Exercise

Treadmill workout 125: Skipping stuff

As per usual, I loaded up a bunch of videos for the workout and despite a somewhat slow start, was humming along after that. When I hit the 5K mark I was astonished to see a pace of 9:18/km–this is actually slower than the speed of the treadmill, which is set to a pace of 9:13/km. How did I defy physics?

I did lean down to scratch a leg a few times, but that couldn’t be it. I also leaned forward to scrub through the sponsored segment section of a Corridor Crew video. Now, I get it, these people need to pay the bills, but there are right ways and wrong ways to include sponsored segments if you insist on doing them.

The right way:

  • Ryan George puts them at the end of his videos and actually makes them into little sketches unto themselves. He does the weird trick of making you want to watch the ads.
  • Brad Colbow puts the ads in mind-video, but he keeps them short and tends to stick to stuff he actually uses/endorses.

The wrong way:

  • A previously mentioned Let’s Game It Out featured a 2+ minute long ad that was a bored-sounding Josh reading boilerplate about the game Genshin Impact. It was literally unwatchable (I scrubbed through it).
  • Every Corridor Crew sponsored segment uses the same guy, so I now associate him negatively with advertising. I see him and the urge to scrub goes through the roof. Also, his segments are too long, consistently fail at being amusing, and constantly push products of dubious value (enough with the VPN ads, people).

Anyway, back to the workout. I am still a bit puzzled over the weirdly slow pace of that fifth km, which brought my overall pace down, but what can you do? Machines don’t lie. Well, they totally do, sometimes, but I don’t think that’s happening here.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

Treadmill workout 124: Afternoon (un)delight

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself not feeling stiff or sore after the run on the treadmill yesterday, but still opted to return to a walk today. Friday is looking cloudy and mild (14C!), so I may try running in the great outside then.

In the meantime, I was slightly slower today for reasons unknown. I sweated more than usual, too. Maybe I was a little more tired than I realized after yesterday’s workout.

On the plus side, my BPM was pretty low, so maybe I was being secretly lazy. Lazy or not, this was still my 22nd workout of the month. I am a workout machine! If only my weight dropped as much as my workouts climbed. Maybe it will all...work out in the end. Ho ho.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

Treadmill run 6: Keeping the cookies down

FYI, I have done more than six runs on a treadmill, but this was the sixth on my own treadmill. Even though I’ve used the treadmill a lot (especially in 2022) it’s been mostly for fast walks, not actual runs. But today I ran!

Most of the time.

Looking over the precious few previous runs, I opted for a speed of 9, which works out to 6:40/km–a slow running pace for outdoors, but not bad for a treadmill. I expected my legs to catch fire because running and walking use quite different muscles, but to my surprise and delight that did not happen.

But my stamina for jogging is not quite there yet and a few times, maybe for about three minutes total, I slowed the pace down to 7 or 6.5 (my usual; treadmill walking pace until I recovered enough to ramp back up. I went 30 minutes instead of trying for 5 km, but the ultimate goal will be to push on for at least 5 km. until I recovered enough to ramp back up. I went 30 minutes instead of trying for 5 km, but the ultimate goal will be to push on for at least 5 km.

A couple of observations:

  • I listened to music, figuring it might be difficult to watch videos, with the head bobbing and all. This meant my eyes naturally fell to the treadmill display. This was bad because staring at the time made it feel like it was passing very slowly. I’m going back to videos or covering the display next time with a towel.
  • As noted, the legs held up fine. I guess all the slow burn walking workouts have helped!
  • I sweated a lot more.
  • At about the 28-minute mark, I suddenly felt I might throw up. I slowed to a walking pace for a minute, then switched back to running for the last 60 seconds.I think this happened due to an excessive amount of phlegm clogging my throat and getting jiggled around (yeah, gross). I am going to talk to my doctor about this, as this much phlegm seems strange and weird.

Other than the relative lack of stamina and the near-hurling right at the end, I thought it went fairly well. It is showery today, otherwise I might have tried outside. Maybe next time!

