treadmill – Finding Fitness

Years ago I used to be able to run on the treadmill. I could run on it for an endless amount of times and have these deep, fantastic thoughts while I was running.

Something happened and I lost that feeling. Now, I sigh, grumble, whine, and fight myself onto the treadmill. Or I bundle up and head outside in the bitter cold.

While some days it works out there are times when you have one option: the treadmill. If you’re like me, and in a treadmill rut, these are a few things that may help break up the monotony of the run that goes .. nowhere!

Good tunes … great music always helps. I’d love to give you a perfect playlist for running but we all have our own unique tastes. Build a music playlist that is a bit longer than you expect to run and fill it up with upbeat music that will keep you motivated and positive.

Like audiobooks? Maybe try that. So I used to listen to audiobooks when I ran. It never failed .. the *best* part of the book would start up at the end of my workout. I’d reach down and add time to that treadmill every time because I had to know what was going to happen!

Take the boredom out of the pace. If it feels like you are coasting miserably in auto-pilot then grab the wheel and chance course. Maybe we add intervals, which are fantastic at improving our pace and endurance. Maybe we add hills to prep for rolling hill race coming up. Keep it interesting enough to where it works for you.

Break up the run if you must. If you just. can’t. suffer. through it .. then break it into short bursts. Maybe a few minutes here then hop off for cross training or maybe a few laps around the track. Hop back on. Wash, rinse, and repeat. It is the same principal as intervals but instead of varying the run tempo you are just varying the workout.

I hope these tips help. It is chilly here right now so I personally need to become friends with the treadmill again. These races are not going to run themselves!