I can’t tell you this was an exciting week. I got what I needed to get done and left it at that. Despite the cold I was able to run, I just had to run on the treadmill. I honestly don’t mind the treadmill because not only can I watch TV but I can also do workouts I can’t outside (read: I can run artificial hills).
| Monday: | 12.2 miles untimed outdoors in the freezing rain |
| Tuesday: | Treadmill 11.4 8:30 pace |
| Wednesday: | Treadmill 11.1 8:33 pace and P90x core |
| Thursday: | Treadmill 11.35 Hill workout 8:48 pace |
| Friday: | Easy AMT cross train |
| Saturday: | Easy 12 with Tim in the State Park |
| Sunday | Freehold 5k Winter Series |
| Total | 70 |
I started the week off on the wrong foot. I ran outdoors in the pouring rain because I knew I wouldn’t be able to run outside for a few days (and hadn’t been able to for the previous few days). Unfortunately I got sucked into a swampy mud hole and fell on my face. I got cut up pretty badly as well and bruised my arm. (I fell and landed on my arm). At first I panicked that I had broken it (like when I got hit by a cyclist) but then I realized I didn’t. It took a few days to feel 100% fine. My basic knowledge base says it was a bruise and I was over reacting. (but with my luck I probably should over react every single time).
Tuesday and Wednesday were very similar runs on the treadmill. I always start off with a 6.7 pace on the treadmill and progress from there. (Normally to around 7.0 with the last five minutes I try and push at 8.5). I don’t really have a set treadmill time, I just spent 90 or so minutes. If I feel good, I make the treadmill go faster…if I don’t feel good I make the treadmill go slower. I run in most simple terms.
Then Thursday I decided to do the “Mountain Peaks” workout on the treadmill. I had been going back and forth between a speed workout or hills but decided ultimately with hills. It climbs two mountains starting at a 1.0 incline and progressing to 9.0. I can only do this workout for 45 minutes at a 6.7 pace (and I’m sweating bullets) but I hope to work up to more eventually.
Here is a summary of how I looked and felt running. It’s hard.
Saturday was a typical shakeout run with Tim in the park and who knows what today (Sunday) will hold at the 5k. I do know it doesn’t hold a PR.
So there is summary is my week. I’m happy with all my runs and felt decent doing them. My plans next week are to do roughly the same thing. Around 70 miles with speed and hills seems to be working well for me right now.
Questions for you:
What is your favorite treadmill workout?
What was your best workout of the week?
First, I love the drawing. lol. Secondly, you are flipping nuts for doing 70 on the treadmill. I have done 15 miles on the treadmill and the entire time I thought about what I was going to do to remodel my basement after staring at it for so long. If I planned to do 70–which I wouldn’t–I would have never have finished b/c half way through the week I would have gutted my basement and started altering it. lol. But, that is awesome! Congrats!
Question 1: I used to have a favorite 20 minute workout. Here is a rough idea of what it was: 5-6 minute warm-up; 1 minute sprint, 30 second jog; @ the 11ish mark you increase the incline to 10% and run; then cool-down from minute 15 to 20. The end.
Question 2: My best workout was yesterday. Since this low back injury from falling on the treadmill, I have been progressing slowly, purposefully. I felt great yesterday and had no pain, so I cranked out a 30 minute workout at 8.3mph. My goal has been to only do 30 minutes for now until I have no pain.
Hope you had a great weekend!
They weren’t all on the treadmill thank goodness!
Wow, I cannot even imagine how painful that fall must have been. I’m glad to hear you are pain free!
I don’t do treadmills…I can’t. (Wish I could though!)
I did however, do an unexpeted hill workout when I found a new route to run! Holy hills….yikes. felt great afterwards though. 🙂
I read about that nightmare hill workout on the treadmill when you posted on dailymile. It sounds pretty brutal… usually on the treadmill I do an interval workout, like 4 minutes hard, 1 minute recovery, and I do it for so many rounds. Maybe 45-50 minutes (I always do a one mile warmup too). I think the treadmill is good for simulating hills and also for some speedwork (I don’t really have access to a track unless I go at dark thirty bc ours is at a school).
I’m glad your arm is okay! Hope the 5K goes well today too.
My arm is fine now thank you. The 5k went well…not great but injury free is the way to be 🙂
Yikes! I am glad your fall was only scary, not injury inducing!
I am the first to admit that I used to have a stick up my booty about running on the treadmill…..
Then I moved to a situation where if I want to run on the weekdays, I have to do it on a treadmill. It’s not ideal, but like you said, I really enjoy that it allows you to do workouts that are difficult to do outside.
I rarely run long on the treadmill unless the weather is crappy and I simply HAVE to do a long run. So usually a treadmill workout is anywhere between 2-5 miles, which I do as speed work.
I’m the weirdo who sort of likes treadmill runs for the same reasons you said. I love hills or intervals on a treadmill and I like to do a 12×2 min hills at around 10% grade for an actual hill speed session or just rolling hills around 1-6% at easy pace, which then becomes not so easy. Or standard 800s or ladder intervals for speedwork 🙂
YES, MORE DRAWINGS!! Nice work with the treadmill workouts. There aren’t a lot of hills here, so we hit the ‘mill to get them in; last year, I worked up to 3.5 or 4 and was dying. They say hills are speedwork in disguise though!
I honestly agree with that too. I think my training posts are more enjoyable with a paint stick figure. 😉
Ha! Your drawings always crack me up – they really capture the emotion of the moment 😉
Great week of running! I do all of my running indoors right now too. I tried to run outside on Saturday, but after almost getting hit by a car, I took it inside and finished it there. North Dakota just isn’t made for running safely outside in the winter!
