What was I thinking???

I don’t like the same-old, same-old running routes. I don’t like out-and-back running routes. I don’t like running in temperatures below zero. But more than any of that, I do NOT like running the treadmill!

What was I thinking?

After work Tuesday I headed to my moms fully intending on going for a 7 km run through the country. The days are starting to get longer, and even though it was freak nasty cold out, there were bright sun rays peaking through the hazed-over clouds; it seemed a perfect recipe for a late afternoon run.

But, there were obstacles. I’ve been struggling with serious belly issues for about a week now, and when I got out of my car, ohmygawd!!! I swear to you I was nearly knocked  halfway into the farm fields like an old rag doll, the wind was so freaking fierce – and cold! Bloody hell it was cold. Not Onterrible cold, but super freaking numb-your-face cold! I did NOT want to be stuck in that for 40 minutes.

Oh hey now, I thought, moms has a treadmill. Surely I could whip out a much warmer run on that no problem.

What was I thinking?

First, it took me a freaking half hour to figure out how to turn the bloody thing on (moms wasn’t yet home) and then probably another half hour to figure out the functions on the screen and the conversion between my min/km running pace to the treadmill’s min/mile speed. When I was finally good to go (with a rerun of Gilmore Girls on in the distance (the impromptu Harvard visit)) I thought okay, I can do this.

HOLY FREAKING HELL! I nearly fell off the bloody thing right off the hop… it’s been a long while since I was last on a treadmill. Okay, I thought, we’ll work up to my 5:00-5:15 min/km pace. Five minutes that felt like an hour passed; 10 minutes that felt like five hours past; 15, 20 minutes and I was done. I turned that sucker off, cursing my weakness, thinking what the frick, I can’t just do 21 minutes and call it quits, but I wasn’t getting back on that machine, no siree.

So, with my body covered in sweat, before I could change my mind, I quickly pulled on the two more running shirts, the arm warmers, the fleece, and the ear warmers I had packed, and headed outdoors.

What was I thinking?

Are you freaking kidding me? Why the hell didn’t I just do the outdoor run to begin with? Ugh. I ran a total of 4 km outside (with a Garmin that did not want to pick the satellites up until the last half kilometre!) and 2.07 miles inside.

And I walked away with a fresh renewed hate-on for the treadmill!

This is where I belong, cold and all!