There's a reason I like running outside

The snow finally stopped, and I have pretty much dug (or been dug - the kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me) out.  Grand total of about 2 feet over 3 days.  And now it's predicted to snow tomorrow... I guess my shopping trip for a snow blower tomorrow can be considered good or ill timing.

But after the snow came the cold.  Today the temperature did not get above 0 F, and the wind chill was pretty horrendous.  It is my personal policy to not run outside when the air temperature is below 0 F, mainly for my safety and also for my own comfort.  But I really, really REALLY hate running on treadmills.  I like to call them dreadmills - I actively dread using one.  Which probably doesn't help matters at all, but I digress.

You see, I like to wander about when I'm running - I don't go in a straight line, I meander side to side as the mood strikes me.  I speed up and slow down a lot, sometimes just because, sometimes I see something that interests me, whatever the reason.  This type of running is not conducive at all to running on a treadmill.  Add to that the shear boredom of staring at the same place for 30 minutes, an hour, what-have-you...  I have to mentally force myself to keep going; typical thoughts are "Just get through this song, and you'll be 3 minutes closer to being done."  I guess that's another thing about the dreadmill that I don't like - I can't let my mind just wander to whatever strikes my fancy.  I need to focus on not meandering side to side, or speeding up or slowing down, or having to wipe the copious amounts of sweat from my face and neck.

But I need to run.  I need to move.  And if Mother Nature isn't cooperating, the dreadmill it is.  The only thing worse would be running the indoor track at the Y - I'd only have to play NASCAR over fifty billion loops to get a mile in *shudder*

Today's Run

Today I ran on the treadmill at the Y for 6.33 miles in 57:00 minutes (my body gave out after moving for 60 minutes - 3 minutes of warm-up, and 57 minutes of running) for an average pace of 9:00.  I have to be careful to not go too fast on a dreadmill, as I have tripped over my own feet before while dreadmilling, and falling off one of those things is not fun at all, especially when the back is about 2 feet from a wall with a big window.  If I'm going to have to do this a lot this winter, my pace is going to go down A LOT, which isn't the end of the world but disappointing considering the amount of progress I had made...