Sick + Snow + Training

Big storm hit my campus last night, but the snow turned to rain around 3am. So my college is still having class. And unlucky me got very sick last night. I thought I was getting sick and when I woke up I had absolutely no doubt. I have a fever, sore throat, headache, and chills. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, in general I just feel absolutely run down and terrible.

But my campus still has class so I'm currently sitting in Ethical Theories and I'm heavily delirious. This post will probably be taken down and/or ended tons of times throughout today.

My biggest worry is how this will affect my training. While it's only a minor illness, this will put me out of the running game for at least 5 days while I fully recover. Also running while on antibiotics (which I have a prescription for) can be extremely rough on your liver, so I'll be waiting until my antibiotic session is over.

I just want it to warm up so I can start running again and up my mileage!

Snowy days and the dreadmill

It's been snowy and a winter wonderland at my school for over a week now, which means a week of running inside. I know I could still run outside, but the idea of it truly scares me. I have reflective running gear but it doesn't really stand out against the bright white snow, and I never run in dark clothes.

So I've been running inside on the treadmill and it's just rekindled my disdain for long runs on a glorified hamster wheel. The only thing I like a treadmill for is to make sure that I am nailing times/splits during a workout. Other that that, I'm really not a fan.

So I've been running on one for a week and let me tell you, it's been rough. On mid distance runs (5-8 miles) outside I don't run with water. I stay hydrated enough during the day, and I just don't need it. But after only 2 minutes on the treadmill I reach for my water bottle, and I continue to do that in 2 minute increments for my entire run. That is why I don't like the treadmill, because I honestly feel like it makes me a mentally weaker runner. Instead of spending my run focused on my pace and internally training myself when to accelerate, reduce, or maintain my speed, I push buttons and then adjust my stride. It doesn't make me focused, it makes me lazy.

Another issue I have is finding the correct pace. Outside I can run around an 8 min:mile on a long run, inside it's at 9:40 min:mile. How is that possible? I honestly think it's because when I'm on the treadmill I shorten my stride without realizing and I cannot move as fast. And if I set the treadmill to 8 min:mile it's too fast. Because in a real 8 min:mile pace I naturally fluctuate because 7:50 and 8:30 as the terrain changes.

I really cannot wait to get back on the road and trails this spring. It's always so nice to run outside, it's like mentally stretching your legs or taking deep breaths. It has a calming feature that gym treadmills lack.