Wednesday, December 3, 2008

It's treadmill season

Given the current state of the roads and the trails here in VT, it's looking like treadmill season for a while.

The trails don't have quite enough snow for snowshoeing yet. And, the roads are icy on the edges. We are forecast to have a storm with mixed precip tomorrow and another early next week. These snow/sleet/freezing rain/rain events make the prospects of road running even dimmer in the near future. But, sometimes, the treadmill really isn't so bad. I can dial into a pace, turn on some tunes, and just "relax" for a while.

Last night, I did six miles on the treadmill. I started with 3 very easy miles, and then alternated faster quarters with slower quarters for the last 3 miles. I didn't go fast enough to call it an interval workout. It was more like tempo pace - just pushing the pace a little bit to see how I'd feel.

After Monday's squat workout and last night's run, I'm a bit sore this morning, but nothing like the soreness I had two weeks ago after the first time I did Monday night's weight workout.

Tonight is an upper body night at the gym. Until the first of the year, I will stick with a max of one workout per day, not lifting and running in the same day. Each workout will be an hour or less, unless it's a skiing day. But even on those days, the total amount of time at a high intensity isn't that much.

3 comments:

David Ray said...

What, no snowshoe running? :)

What's in front of your treadmill that you stare at for an hour?

Speed Racer said...

Grooooan!!! Winter is the worst. But I hear you, sometimes the treadmill is nice. All that rest sounds nice too. Enjoy your off-season!!!

Damon said...

The snow isn't quite ready for snowshoe running. It's not deep enough in places and we've had some freeze/thaw cycles that have left what's there pretty crusty. We need another storm or two before the snowshoeing will be good.

Sometimes, I stare at a TV when I'm on the treadmill, but mostly, I put on my MP3 player, on random, and just listen to tunes and think about life.

For my very long runs later in the winter, I'll use my laptop and watch DVDs while I'm running. Beyond 90 minutes or so, I need some more stimulation than just the music.