Mill No More

I mentioned this in passing in Monday's post but I wanted to dedicate some time to this thought.

Now that both of my girls are in school and I have my mornings free, I do not have to run the treadmill any more.

Let me repeat.

No. More. Treadmill.

Now, I'm not actually a treadmill hater. I don't use the term "dreadmill" simply because the treadmill was a great tool for me throughout my running journey. Not all runners have the luxury of being able to run outdoors whenever they want, be it family, weather or another sort of obstacle, the treadmill was a useful and valuable part of my running journey.

But the treadmill is now something I can use when I choose to, not something I have to turn to because I have no choice. I won't have the chance to run on Tuesday (work beckons after all) but Wednesday I will run once I drop the girls off at school. I figure I'll get in a 4-5 miler and I will have the chance to run it outdoors.

What this means for my runs is a more diverse scenery. Throughout my running journey, one constant view of mine is me, from the mirror in front of me at the gym. It's not exactly a favorite view because it can get pretty boring. Believe me, nobody wants to look at LB for 45 minutes. Not even my mother.

Now, I can look forward to real scenery, not a static mirror and wall.

I will not completely scrap the treadmill, though. The thing I'm anxious about now is hitting the 'mill hard with speedwork. Now, when I see the treadmill I know I will have speedwork to do on there. I have interval runs I want to do, tempo runs and the like. There are a few runs I'm itching to do but haven't because of time.

I know the treadmill has a horrible reputation among runners, and that most runners run outside all the time. But this is new territory for me, having the ability to run outside when I decide, not when fate decides.

With that, I say not goodbye to the treadmill but rather see you later.

Once in a while.

On my terms.

When I say.

Got it, 'mill?