In even the most intrepid woman runners’ life there comes a moment when she must admit defeat. Well, not really defeat, but what feels like defeat to a road runner. That’s right; it's the moment she realizes that she is going to have to do her workout on a treadmill.
For me that moment came yesterday morning in Las Vegas when I woke up to temperatures already nearing 90 degrees. Stepping out of the hotel was like stepping into a blast furnace and I realized that I should have gotten up before dawn if I had had any intention whatsoever of being outside. Hell, I should have taken my cue from the road crews who start setting up around 10 PM and work until some time around 6:00 AM. They’re not crazy.
I found my way to the “Fitness Center,” which consisted of some sad looking circuit equipment and (yay!) two spanking new Precor treadmills. (Anyone who travels knows about “worn treadmill” syndrome. You can kill yourself on frayed rubber). Things were looking up. At least the air-conditioning was working!
I didn’t have my iPod with me and the television was broken, so I decided to do a speedy four miles with negative splits and focus on form rather than distance. I am on vacation! I just couldn’t stomach the thought of going nowhere for 6+ miles. My goal was to do sub 9:00 on my last two miles – but to do them focusing on proper form – landing directly above my center of gravity and engaging my glutes so that the forward-moving power came from there and not my calves. This is hard for me because I tend to lean forward and land on my heels when I attempt any speed. The other thing I wanted to test was my pace my measuring my footfall.
Well, following a brief warm up I found the focus on form somewhat alleviated the boredom and lo and behold, when I counted my foot fall at 88 I realized that if I could speed up my feet without breaking form, I would have a powerful workout – and some decent times. Since right after this vacation I will go right into training for my fall 10K, this seemed an opportune time to do this – and quite frankly, it’s a lot easier on a treadmill where you don’t have to worry about being mowed down by a wayward SUV.
How did I do? Well, I ended up running the 4 miles in just over 36 minutes – not great – primarily due to a very slow first mile and a half during which I felt like I couldn’t breathe. But I did learn a huge amount about what it feels like to have those “quick feet” and to push with the glutes for a more powerful forward thrust.
So maybe the treadmill workout wasn’t such a waste after all. I learned a few things about where I’m really starting from and what it’s going to take (what kind of speed I will have to sustain) to reach my race goal.
It is clear to me now that training my form has the potential for helping me improve my time and it is there that I will focus after I get back home. For now, I’m gonna keep it fun…I am on vacation, after all!
