Time: 40...something... minutes
Pace: sometimes 13:20 min/mil, sometimes 10:00 min/mil
Most Challenging Moment: I hate treadmills
Most Inspiring Moment: Not cold?
You may have heard that there was snow in Boston and your first thought was probably, "How will Kendall get her runs in this week?" This is correct, because this is what the sidewalk outside my house looks like:
So, I'm not one that scares easy when it comes to snow. I've lived in Boston for 5 years, Chicago for 3, grew up in New Jersey--snow doesn't really bother me. But when I go to Star Market and this is what the checkout lines look like...
...I pay attention. That right there is a shopping cart full of several cases of water. That's some next-level apocalypse stuff. I saw a girl on the floor, her whole upper body stretched into a shelf, searching for the last of the packets of ramen. God help you if you wanted a box of spaghetti. (did you know Boston is a college town?) At one point, while waiting in line, a toddler let out a wail of exhaustion and desperation and the woman standing behind me looked at him longingly.
"Don't you wish it was okay to start crying like that in public?" she asked. The despair was palpable.
But! We made it home and waited out the storm (some of us better than others)
and when I woke up today to a fresh three inches on top of the 23 we got yesterday, I suspected that perhaps I would not be making it outside for my run.
So, I went to the gym.
Dave works out at the Boston Sports Club in the Prudential Center, and I've long known about their 1-week free trial memberships. I've been waiting until the weather got truly horrendous to use it, and this was the lucky week!
Oh lord I hate treadmills. Here's a tip: if you want to run with a giant TV one foot from your face, no airflow, and something beeping at you incessantly, you may enjoy running on a treadmill. I was always one of those people in gyms who went on the elliptical and idly flipped through US Weekly, so I wasn't looking forward to getting in 4 miles on the treadmill, but iiiiittttt waaaaaasssss hooooorrrrriibllleeeeee.
First I couldn't figure out how to get it to start and then it wouldn't stop beeping at me because it wanted my heart rate and then it refused to go any faster than 13:20 min/mil which was not going to cut it because I needed to get this exercise done in 40 minutes or I'd be late for Dave.
Also, that stupid timer is the worst. My tactic when it comes to running is to run out half the distance I need to go and then turn around and run the other half, so that on the way back, when I want to stop, I can tell myself that the faster I run, the sooner I'll be done. This does not work on a treadmill. It's too easy to stop! I would run for what felt like twenty minutes and then look down and be like "FOUR?! FOUR MINUTES?!? WHEN DO I GET TO LEEEEEEAVE?!?"
Here is when I realized I hated life and this gym and everyone in this gym:
As you can (sort of) see, the distance says 1.96 miles. For those of you paying attention, you'll know that that's less than half of what I'm supposed to run. It was unpleasant.
But just when I was ready to call it quits, I turned on Iris's Disney mix on Spotify, and what should begin to play?
Go the Distance, man.
And I did it. I hated it the whole time, but I did it. And tomorrow I have to go back and do seven miles. When I walked home, I passed armies of guys with snow shovels working on the sidewalks and I wanted to give them a hug. Shovel faster.
I'm not the only one anxious to get back outside. I caught Abby cuddling with my post-workout clothes. Someone misses running...
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