Treadmill workouts

But I said yes!

Because I was short on steps again.

More specifically, my Forerunner declared today a rest day, but I defied it and did a treadmill workout, though at an overall slower pace, going from a speed of 6.5 for the first half+, then a mix between 5 and 6 for the rest. At the end of the workout, the watch declared I was Overreaching, which it hasn’t claimed in quite a long time. So that’s something!

Curiously, both the BPM and calorie burn were higher than the previous and presumably harder workout.

Stats:

Speed: 5.0-6.5 (6.5)
Incline: 1 (1)

Pace: 9:12/km (8:47/km)
Time: 27:42 (26:32)
Distance: 3.02 km (3.02 km)
Calories burned: 269 (243)
BPM: 128 (121)

Parenthetical numbers are from the previous treadmill workout.

I can’t really come up with a way to jazz up treadmill workout posts. This blog is already top-heavy with cat pics.

So, let’s just say I was coming up short on steps today, so to the treadmill I went.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5 (6.5-9.0)
Incline: 1 (1)

Pace: 8:47 (8:36/km)
Time: 26:32 (30:00)
Distance: 3.02 km (3.46 km)
Calories burned: 243 (262)
BPM: 121 (130)

Parenthetical numbers are from the previous treadmill workout.

After my Rest Day™ yesterday, I felt compelled to do some exercise today. While I don’t mind running in the rain (I don’t like it, either), today it is more monsoon than light drizzle, so to the treadmill it was!

I opted to mostly walk, but after hitting 3 km, I ran until I hit the 30-minute mark, which gave me a total distance of 3.46 km. Exciting stats below!

Speed: 6.5-9.0 (6.5-9.0)
Incline: 1 (1)

Pace: 8:36 (8:36/km)
Time: 30:00 (26:05)
Distance: 3.46 km (3.03 km)
Calories burned: 262 (273)
BPM: 121 (130)

Parenthetical numbers are from the previous treadmill workout.

My wee 2.5K run on Wednesday proved one thing: Taking 37 days off is an excellent way to reduce your stamina to nothing.

Today, I mulled how much I wanted to do that and settled on doing a 30-minute brisk walk on the treadmill instead. I may resume actual running next week, but my priority for the moment is just regular exercise and improving my stamina.

I think I actually sweated more today, too. And as always, the weather was mild and pleasant indoors.

I started at a more leisurely pace f 6.0 then ramped up to 6.5 for the majority of the workout, hence the more leisurely pace as noted below. BPM was up, though, because I remain soft and flabby. This should improve over the next few weeks. Excelsior!

Stats:

Speed: 6.0-6.5 (6.7-8.0)
Incline: 1 (1)

Pace: 9:35 (7:26/km)
Time: 30:01 (15:04)
Distance: 3.13 km (2.03 km)
Calories burned: 271 (159)
BPM: 137 (127)

Parenthetical numbers are from the previous treadmill run.

It doesn’t happen too often these days, but I again found myself short of my 10,000 steps daily goal and I have stinkin’ badges to earn.

I decided a 2 km walk on the treadmill would do the trick (it did), but ended up running for the second km (albeit at a slower speed of 8, rather than 9), which means I am growing increasingly tolerant of running on the treadmill. Probably a good thing with temperatures starting to get colder and the possibility of the “s” word getting higher.

The second km pace was 5:41/km, which is not bad for a planned walk.

Stats:

Speed: 6.7-8.0 (9.0-9.2)
Incline: 1 (1)

Pace: 7:26/km (5:35/km)
Time: 15:04 (28:07)
Distance: 2.03 km (5.03 km)
Calories burned: 159 (347)
BPM: 127 (149)

Parenthetical numbers are from the previous treadmill run.

Today the weather was very wet. I still went for a walk about an hour before sunset, which is to say 3:30, but by mid-evening I was still some 1500 or so steps short of my 10,000-step goal. I contemplated, not liking any of the options and kind of wishing I was on a tropical beach somewhere working on a nice tan. Since I am not magic, I went on the treadmill instead, figuring a 15-minute workout would net me the required steps.

It did! Even though I am very bad at math, it pushed me to 10,811 steps. The lateness of the workout also meant I got a new badge:

Stats:

Speed: 6.0-6.5
Incline: 1

Pace: 9:05/km (8:54/km)
Time: 15:00 (20:00)
Distance: 1.65 km (2.25 km)
Calories burned: 145 (185)
BPM: 119 (125)

Much like the last time I was on the treadmill, I found myself mid-evening with only 8,000+ steps and pondered what to do:

• A walk around the neighbourhood in the dark (but no rain)?
• A jaunt on the treadmill?

