Sixteen Dreadmill Miles

Snowpocalypse part III struck New York Wednesday and left me stranded at a hotel in the financial district unable to make it home after an event. It also left me unable to do my long run outside today so I had a choice: skip it (just like I skipped the previous 3 days' workouts) or suck it up and run 16 long miles on the dreadmill (aka the treadmill, for those who actually enjoy running indoors).

Thankfully the experience ended up being more tolerable than expected and went by surprisingly fast. I planned to break it up into parts - 6, 5 and 5, with a short break in between, but had forgotten that my programs the treadmills to stop after 30 minutes. So instead I paused for just a minute after each 30-minute interval to record my mileage and mentally regroup for the next one. This ended up working very well because it kept me from taking breaks, forced me to maintain a more consistent pace and made the miles fly by.

So what did I do for 2 hours, 18 minutes and 59 seconds while running?

• Analyzed the lovely shade of blue the wall in front of me was painted. Note to self: try very hard to get a treadmill in front of the windows next time. You can only read the 5 rules of the fitness facility so many times.
• Browsed through two catalogs. I figured I could get some shopping done and feel less guilty about throwing the catalog into the recycling without looking at it first.
• Went through every song on my iPod and had to repeat a few. Must update running mix.
• Found crafty ways to keep going when my 30-minutes was up, even when there were people waiting. I love breaking the rules.
• Learned how to text and email on my iPhone without slowing my pace or falling.
• Sweated approximately 3 pounds of my body weight.

I did 16 miles at an 8:41 average pace, which is pretty good for me these days. I used to be faster and hope to get back there someday, but for now I'll settle for injury-free and average. I'd also settle for the snow melting and the temp staying above 30, but that's highly unlikely. Just 6 more days before my next trip to California!