As most of you know I am finishing up my c25k program this week. I have one more session…
One more.
Then I’m on my own to figure out where I want to take this whole running thing. I’m a little nervous that once the program is over I’ll lose my drive to continue. There are other running programs out there 5k-8k and 5k-10k that I’ll probably download to my trusty little shuffle and give it a go. With that being said I have run the 30 minute portion twice. Once outside. Once on the treadmill. Now a comparison.
Outside:
There is something to be said about knowing you’re coming down the pike to a finish that makes you look forward to doing something that is physically challenging. My first attempt was last Saturday. I decided to go out by where the gym was so that I could run and then meet with Kent (The trainer) afterwards (From here on out I’m going to call Kent “Superman” cause he’s built like Clark Kent on the outside but you just know there is something spectacular inside).
This was a run that was not very well planned out. I didn’t know how far I could get in 30 minutes, if there was a round about circular path I should follow that would put me close to the starting point, or what the traffic would be like on an early Saturday morning. I just started out and hoped for the best.
I got the best I could have hoped for. Too early for traffic so no problem there. I quickly figured out the best route to take so that even if I passed my original starting point I could easily fill in the rest of the time without going to far. What I didn’t think about were the two hills that I would encounter. One in the middle of my run and one at the very end. 4 weeks ago I would have dreaded those hills. Sunday I looked forward to conquering them. Both times I told myself I didn’t care how slow I took them but they had to be taken at a run, not a walk and without stopping. Both times were a success.
It was a slow run.
I didn’t care.
I ran up two hills.
The treadmill:
On Monday I woke up to find a torrential down pour happening in my city. Not the kind of rain that you muster up the determination to just get out and do it. This was the kind of rain that 10 feet from my house I would be soaked and it would make for an awful running experience, not to mention it was the first day of going back to work at the community college and time was not on my side.
So I did the only thing I could think off.
I took my run to the gym.
And this is what I thought of it:
It pretty much sucked. I tried my best to not watch the time and at one point even put a towel over it to cover the damn thing. Unfortunately my running is so haphazard that I vibrated it off and it fell on the belt, under my feet and then landed behind me.
Grrrrrrr.
I kept grabbing the bar and then quickly shaking a mental finger at myself to let go. The treadmills are in front of a long ass mirror and I kept watching myself. One thing fat people shouldn’t do is watch themselves in the mirror. It leads to stinkin thinking:
“That person next to you looks so much better”
“Seriously, you’re never going to be a runner”
“You don’t look like you’ve lost 30 pounds”
“Are your legs rubbing together…gross”
“All that sweat is disgusting”
“Look at how fat you look”
“You’ll never run that 5k”
“Give up already”
“You suck”
“FATTY”
O_o
You get the picture.
Not to mention “snot rockets” don’t work well while running indoors.
The only good thing about the treadmill experience is that the last minute I pushed myself and got the speed up to 4.5 and didn’t fall off like the towel did 25 minutes early.
So there you have folks, treadmill running is not for me.
Tomorrow would officially be my last day to run the c25k program but I’m going to postpone it until Thursday. I really want my last session to be outside and the Wappler Doppler says it’s going to be another bucket tipping downpour.
Bummer.
So instead I’ll be meeting with Superman tomorrow. It will be the first of two free sessions and if he gives me what I’m looking for (which I have yet to figure out) then this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. I mean seriously, who doesn’t want to be a part of this 100+ weight loss life changing journey?
Don’t you?
Treadmill running is the worst. I tend to just stair at the clock and each second lasts a minute. When I run outside I like that I actually move. And I don’t care if I get passed by some middle aged power walkers because at least I’m not running in place like a lab rat.
My thoughts exactly…
I wonder what’s going to happen with my running plan once I conquer this 5K too. I hope I find enough I like about it to stick with it. Already in a week I feel like its helping change things…
Congrats to getting both your outdoor and your treadmill 30 minutes done though! That’s fantastic work! I’m excited to hear how you find your training sessions with Superman Kent and what you decide to do about the running challenge.
