The
first years of my running life were largely untethered—I didn’t belong to any
running community so I didn’t know how or what to do in order to get results.
One thing I got right was following a build-up plan in the back of a beginner’s
book on running that had like a 12-week training plan that got you up to
running for 30 consecutive minutes. I’ve been a runner ever since.
But
this time in my life was in Clay Center, Kansas, population 4,500. There was a
county hospital that had a very good fitness/wellness center that was about 1.5
miles away from my apartment. So I’d get home from work, run up there, crank a
few miles on one of four treadmills, and run home. Each treadmill had its own
overhead TV so the miles flew by as I watched a basketball game or whatever. I
would always try to figure out whether I’d get done by the end of the half or
game—it helped with my need to have numbers to crunch.
I
was always persnickety about running outside. Too hot? Too cold? Too windy? Time to get in the car and drive up there. Eventually I got married and
lived in a neighborhood that didn’t have easy treadmill access. The more I ran
outside and committed to running, the more incredulous I became as to how I did
the treadmill thing.
With
that as a backdrop, meet Astro:
Astro
is our new state-of-the-art NordicTrack 1600 treadmill. It does everything
except get you a beer. About a month ago Mrs. Woodrow decided a treadmill would
be a good play. It does make sense, as the weather has turned cooler and she
has knee problems that the more forgiving surface can help with. Many things in
our home get names (in addition to the dog, Beasley). Our charcoal grill picked
up the name R2D2, The blender is the Bass-O-Matic 6000, our cars are named
Sparky and Scooter, and so on.
Anyhow
I’ve been running on there about three times a week since we’ve had it. I can
run on the beach, in Italy, or in Austria due to our subscription to iFit. It also
lets me program my run before I begin. Yesterday I ran in my neighborhood
without leaving the house. I recognized everywhere I ran, it just didn’t
recognize elevation so I played with it a little. It also has me running on the
wrong side of the street because the Google Maps camera faces behind the car.
So I’m running in one direction but the pictures it shows indicate the
car/camera are going in reverse.
There
is also a 400m track for speed/tempo days. I don’t use this much since it gets
a little monotonous especially with these other features. It has a 1/8” plug so
I can plug my phone in and listen to podcasts safely which I don’t do on the
road.
The
only concern I have at this point is that my legs don’t feel as energized after
a treadmill run as they did after I ran on the road. I’ll get used to it because
I’m just barely scratching the surface on this. I tinkered with the elevation
on my 3.4 miler from yesterday and I ran about as fast as I have recently and
my legs felt a little charged the rest of the evening. I’m not really sure when
I’ll run in my neighborhood again— having a treadmill is a time saver plus we
have some adjustable hand weights for me to do walking lunges and shoulder
presses.
Never
thought I’d say it but I’m a treadmill guy once again.
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