How to Take the Dread Out of the Treadmill

I go months without talking about my workouts, and then blog about fitness two Fridays in a row.  Who am I?

Anyway, today I want to talk about how I’m taking the dread out of the treadmill.  But first a back story.

When I first started working out, the treadmill was my cardio machine of choice.  Looking back, I think I really enjoyed knowing how fast I was running/walking and how far I was going.  The exactness of it drew me in. 

I only realized how fun and liberating outdoor running was when I started training for my first half marathon.  After a while, I actually looked forward to my long runs on the trail.

Then I moved several times, and once again became a slave to the good old treadmill, only to rediscover my love for running outside when we made the move to Miami.  I can honestly count on one hand how many times I ran on the treadmill during our time there.

But as you all know, St. Pete is a bit different than Miami.  I’m still familiarizing myself with area, and believe it or not, the heat and humidity are much more evident up here. 

Because I don’t want to stop running altogether until I (and the weather) figure things out, I’m resorting to the treadmill a couple of times a week.  And one big lesson I’ve learned so far is that while I can run long distances outdoors, I just can’t do it while on the treadmill.  Yes, I realize this more than likely a mental thing, but I just find it so boring and blah. 

So to take the dread out the treadmill and to keep my boredom at bay, I came up with a little run/walk workout.  I’ve completed it a few times now, and I must say it does a decent job of keeping things just interesting enough! 

  
So here’s how it works – complete minutes 0-10 and then repeat three to four times for a great cardio workout.  And I know this has you changing the speed a lot, but the pattern is easy to grasp after the first go around (I just think 3-1-1 and 2-2-1).  The best part is that it’s 100%customizable – adjust the speeds to your liking and add an incline to make it even more challenging.  The possibilities are endless!

Just for the record, I still call the treadmill the dreadmill.  I just tolerate it a lot better now!

Happy Friday and thanks for reading!