Having signed up for the 5k, at least I know I have to keep going until then lol. I just need to figure out how I’m going to implement it.
Wait! That last comment from me had my website wrong!!! This one has the correct link.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, YOU’RE GOING TO DO A TRIATHLON!!!
I love you.
Thanks. You should do one too!!!
Oh it’s on the list…
it is so on the list!
Welcome to the dreadmill. Running inside is the worst. I think it’s why most people *think* they hate running. If you aren’t ready to jump into a new program after Thursday, maybe run for the same length of time but push to go farther each time? I’m only 5-15 lbs away from where I really want to be and I still have most of those same thoughts every time I run. I’ll tell ya, you get some strange looks when you are running and chanting “shut up!” as your mantra. But it (mostly) keeps those thoughts at bay and it helps me keep my pace.
(Um, I definitely want to be part of this journey. I was starting to get worried about where you were!)
lol, dreadmill! Ever since I posted this I’ve had more people call it a dreadmill. I love it. Glad to know I’m not alone in my feelings. I got a strange look last week when I got down to my last two minutes and I screamed “You got this baby!”
I am deathly afraid i will fall off the treadmill. I don’t do much but walk on the thing. If I am going to do any running it’ll be outside. I feel like I don’t have that coordination.
I don’t have the coordination either lol. If I did, I wouldn’t be on the damn treadmill, I’d be taking salsa lessons 🙂
I’ve only tried outside once, and ugh I hated it. I keep hearing that if I give it more of a chance, I’d prefer it. I do watch the clock a lot when I am in doors though, I try to distract myself with the tv (wait doesnt everyone watch General Hospital while on the treadmill?) but it rarely works!
I think you’d like it better outside too…So many other things to look at. With podcast you never have to look at time, just “patiently” wait for them to tell you to stop.
I’ve recently gotten into outdoor running and I’ve found I love it! This of course is after walking/working my way up to running on the treadmill for 4 months. I didn’t know what I was missing, seriously.
I agree with you 100% on all accounts. Outdoor running is so much better! And not just for the snot rockets, but for times when you have to spit or anything gross like that.
I also hate watching myself run in the mirror. I’m way, way, too mental and critical on myself. I hate how my thighs look when I’m running!
WTG on finishing C25K. You should be hugely proud of yourself!!!!
Thanks anon! I am pretty proud. More stunned at what I just did for the past 9 weeks and curious what I still can do.
[…] by Bobbie I was reading over at 263 and counting today and I really related to the post and wanted to talk about my experiences with […]
I’m new to your blog but I love it. And you. This post summed up my feeling on treadmill running all too well. It’s just not for me. I feel like when I run on a treadmill i’m running twice as long and it is JUST. SO. BORING.
I, too fear the snot rockets at the gym. They are so much easier to cover up outside when nobody is staring at you. Let me just say I am not an attractive runner – spitting, snot, hair all over the place. It’s gross.
Awesome work though, I just re-read some of your older entries and you really owned C25K. Congrats, it’s a huge accomplishment.
Well thanks Becca for stopping by. Covering up one’s “ugliness” while running (i.e – tripping over crack in sidewalk or random lean to the left cause you weren’t paying attention, swearing out loud because of the wind factor, unsuccessful snot rocket attempt) is best done without a crowd!
[…] weather so today I took a deep breath and made a second date with the treadmill. As you recall from this post I don’t much like the treadmill or as what many of you have referred to as the […]
[…] pictures of my running during the c25k program. You know the ones with my little signs stating how long I ran for. Yesterday I was catching up with her blog and read how on Saturday she had completed a 5k. It […]
I’m currently working on finishing week 4 of C25K and I’m having a rough time. Your blog has been so inspirational to me and I wanted to thank you for that. This morning, I tried to run on the treadmill and it was just an awful experience. I’m lucky enough to have lots of wooded trails around my neighborhood to run on. I think I’ll stick with those for now on. At least the rain isn’t so bad under the cover of the trees.