Man Versus Machine

The saga continues

It was 15 degrees on Wednesday morning with layers of crusty ice covering the ground, the result of an overnight flash freeze following three inches of snow and rain. A good day to run inside on a treadmill. 

If you told me I’d be willingly submitting to the dreadmill a few years ago, I would have thought you were crazy. What an awful contraption. No heart, no soul, way too much tech. I run to escape this modern world, not to be subsumed by a 15-inch television screen on top of a blinking digital display. 

Besides, “real” runners train outside in the elements. Doesn’t matter if it’s slushy sleet or excessive heat, many an iron will has been forged in the fiery depths of meteorological despair.* 

*(I genuinely believe this, by the way. If you want to become a mentally tougher runner, go run in bad weather. I also believe in not being a dumbass and taking unnecessary risks. It’s a thin line sometimes.) 

My anti-treadmill sentiment began to change when I started working with my coach, Avery Collins. Dude has won some of the toughest races on the planet. Even he swears by the treadmill as an offseason training tool. 

After explaining that I was leaving tons of fitness on the table with my stubborn refusal to even entertain the idea, I finally embraced the infernal machine. Now it’s become a staple of my training regiment. Maybe it can be for your running too.