The BioMethod Health and Fitness

My training, so far, has been entirely indoors and on the treadmill. I have been challenged by pain, new neighborhoods (gym territory) and motivation. Sunday, Wendy raised the game a little and challenged me to extend my planned run by one mile and to run outside.

Indoor vs. Outdoor

Running outdoors is not a big deal on paper but in reality it feels different and is  slightly more difficult when compared to treadmill training. Outside the gym you have environmental factors that include wind, terrain and the occasional stop light.

I have been training at two miles and this training day includes a small stretch to 3 miles but with the added outdoor factors. I found that the run was immediately different as my legs aren’t constantly urged or assisted by the electrically propelled treadmill. As I write this it doesn’t sound like a big deal but the physiological impact was apparent. I can imagine that if I had trained exclusively on treadmills and then raced outdoors that I might have a physiological hill to climb.

The Run

The first mile was slow feeling and my legs were a little heavy but as I reached mile 2 things were moving along rather smoothly. Around 2.5 miles I lost my wind a little and started to feel my sedentary life style begin to catch up. To make matters a little worse, Wendy was leaving me in the dust. Sucks to be beaten by a girl.

After the Run

I spent ten minutes walking on the treadmill after our run and then did my standard set of stretches. Wendy still had 5 miles to run in order to complete her training so I elected to lift weights, walk and stretch.