The Sweaty Runner

Across much of the eastern United States we've experienced some of the coldest and most harsh weather in the past 30 years. It hasn't been all that fun for us runners, never mind those people who work outside nearly everyday.

I think I did fairly well through December and January where, here in the Northern Lower Peninsula we saw 2 feet plus of snow and daily negative degree windchill. I motivated myself enough to take the pup out day after day braving the subzero windchill's, but it reached a point where I was wearing 15lbs of clothing. 

I'm not saying I dislike winter, it's a great time of the year, but this winter in particular I have really started to cringe. I watch the weather every morning and it just sounds like a broken record, "More cold weather headed for northern Michigan, sub-zero temps, and blustery wind...." blah, blah blah..Enough already!

So I found solace on the treadmill, or dreadmill whatever you want to call it. I've learned to embrace. I gave in and bought a gym membership so I could continue to work on speed, and tune into my marathon pace. I also been able to catch up on TV shows, like Burn Notice, Breaking Bad, White Collar, House of Cards and some older shows like The 1400....Ok you see where this is going much of my running time has been spent on the treadmill.

It got me wandering today. Do people really want to see ME? The sweaty runner by 30 minutes in, continue to plod along for another 30-60 minutes. I mean I know I sweat a lot, and I think I sweat even more when I'm inside under conditions of 70+ degrees with nearly no air flow, this runners got a marathon coming up, give me a break! 

Puddles form, yeah it's disgusting. I do my best to wipe up after I'm done, but I think those gym rats are still staring at me, thinking to themselves, " WOW! Disgusting. How can someone let themselves get so out of control?"

Ehhh, whatever. Gym rats can suck it!

Wait am i now a gym rat?

 I did 13 miles on the treadmill today. It was a great workout, with marathon pace miles, and half marathon pace miles. Yes, I was coated in a thick layer of sweat, but it felt good. 

The way I see it, my body is pretty efficient at cooling itself, I may look disgusting, but when you see a smile on my face after an hour or more on the treadmill, you might just want to look the other way, cause I'll be back again soon for another heart pounding workout soon enough!

So embrace the treadmill, ignore that sweaty runner next to you, and RUN MORE!