godsend. I could easily run 5, 6, 7 milers on the mill, and not think anything off it. I have even managed 10 and 12 mile runs, and lived to tell the tale.

These days I live in Dublin. The streets, if not paved with gold, are generally stocked with lights, so that even in the depths of winter I can run outdoors, wrapping up well at times, but with no danger of visibility. But I still attend the gym, and have been running on the treads, usually when it's been raining, or wild and windy. Generally I would run 2 or 3 miles, maybe extending it to 4 at a push, and for some reason it's been harder this year. I appreciate I'm running slower, and therefore longer, in the gym, but mentally it has become hard to extend past 5K/3M.

Last night, I planned a 5 mile run, but the weather turned against me, with a thunderstorm breaking, so I went to the gym and set about the distance on the machine. I wasn't pushing the pace, I was steady, even paced, but mentally I couldn't cut it. My attitude to running this way has altered. Maybe it's the desire to be running outside, I could have waited till the storm passed, or maybe I have simply got bored with treadmill running. Whatever the reason, I only managed 4K (2.5M), in a time of 19:52, marginally under 8 minute pace, not a great night.

I will continue to use the gym for short sharp speed sessions, and general fitness, but my days of running 7 milers in sub 50 on the machines seem well passed me. I don't know when my mental attitude changed, but for now, I will be enjoying the roads and trails of South Dublin, and sod the weather...