Once again I am out of town, this time spending Christmas with my family. But while I could not join the Twisted Blisters at Griffith Park for our Saturday run on December 24, 2011, I was determined to run my 8 miles. This served as a recovery run from the 12 we ran last week. While it’s not as much fun running on a treadmill as it is with a group, at least I wouldn’t get subjected to any hills.
My plan was to go to the 24 Hour Fitness gym in San Ramon which is one of those Super Sport deals with dozens of treadmills among other cardio equipment. My dad wondered why I wouldn’t just go to the Bally’s gym right near their house as the two of us workout there whenever I’m in town. Basically, it came down to me never having gone there in a while. I also wanted to justify the money being spent on my membership there. So many have memberships to various gyms, but they end up never going. Sooner or later, you have to realize you can only sweat so much with the Wii Fit.
My dad and brother asked me how long it would take to run 8 miles, and I off handedly told them around an hour. That wasn’t really accurate, but I can’t quite remember how long it usually took. Or maybe I’m just so sick of math and don’t have the patience anymore to add up numbers.
The treadmill I ran on this time had a TV where I could watch anything from CBS, NBC, ABC, or even FOX. I ended up watching the game between the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs, rooting for the former. It was a surprisingly low scoring game, and it took the Raiders a field goal in overtime to finally win it. Good for them because they almost blew their big lead over the Chiefs.
I should also add that I FINALLY took the time to buy some new running shoes, same as the ones I got before. It was another pair of Saucony Arch-Lock’s as I was previously advised to stick with what’s worked for me in the past and to not start with a new brand of shoes when I’m this far into training.
While I was buying them, the guy at the store (A Runner’s Circle in Los Feliz) asked if they were comfortable and if I had any pain while running. I wasn’t sure how to answer because pain in this sport (let alone in life) never really ends. Plus, you can have the same pair of shoes for so long to where you can’t tell the difference between what’s comfortable and what isn’t. My feet are in pain I ask myself? So what! When I worked at Disneyland, most of my time was spent on my feet instead of sitting down. You didn’t see me complaining, did you?
Once you put on a new pair of shoes though, you suddenly realize:
“So this is what comfort feels like! Where have you been all my life?!”
The one thing I noticed most about these new shoes was that the heels of my feet felt higher up than usual. This must be for added protection, but it also made me very self-conscious of where my feet ended up landing. Once again I reminded myself not to land on the heel but on the ball of the foot. I’m pretty sure I did it right.
One thing I got increasingly concerned about was how much time I could stay on the treadmill until someone kicked me off (either literally or figuratively speaking). In total I had no more than an hour to run, but most gyms have signs all around telling you to limit your time on cardio equipment to half an hour. I know the importance of being considerate to others, but I was hoping no one would notice that I was deliberately overstaying my welcome.
When I did get to the 30 minute mark, I looked around to see if anyone was waiting. Indeed there were several people who looked incredibly eager to jump on the next available treadmill, but I was determined to get my hour’s worth. Still, I kept thinking someone was about to tap me on the shoulder saying:
“Excuse me! Did it ever occur to you to others might want to use this treadmill?!”
My response:
“Well if it did, do you think I’d still be on it?”
One stupid question deserves another!
To keep the ruse going, I then switched the digital display from time elapsed to time remaining so it would look like I had just started running. I figured people this would throw people off if they did dare peek over my shoulder. Of course, they could also notice that I already ran over 2 miles. Nobody’s going to believe I would run 2 miles in the first minute or so, and I would never be mistaken for a Kenyan marathoner.
So I did my one hour with only one interruption, and I ran a total of 4 miles and burned over 400 calories. I was going to take a rest and do the other 4 on another treadmill, but it was getting increasingly crowded and it didn’t seem worth the wait. I already invited another guy to run on the treadmill I just vacated, and a line was forming.
Or perhaps I was just looking for any excuse to get an Italian sandwich on San Francisco style sourdough bread at Togo’s. Hey! I had to put some calories back on after the run! So what if I’m still cheating on my diet?
Not to worry though, I will do the other 4 miles on the day after Christmas (aka Boxing Day). Happy Holidays everybody!
FUNDRAISING UPDATE: I am now 45% to goal and have raised $446.20. There is still time to make a tax deductible donation so you can stick it to the man! Click on the link below to make a donation. Even if it’s only $5, that will still go a long way.
Team To End AIDS Personal Page
Days of 2012 LA Marathon Training:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, and 8