In the end, the treadmill won out, so I did a compact 20-minute workout and got my steps in. My streak continues, plus I got some actual exercise.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5-6.7
Incline: 1

Pace: 8:54/km (8:45/km)
Time: 20:00 (26:25)
Distance: 2.25 km (3.02 km)
Calories burned: 185 (299)
BPM: 125 (138)

Come 9 p.m. and I only had about 8,000 steps on the day. Inadequate! And I had just gotten another monthly badge for getting at least 10,000 steps per day. I could not break my streak and live in internal shame.

So I got on the treadmill and did a workout just like the last one, except for two things:

• I did 3K, rather than 4K
• I ramped up to 7.0 speed much faster

As a result, I burned nearly as many calories as the previous longer workout, got about 4,000 more steps and had a much higher overall BPM at 138, which is similar to a slow jog (which is kind of what this was, in a way).

The weather was fine, as it always is on the treadmill, so not much else to report. The shuffled music seemed to lean into a mix of R.E.M. and TMBG, which was fine by me.

And now I shower and sleep. But not at the same time.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5-7.0
Incline: 1

Pace: 8:45/km (8:47/km)
Time: 26:25 (35:17)
Distance: 3.02 km (4.02 km)
Calories burned: 299 (323)
BPM: 138 (121)

It’s been a while, but the weather is gross today (raining, around 9C) and I’m not 100% recovered, so I figured I’d do a nice ol’ walk on the treadmill. And I did!

I did 4 km and started at a speed of 6.5, but ramped up to 7.0 by the end, as I felt I was getting ahead of the machine. I even thought about ramping up to running speed. Maybe next time.

My training status is still Strained due to lack of proper sleep, which is affecting my HRV status (as has the last week of non-exercise). These things should right themselves soon™.

Stats:

Speed: 6.5-7.0
Incline: 1

Pace: 8:47/km (8:14/km)
Time: 35:17 (33:09)
Distance: 4.02 km (4.03 km)
Calories burned: 323 (387)
BPM: 121 (142)

(Yes, I know I had said I was going to hide all my exercise stuff from the blog, but it requires either a plugin or code, and it is not a high priority (but will be done eventually). To compensate, I have included a stock photo of a treadmill with this post to make it more visually interesting, if not stunning.)

Today I debated whether to go outside for a run. It looked like it would be around -5C to -3C in the morning and while that is better than -9C, I dithered long enough that I defaulted to the treadmill.

I kept the incline and speed the same as before, but after hitting 3 km, I started getting fidgety, and instead of stopping, I cranked the speed from 6.7 to 8.7. You can only walk at 8.7 if you have giraffe legs, which I do not. So I ran for about the last km and stopped at 4K, which is also a fine resolution.

The running part was not as horrible as I remembered, so I might just do a run from the start the next time I am on the treadmill.

Wednesday is calling for 0-2C in the morning with a chance of rain or snow, so I am uncertain where I will be running, but we’ll see!

Speed: 6.7-8.7 (6.7)
Incline: 1 (1)

Pace: 8:14/km (8:30/km)
Time: 33:09 (30.00)
Distance: 4.03 km (3.53 km)
Calories burned: 387 (292)
BPM: 142 (129)

I mean, it’s not a run day, and I have vowed to either go for a walk every non-run day, or do a treadmill workout. Today I decided to do the treadmill because it’s sitting there right behind me. It’s hard to beat that kind of convenience.

The only change from yesterday is running the speed at 6.7 the entire time. As you can see below, my pace was much faster and my BPM was lower, both nice to see. I managed to burn fewer calories, but that’s just body weirdness and rounding errors.

I can verify that I do not suffer from DMS¹Dry Mouth Syndrome when using the treadmill in January. I also gave the water bottle a better rinsing today so the water didn’t taste funny in that “not haha funny” way.

All in all, it was fine.

Speed: 6.7 (6.7)
Incline: 1 (1)

Pace: 8:30/km (8:48/km)
Time: 30:00 (30.00)
Distance: 3.53 km (3.41 km)
Calories burned: 292 (317)
BPM: 129 (133)