Stats:

Pace: 6:52/km
Speed: 9 (6:40/km) and 6.5 (9:13/km)
Time: 30:11
Distance: 4.39
Calories burned: 347
BPM: 154

Treadmill workout 123: The regret of nacho chips

I went grocery shopping this afternoon and bought all kinds of fresh, healthy vegetables and fruit.

And I also bought a bag of Doritos. I was bad and feel bad. I felt slightly worse after indulging in them.

And so I took to the treadmill for a guilt-filled workout that actually went fairly well.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

Treadmill workout 122: A river (of sweat) runs through it

A mid-evening workout tonight, but I did get a smidgen of exercise earlier in the day, too, when we went to IKEA. It was crowded and kind of yucky, for the record. I’d say about 60% of people were wearing masks (they became optional nine days ago) and while I hate wearing a mask, I was happy to keep one on in there.

But we did get some containers for the kitchen.

As for the workout, it was fine. I had a slower first km due to having to stop and re-tie my shoelaces. This always throws off my rhythm. Still, the slower pace and shorter distance also meant a lower BPM, so I have no complaints. Yet!

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

Treadmill workout 121: Title here

A decent workout, but I’m really running out of things to say. I stopped about 3/4 of the way through a Solar Sands video because I had to use the loo. Curse my tiny bladder.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

Treadmill workout 120: Nice and dry

Because it was raining like the dickens today! What are dickens, anyway?

The workout went well, and I even went well past 5K to finish the video I was watching. It was this one by Tom Scott, in which he corrects (and also mocks) perceptions about VPN, given how ubiquitous VPN services are as sponsors for videos on YouTube (something that still happens in a lot of current videos, nearly three years later):

The workout was pretty decent, too.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

An outdoor walk!

I had been cooped up too long, so went on a scenic walk to the mall via the Brunette river trail. It was nice. I have stats! And pictures.

Behold, the forest primeval:

The river, with signs of spring dotting the landscape:

Roots and ferns and stuff:

And finally, more pipeline destruction near Stoney Creek, Thanks, Transmountain!

And the stats. Not super hardcore, but I kept up a decent pace for walking (no running involved to avoid being stinky and sweaty when I got to the mall).

Walk 64
Average pace: 9:36/km
Location: Brunette River trail and beyond
Distance: 5.65 km
Time: 54:15
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 5ºC
Humidity: 93%
Wind: light
BPM: 120
Weight: 177.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 478.26 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12

Treadmill workout 119: Average is as average does

Nothing exciting to report. I watched some videos, all the stats were pretty standard, but with a little more pep than yesterday. I’m edging closer to trying an actual run outdoors, but the weather this week has been very soggy. I’m being fussy, but I don’t want my first outdoor run in a few months to be in the rain.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

Treadmill workout 118: Sweat release

Back to a more reasonable time of day for today’s workout and was a bit faster. I had the bedroom/office door mostly closed, so it got a bit warm and sweaty and my BPM predictably went up as well.

I have nothing else to add. For now.

Maybe I’ll try an actual outdoor run this week. Or even try running on the treadmill again. I bet it would feel weird. Weird, I say.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

Treadmill workout 117: Later and a bit slower

Today was a bit of a lazy day, but I still had to complete my rings, so off I went to the treadmill around 10:30 p.m. I only did just over 30 minutes to hit my goals and my pace was a little slower than usual, but as always, I did it and that’s good.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)

Treadmill workout 116: Running out of good videos

I wouldn’t say I’m running out of good videos to watch, exactly, but I do seem to be picking more for the queue that end up being ho-hum. For now, let’s call this a me problem. I don’t know if ho-hum videos result in a slower workout, but today’s started out pretty sluggish before improving in the latter half. I felt pretty blah. The end result was decent enough, though, so I can’t really complain.

The stats are eerily similar to yesterday’s workout. I have nothing to add to that, but wanted to point it out.

But I will be more discriminating in what I pick for the next workout! Or maybe I’ll try listening to music again, just to be zany.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5
Incline: 5

Pace: 8:51/km (8:49/km)
Time: 48:43 (47:05)
Distance: 5.50 km (5.34 km)
Calories burned: 478 (335)
BPM: 130 (120)