I HATE the treadmill

Look, I know HATE is a strong word but that is truly how I feel.  I am NOT a treadmill runner.  I feel like my gait gets all out of whack and I can't seem to run more than a mile at a time when I'm on it without taking breaks to walk. That being said, I've been running my weekday runs on the treadmill at the YMCA for the last 2 weeks because of the snow and crap weather we've had lately here in Boise.  And I hate it. 

This week my plan calls for me to run 4, 5, and 9 miles during the week with my long run of 18 this weekend.  I met Lynn this morning for my 5 miler on the treadmill and was going to call it good for the day until I realized I could get out of work a little early, take the kid to the Y for teen yoga (she loved it!) and I could pump out the remaining 4 miles while she was at yoga. That way I would only have to do 5 on Thursday and could have a day of rest before my 18 miler on Saturday. 

***Quick pause for another brief story which may or may not explain what I did for my final milei today: At work today I was talking to a fellow runner about the crap conditions outside and he suggested going to the Nampa Rec Center and paying for a day pass to run on their indoor track rather than suffering through another long run on the snow.

So I slugged through 3 miles on the treadmill after work and it took me over 35 minutes to get that done. It was getting pretty crowded at the gym and I started feeling guilty for being on the treadmill  for over the 30 minute allotment during the busy time of the day so I decided to run the last mile on the indoor track.  Keep in mind that each lap on the indoor track is 1/12 of a mile so I had to run 12 laps on this little track to get my last mile completed.  BUT, that mile went by SO fast!  I felt like I was flying!  I'll admit, I walked one of the laps but I still finished in what I believe was under 10 minutes for my final mile. 

It made me realize that maybe my buddy from work is on to something: 18 miles on an indoor track might not be so bad.  I'm certainly not going to do it at the Y because that track is ridiculously small.  But the Nampa Rec Center's track is 1/5 mile per lap, so I'd only need to do 90 laps to make it work.  Sure, it might take me 4 hours, but there are bathrooms right there and I can keep my water and electrolytes handy too and that might be worth the $8.25 fee for the day, especially if it snows again tonight like the forecast indicates. 

I'll pontificate a bit further and make a decision soon.  Stay tuned...