Treadmill runs

Run 480: Running on a treadmill uphill (both ways)

Run 480
Average pace: 7:13/km
Location: Canada Games Pool (treadmill)
Distance: 4.38 km
Time: 31:41
Weather: n/a
Temp: n/a
Wind: n/a
BPM: 155
Stride: n/a
Weight: 165.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3790 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPhone (for music) and Matrix treadmill (for running)

Only four days between treadmill runs this time, though I was originally planning on using the elliptical. Alas, all of the machines were occupied and I was too impatient to wait a minute or two for someone to decide that soaking in the swirl pool beat exercise.

Instead of choosing Manual or 5K Run I went with Fat Burn, same as I choose on the elliptical. As the run progressed (inclination set to 1, speed set to 6) I felt fine…for awhile. My ankles started to feel sore again, though not as much as the previous time. But then I started to feel really tired. I mean, really weirdly tired in a way I never feel during a run.

I dialed the speed down from 6 to 5.5 and eventually all the way to 4, which is a fast walk. I pondered.

I ramped the speed up a few times after, briefly, but switched off between jogging and walking until the end and I didn’t even cheat (mostly) during the cooldown period, which slows the treadmill to a walking pace. This also explains my silly slow average pace of 7:13/km.

It was during one of the running parts when it felt very hard that it dawned on me what was happening–and how dumb I was to not realize it. The hard parts were uphill. I verified this by tapping on the incline control and saw that it was set to 3.5 instead of 1.0 as the good lord intended. Each uphill segment lasted multiple minutes, which is multiple minutes longer than I have ever done uphill running before. It also explains why my ankles were hurting. I am a lousy mountain goat.

Secure in this knowledge, I will never choose Fat Burn again. I’ll burn fat by not eating Twinkies. For treadmill runs, I’ll stick to 5Ks or manual settings in the future.

Run 478: On a treadmill, slowly

Run 478
Average pace: 6:13/km
Location: Canada Games Pool (treadmill)
Distance: 4.93 km
Time: 30:42
Weather: n/a
Temp: n/a
Wind: n/a
BPM: 162
Stride: n/a
Weight: 165.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3780 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPod nano (for music) and Matrix treadmill (for running)

Another run on ye olde treadmill at the Canada Games Pool and I am reminded that I really need to bring a water bottle. The humidity in there basically makes every run feel like one at the height of summer.

The run itself started out strangely sluggish. I guess it took me awhile to ramp up. I set the speed to 6.3 and kept it there until about midway through, bringing it down to 5.8 before taking it back up to 6 and 6.1 for the last 1.5 km or so.

Toward the middle, I began to feel rather tired, the kind of “make it stop” tired but after slowing the speed I recovered and finished fairly well, though my times are still tracking slower than my outdoor runs.

While I was still feeling zippy I managed to put myself into a zone of sorts where I was no longer focusing on the readout ahead of me, but instead a vague sport on the treadmill display. When I began feeling tired my eyes drifted back up to the display and I found it very difficult to look away. The distance readout counts down from 5K and while 5K is not a great distance, watching it tick down from 4.65 to 4.64 to 4.63 is exhausting in itself. It’s like someone doing a countdown but being deliberately, infuriatingly slow.

Still, I got out and got a run in, so yay for me.

In a new and possibly intriguing development, a few days of torrential rain have led to virtually all of the snow disappearing, to be replaced by vast, lake-like puddles. I’m not sure if there’s been enough rain to fully clear the trails yet but on Saturday I’m going to check out the Brunette River trail and it just might be possible to do an outdoor run this weekend, which would be my first in six weeks–entirely due to weather.

Run 477: Running to stand still (two nights in a row)

Run 477
Average pace: 6:06/km
Location: Canada Games Pool (treadmill)
Distance: 4.81 km
Time: 29:22
Weather: n/a
Temp: n/a
Wind: n/a
BPM: 163
Stride: n/a
Weight: 163.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 3775 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPod nano (for music) and Matrix treadmill (for running)

Feeling crazy I decided to do another treadmill run just 24 hours later. It was either that or sit and eat everything I could find. I’m still having a little trouble curbing the urge to stuff my face, though I’m getting better.

I made a few tweaks to my setup. I left the phone in the locker and swapped in my olde iPod nano for music. I last used it for a workout on September 23, 2014. I removed some old music, added some new music, synced and it was good to go. I also opted to just keep my Fitbit One in my shorts pocket instead of clipping it on because it’s not like there are dramatic sweeping movements made while jogging on a treadmill.

Despite all of my careful preparation I forgot to start the timer on the Workout app on the watch until about the 1:14 mark, so it recorded a little under 5 km. Alas.

It was also about that time that I noticed the fan was not working. The fans are mounted ahead and to the left of the machines so there is no way to reach them without stopping or pausing your workout, getting off the treadmill, making whatever adjustments, getting back on and essentially starting your jog over again (but not totally over). I left it and hoped for the best. The difference was noticeable. I was sweating sooner and felt hotter, but not the sexy kind of hot, just the “this is gross and uncomfortable” kind of hot. My mouth also got about as dry as a hotter summer run. I am going to bring a water bottle next time.

On the positive side, I improved in several respects. My BPM was down, from 166 to 163, and my pace dropped from 6:13/km to 6:06/km. Not bad for one day of progress.

