Treadmills and Turkey Trots, and Fartleks, hehe

Yesterday I attempted to run 8 miles on a treadmill.

(Pause for emphasis)

See, originally, I was going to do the Run-a-Thon at the school I work in. Sure, outside on a track isn't much better, but it's still better. But then it rained. And then it poured. And alas, I found myself at Powerhouse gym, sweating bullets whining about how miserable I was. So, I decided to turn it into a fartlek adventure. Fartleks are where you run fast for a short amount of time, simply for the joy of running. It's a Swedish word that means "speed play." But it's fun to say to an American who doesn't know a lot about running just to gauge their reaction. Hehe.

First, I ran 3 miles, normal speed, surprised to see that my old faithful 6.0 was too easy for me. Awesome. So I cranked it up to 7.0 and still felt great. Put the incline on 1.0, even though people debate whether that's useful or not I figured it couldn't hurt, and I started cruising.

But I had no music. And the ESPN sportscenter was soundless and repetitive.

So after 3 miles, I thought, hmm, maybe I'll jump on the bike. That lasted a minute, and I went back to the treadmill and ran another mile.

Good, halfway there.

But then my motivation totally crashed. I was done. Sweaty and sad, I got off the treadmill, went on the elliptical for a minute, felt frustrated, and then ran to a treadmill by the giant fan. Oh, relief.

For a second.

Then I felt crappy again. So here the fartleks start.

First, I ran for 3 minutes, then I walked for a bit, then I bumped it up to 8.0 and ran for a minute. Then, walk for two minutes. Repeat, this time, bumping it to 8.5. Then again, at 9.0. Then again at 9.5. Then one last time at 10.0

FINISHED!

It was awesome. Wow, my brain just wrote that. No joke. My subconscious is playing evil tricks on my soul. I meant, it was AWFUL. I do NOT recommend. NO NO NO.

But, my favorite race EVER is this weekend. Brad and I are running 7 Friday night (fingers crossed), after I whip up some chili for Melissa's Bachelorette Shindig. Then, Saturday at 11:00, I'll toe the line, probably not feeling rested, probably not peaked to PR, but happy. I cannnnnotttt wait! I love it, I love it, I love it! The included picture is from 2010's MTT. Let's get it, 2011!