Last night, we got a big ol’ dump of snow, the third so far of winter. The previous snow is still here, so it’s a bit of a mess with compact snow under the fresh stuff. I didn’t really feel like going for a walk in it. Underscoring that was the forecast, calling for warmer temperatures, followed by freezing rain, then old-fashioned rain. I did not relish being caught in freezing rain while ankle-deep in snow.
And so I did something I haven’t for a very long time–I did a workout on the treadmill. Woo!
It’s been in the upright position for many months, so I wasn’t even sure how well it would work, but after adjusting the bike and a rolling set of drawers to make room, I set it back down into its “You may now sweat profusely while operating” mode and set off. Which is an odd thing to say in relation to a treadmill, perhaps, since you never go anywhere.
My intention, after thinking about it, was to do a 30-minute or 300 active calorie workout, whichever came first. The latter occurred at 30:56.
Because it had been so long since I last used the treadmill, I chose to be conservative on the incline, only taking it to 4 instead of my usual 10. I did ramp the pace up to my usual 6.5 after a few minutes and kept it there.
The results are interesting. My last recorded treadmill walk was on February 18, 2021–yes, almost a full year ago–and I’ve included them in brackets in the stats below. As you can see, leveling out the incline didn’t really affect the workout in any negative way, and in some respects they were better, with a lower BPM and better overall pace. It would seem I’d gained little by taking it all the way to 10. Maybe it’s a metaphor for not trying for perfection.
Anyway, it was good to get back on the treadmill, surprisingly enough, and I’ll make an effort to do this more often when the weather is poop.
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)
