I have a love-hate relationship with the dreadmill treadmill. I find it mind-numbingly dull, but it’s nice to use when the weather is bad, like this morning, for instance. The treadmill also shows me improvements I’ve made in my fitness, like this morning, for instance.
I drove in sleet the half mile to my gym. My training plan called for only a 30 minute run, so I knew I could stand doing that on the treadmill as long as there was something good on TV. Thank you, HGTV’s Property Brothers.
While doing my workout I noticed something. My routine has consisted of a warm-up pace followed by paces of various speeds that challenge me. This morning, my warm-up pace felt too slow, so I increased it to a pace that a few weeks ago was one of my “challenging” speeds! Likewise, my new challenging speeds are a bit faster than a few weeks ago.
This delights me because I’m not an “in shape person training for a marathon.” I am a “person getting in shape while training for a marathon.” There’s a big difference in those statements.
Throughout my workday today I kept thinking back to this morning’s treadmill session and how pleased I am with the little, incremental progress I’m seeing. Fitness is not something that happens over night, and it’s not something that can be noticed day to day. It sneaks up on me like a fun little surprise.
Today’s realization that I am making improvements gives me the motivation to work out again tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so I can join my running club outside…with no treadmills in sight.
482gr8 