End of Week Three (11/23/07)

I am one of the few people in the office this morning. The stores opened at 4:00 AM for the insanity known as Black Friday. I don’t think I know anyone who actually would go shopping that early, but I suppose some do. As lonely as it is in the office, the Y was equally deserted this morning. While the rest of the 5:30 AM regulars were home sleeping off their turkey, I made it in for the last run of the week.

Week Three called for me to run 4 miles, four times this week for a 16 mile week. This was a boring week, as everything went as planned and there was no doubt along the way that I would get in all the runs and all the miles.

At the end of last week, I reported that my week would work out best, if I ran on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Mission accomplished. I also wanted to get in more miles at Marathon Pace (MP). My overall pace this week was faster than Week Two, but I am still not running many of these miles at MP (8:50 – 9:00)

On Sunday, I got out into the elements for my first non-treadmill run of the program. RCSP stands for Ridley Creek State Park. The park features a 4.3 mile paved trail, with each tenth of a mile marked. This place will definitely be one of my more frequent locations for longer runs in the weeks to come. I have run here many times and it’s the place where I first realized that Maddie could beat me in a five mile race. We have had lots of great runs here together.

There is an Internet debate in the running forums over treadmill running vs. outdoor running. From what I have read, it is a lopsided debate among Internet runners, who by and large have considerable disdain for the treadmill. They call it the dreadmill. Clearly you can see that I have no objection to the treadmill.

The knock against treadmill running is primarily centered on the fact that it does not have the same environmental factors associated with running outside. There is also a frequently voiced opinion (represented as fact), that you must set the incline to 1% in order to compensate for the outdoor elements. There is also a strong opinion that by running on the treadmill, you are missing out on the wonders of nature.

I understand all of the anti-treadmill arguments. But its just too convenient for me to get to the gym at 5:30 AM , crank up the Ipod, get in a good run, shower and be off to work. I don’t mind running in bad weather, but I’m not crazy about running in the dark. Don’t get me wrong, I love to run outside. I love to see the flowers and trees, smell the air, feel the breeze and spit whenever I want to. But I like the accommodating access to the warm, bright digital running at the Y, where I can see the people, watch the morning news and let Jerry Garcia fill me in on the wonders of nature.


On Sunday, I ran my four miles at the park at a 9:09 pace. This was my fastest run of the week. It could even qualify for a MP run.


Going into Week Four, my legs feel strong and the 16 mile week I just completed has me feeling confident that I am coming out of my poor conditioned state I was in three weeks ago. I have alternating 4 and 5 mile runs for a total of 18 miles next week.