Slacker to the MAX

So I'm pretty terrible, missed a whole week although there wasn't much to report, my week runs can be summed up like this:

4 miles - craptacular treadmill
7 miles - didn't know it was possible but the crappiest craptacular screwed a water bottle on the side treadmill
4 miles - craptacular treadmill

Man did I have some BAD luck last week in the treadmill dept, and what makes me so angry is those girls that are there and then leave after they have walked on the treadmill for 10 min. I have NOTHING against walking, nothing, walk all you want, but these were girls that were chatting and using quality treadmills that people who are actually there to USE the machines and then poof 10 min in gone. I could swap but that requires stopping mid-workout and I hate that.

Then with my Mom coming in for the weekend I was faced with a dilemma. 14 miles inside on a treadmill (are you serious?) or wake up at the butt crack of dawn on Sat, we are talking like 5.30 AM and brave the fridgid temps. Normally I have no problem getting up early on a Sat for a run, but in the summer its actually warm at that time, in the winter its gotta be at least like 9 for it to be bearable outside, at least in my humble opinion. So inside it was. Being that it was a Friday night I had my pick of the treadmills. I chose one in the back so I could at least glance at the show they had on the tvs mounted in the corners (yea yea I know I said I can run without watching tv, but 14 miles inside called for drastic action) The treadmill can't even go all the way to 14 miles, or rather it takes me too long to get there, so halfway thru, I stopped, took my gel and started again. Overall it was ok, the last 4 miles it was just like "all right already", I think I watched about 20 people come and go too, which makes you feel awesome and really nerdy all at the same time. I definitely did not have enough in me though for this run, I felt sick and weak after, luckily Dave was nice enough to make me some grub. I could have used a better pre-run snack or possibly a 2nd gel, I will have to re-evaluate before next weekend.

The sick part about all of this is I think there will be a repeat performance for 15 this Friday. We are heading to Madison early Sat morning to see some friends so I think the only option will be Friday night indoors. So I'm either really dedicated or crazy, you can decide.......

Last night was another 4 miles, once again craptacular treadmill, stupid new years resolutions! I felt good though and forced myself to run a tad faster than normal. I started out the same but kicked it up much early than I normally do. This leads me to wonder if I could actually be pushing myself further? Or perhaps it's just easier on a treadmill, who knows, I finished 4 miles in about 33:40 though, I was pretty pleased. It also didn't feel like much, I finished and thought, huh could have kept going I don't feel like I really worked out. It's been interesting training this close to a past marathon (Chicago) I have never "stayed" in shape, and I think this time it's pretty evident I have, haven't lost my stamina. Also on a yuck note, my toes are back to "runner" status, good thing it's winter and I can wear socks all the time!