Apparently I'm getting soft. I spent almost all weekend working out at the gym instead of running outside. With a -15 windchill I lose my motivation. I did do some trail running at Lake of the Woods before it got really cold and windy, but most of my time was spent on the treadmill and elliptical machines at the local fitness center. It sucked. Spending 120 minutes on the treadmill is just not the same as going up and down the hills at Clinton Lake or Forest Glen. The treadmill has a great incline feature (10% is pretty steep!), but without the rocks, roots, mud, and great trail scenery...I'm easily bored. I plan on getting back outside if the temps break 20 degrees and we don't have 30 mph winds. Last I recall, the McNaughton Park 100 miler wasn't run indoors. Neither was Clinton Lake.
One bonus of indoor running...I get to chat with Jeff. He's still recovering from injuries so he can walk on the treadmill next to me while I do whatever workout I want. Doesn't work the same on the trails. Jeff seems to be on the road to recovery--I hope he'll get back to easy trail running before the Clinton Lake race at the end of March.
2 comments:
Chris,
I know what you mean. I'm pretty much a wimp when it comes to cold weather running, but this weekend is one in which I spent the most time on a treadmill (8 miles on Sat. for 80 minutes and 17 miles yesterday for 3 1/2 hours. I found myself visualizing myself at CL, McNaughton and Miwok during much of the time. I even downloaded many of the soundtrack songs of the Miwok 100k video and listened to them on my mp3 player.
It certainly takes persistence to run long on that treadmill (or outside in this nasty weather). 17 miles on the "dreadmill" is awfully good! Keep that up and the trail ultras will be a pleasure. You've got the IL Grand Slam in the bag!
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