I agree! That is exactly how I felt when running in Upstate NY!
I’m in the same boat! New York running here is pretty difficult!
I’m glad you are ok. My best workout this week was running 3 miles outside today. It felt really good to run in the cold and my hip felt pretty good. I think I might try one of the hill workouts on the treadmill this week.
Ewwww for falling in mud. Hope you feel better now!!! Still a pretty impressive week after that happened!
I approve of the artwork. Well done on the treadmill, and the treadmill illustration.
I only ran on the treadmill for the treadmill illustration…it’s better then a selfie.
I like the sounds of that hill workout! I enjoy doing hills on the treadmill because it helps keep things interesting! It’s funny because I’ve found myself doing much similar looking weeks to what you did this week. Lot’s of just staying on the treadmill for 90 minutes and whatever I end up running in that time period… that’s that! Hope your 5K went well this morning- I’m assuming it’s done by now!!
It did thank you Lindsay. I find running for time versus pace makes the treadmill more bearable and less injury prone!
That hill workout sounds intense! I have a lot of trouble on the treadmill, and I think spicing it up with something like that would be helpful!
My favourite treadmill workout is a short one 😉 Eh, actually I probably should start using the hill courses/interval courses while running on the treadmill. I vary my speed with pyramid runs and intervals, but I always keep the incline on 1% because that’s supposed to equate to a run outside with wind resistance. Now that I think about it, perhaps adding in ‘proper’ hills might help the problems with my leg going dead since flat courses tend to make it worse and in some ways it manifests like a repetitive strain type of injury. When I first started running in 2007-8 I would do all the various courses on the treadmills on rotation (I didn’t run outside much at that point – I was too scared!) and I agree that keeping up a decent speed is so much harder a workout than simply varying speed on a flat/standard incline.
My best workout was today because I managed to keep my balance on icy pavements for 14 miles – I think that might be a record for me (I couldn’t face the treadmill so threw caution to the wind…)
xxx
I had heard that 1% incline made it equal. I’ve also heard that only counts if you are running 5 minute miles. I don’t know what to believe but I don’t mind the treadmill. I hate touching all the buttons so would rather use a program. It just makes it easier in my opinion.
My favorite treadmill workouts are the extreme ones. I love cranking it up to the max speed (the max 12.4 mph at my gym is okay, but I’ve been on some that go up to 14 mph, which are much better), and then just hanging on for as long as I can. And then doing it again a few more times. Similarly, I also like max incline runs (15 at my gym, but I’ve been on some that go up to 30). I train for stair climb races, so the max incline runs help with that, but in both cases, people look at me like I’m crazy, and/or out of curiosity (presumably because they want to see me go flying off the treadmill). But I do longer, less extreme treadmill workouts as well; they’re just not as fun.
Oh wow! I might fall off if I attempted anything over 10.0 pace. LOL. Wow that is seriously incredible and you are my new treadmill inspiration! Ha ha.
Ha… I can only run that fast for about 45 seconds to a minute (14 mph, that is). Your 5Ks are still faster than mine. I grew up running for speed more than for distance. Running longer distances is a relatively newer thing for me.
I hate the treadmill! It burns my feet! But most runners hate the elliptical and I love it (not that I’m a runner). That’s so many miles indoors! I think I’d go crazy! I’m grateful to live in Georgia where I rarely have to worry about it being too cold outside!
I did 4.3 untamed outside yesterday and loved every mile of it!
untimed haha not untamed
One could say the run set you free…(I probably think this is far my funny then I should)
I laughed out loud so I guess we both did
I have just started to actually try treadmill workouts that don’t consist of just running my miles straight at one pace. My new favorite is taking walk breaks (1-2 minutes) at a high incline. Somehow it makes going back to running feel easier!
Best workout of the week: 8 mile long run yesterday. As I’m training for my first half, each long run becomes the longest I’ve ever run (previously, my longest was a 10K). I got on the “pain train” at mile 6 and barely made it home. I thought my legs were going to fall off. But, it was a HUGE feeling of accomplishment!
First, I really appreciate you stopping by Lauren!
I’m really happy you are enjoying your training. I have been really enjoying high incline treadmill workouts myself. I never feel as accomplished as I do when finishing those!
I love your drawing, and I’m glad that you didn’t seriously hurt yourself when you fell. Nice miles Hollie.
I look like that on the treadmill without the incline! I am on it by default/necessity right now but I’m hoping, maybe, to get out tomorrow morning. If my legs work. I really like progression runs on the treadmill, working up to tempo pace, or I’ll do some kind of time-based interval. I should try a hill workout but I’m a weenie.
It’s painful and I’m still a weanie about it. It kind of makes the time go by faster…kind of.
Love your drawing! :’D
BEST drawing ever. Can I pay you to draw a self portrait for me?! 😉 And was JUST going to ask you about your hill workout, but I’m assuming the Mountain one is part of the treadmill workouts that you are on? I need to start more hill workouts- will have to see if my treadmill has something similar. Woohoo for high mileage- you go girl! PS: I need to email you.
You are a rockstar doing those hill workouts on the treadmill. I don’t mind doing hill workouts outside but inside is a whole other story. I love doing progression runs on the treadmill!
I love hill repeats on the treadmill. I find that a 5.0-6.0 incline makes a decent hill where I can do 4 minute repeats. Great for building strength
They make me feel strong too! Does Hadley have you do a lot?
I’m not training with him now. Just self coaching myself (and LOVING it!!!) He never had me do hills which I don’t understand! I know it is one of the biggest training routines used by the best runners! I don’t do them nearly as often as I should haha!