A failed experiment.

Two of the things I like best about running are: A) it's outdoors, and B) it's free.  So, perhaps I should have known that this experiment was doomed to fail.

As I have mentioned, running is taking up a lot of time by this point.  I have a busy weekend coming up, so I thought that I should try and get an extra long run in on a weekday evening.  Running outside when it's cold and dark is not always my favourite, particularly not on long runs.

So, I took out a one-day membership to a very cheap local gym and decided to try a post-work treadmill session.  If it worked out, maybe this would become a regular thing.

I read a lot in advance.  I knew to set the incline at one degree to better emulate road conditions.  I was prepared for it to be a bit more boring, so I downloaded hours' worth of Desert Island Discs.  I was all set.  Right?

You know by now this isn't going to end well.  I just really, really wasn't prepared for HOW boring it would be.  It was so weird.  I love running.  I really love it.  Yet on a treadmill, after about ten minutes I pretty much wanted to kill myself.  I'm barely even exaggerating.

It didn't help that I hadn't anticipated gyms to be so NOISY.  What with that and my crappy iPod headphones, the gentle tones of Kirsty Young were barely getting through, so my plan for a DID fest had to be grumpily abandoned.  I cranked up some No Doubt as an alternative (I never said I was cool).  Still not cutting it.  And if Gwen can't inspire a person to exercise their arse off, I don't know who can.

So I was grumpy and bored.  Without fresh air whipping around me (and let's not even start on the fluorescent lighting), I was also extremely hot and sweaty.  It's weird, but the unnatural conditions of running on a machine felt all wrong.  It was harder than it should have been and time seemed to slow down to an evil creep.

I managed a grudging 10K and then decided that life is just too short.  Running usually makes me happy and this was doing the opposite.  I'm just going to have to fit some more running in this weekend, somehow.  Lovely, outdoor running.

In a funny way, this small experience has made me appreciate my usual runs all the more.  I don't care if I have to have no social life between now and April; I have to get the miles in and I now know that treadmills are not an option.  I can't wait to get running outside again.  Even the windiest, rainiest, coldest nighttime run is better than THAT.  Oh, outside - how I love you.  It took me a long time to realise it, but I am totally the outdoor type.

So, a failed experiment but one that has left me all the more inspired to get on with it.  That plus the fact that a lot of wonderful people have now sponsored me (thank you so much), and I am raring to go.  Just not under fluorescent lighting.