My next trip to the pool will probably be back on the elliptical but I may whimsically change my mind and jog again. The elliptical is a more pleasant experience and though I burn fewer calories on it (unless I switch to Mountain Goat Mode or something that simulates stair-stepping up a cliff face) the difference isn’t enough to bother me.

While I like the relative convenience of having a fitness facility nearby that lets me get some exercise in, I miss being outside and running the trails. If you had told me that this winter I’d be unable to run due to snow for at least six weeks (and realistically I’m betting it will be closer to two months) I would have uttered a solid LOL in your general direction because that would be ridiculous. And yet here we are with a semi-permanent layer of crusty, ice-covered snow still all over the place.

Run 476: Dreadmill

Run 476
Average pace: 6:13/km
Location: Canada Games Pool (treadmill)
Distance: 5:15 km
Time: 32:08
Weather: n/a
Temp: n/a
Wind: n/a
BPM: 165
Stride: n/a
Weight: 166.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 3770 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPhone 6 (for music) and Matrix treadmill (for running)

And so it was that I returned to the Canada Games Pool for my second-ever treadmill run. I spent several minutes just standing on the thing trying to figure out all the options. I finally settled on choosing the 5K Run option and set the speed to 6 (out of 10? 100? I have no idea). I left the incline at 0 because running up hills is unfun when the hills are real so I doubt the experience is enhanced much on simulated hills.

It took me a bit to get to the point where I could let go of the handlebars and jog like I normally would. There’s that moment or two when you first let go and the treadmill is tugging away at your feet, wanting to throw you off like a hapless dolt on America’s Funniest Home Videos. And while I felt my feet shift slightly a few times I was pretty stable the rest of the way.

I still don’t like the treadmill. It captures the mechanic of running–moving your legs back and forth–but there’s none of the verve, the stuff that makes running enjoyable. Instead of seeing the scenery and experiencing an ever-shifting series of dips and curves and variety, you just keep moving in place on that rubber mat that forces you to literally go through the motions to avoid flying off.

My pace was way off but I’m not sure how accurately it reflects my usual running pace when I’m outside. I finished at 6:13/km, which is super-slow. On the other hand, my last run was on December 4th and a month+ of no jogging is going to have an effect.

I’ll try again with similar settings and see how the next pseudo-run compares. Going by the forecast it will probably be weeks still before I can begin running on trails again and then longer still to do it after work when there’s enough daylight.

Have I mentioned before that I’m ready for summer?

The first official treadmill run

(NOTE: This post was actually published in December because I was too caught up in shenanigans in November to pay attention to my blog, but I’ve posted it on the actual day of the run to keep it accurate that way.)

With daylight after work growing short enough now to make post-work runs no longer feasible–the two places I normally run both lack any kind of lighting and would be Very Dark and possibly Very Hazardous to run–I finally did something I’d always wanted to: run on a treadmill.

I picked out a suitable machine at the Canada Games Pool, overlooking all the people happily splashing about in the pools below, no doubt happy because they were not using treadmills.

The machine was very big and sturdy. It had a lot of controls and settings but I figured things out enough to get started with a minimum of fuss. The most important controls were arrows that controlled the speed of the treadmill. I also noted the location of two bicycle-like handlebars to grip. I would come to know these intimately very quickly.

Getting started was the most difficult task and underlines how unnatural a treadmill is. On a trail run I control every aspect of my movement. I can slow and speed up on a whim, I got dodge and leap and generally do what is needed on a moment’s notice, something that is eminently practical on a trail that varies constantly in terms of condition.

The treadmill, on the other hand, controls you. Once the surface starts sliding back, you have two choices: start walking or slide off. As the speed of the treadmill increases, your choices become: start jogging or slide off at a high rate of speed as one might see in a bloopers video.

I had to use the handlebars.

I never did figure out the right tension/speed to match my usual running pace, I just kept cranking the speed until I felt I was running at what felt like something resembling a typical pace. I ended up with a time of 5:11/km which felt slower than it should have been but because I’d never used the iPod on a treadmill before I was merely content that it was in the right ballpark, to mix my athletic metaphors.

The motion of the running is odd. It feels unnatural and bouncy. The constant motion is strange. You can’t moderate your pace because that means sliding off, you just relentlessly continue. I suppose that makes it good for pushing yourself to beat PRs or something. There is always the option to ramp the speed down but that means leaning forward slightly to hit the big down arrow. It sounds simple but running in place is amazingly good at making simple things more difficult than you’d imagine.

The most unexpected part, however, was the dehydration. I’ve used the ellipticals at the pool before and after 39 minutes of use I’d be a bit parched but nothing more. The building interior is a somewhat humid environment with all the water and warm temperatures. This made no difference on the treadmill. Either that or they had magically removed all traces of humidity from the building while it was closed for renovations, replacing it with a dry, desert-like air.

After an official time of 17:18 I slapped the Stop button. Fortunately this causes the treadmill to slowly wind down so I didn’t go flying off into the pool. The reason I ended my run with only 3.3 km covered is my mouth had become so dry it was difficult to swallow and it became so uncomfortable I literally could not stand it. Never on the hottest summer day with the sun blazing down on me have I felt my throat and mouth so cotton ball-dry.

I am reluctant to try the treadmill again though I suppose it deserves at least one more go before I decide to shun it unto forever. I will have a honking big bottle of water with me if I do.