This past week I was visiting my family in the mountains, which meant very little runnable terrain. Super steep climbs, no road shoulders, and scary wildlife meant I was happy to park myself in the basement with the treadmill. Perhaps this was less adventurous than hoofing it up the mountainside, but I think this was my preferred method of off-roading. Fortunately I survived, dare I say thrived, five whole days of electric-powered workouts. I gave in to enjoying my music on the easy runs, and my coach had me do an awesome (and very distracting) tempo run that had me changing either pace or incline every half mile. It was probably one of the first treadmill workouts that I would venture to say came close to being fun, and having to think in half mile chunks really did make it seem short for 7 miles on the ‘mill.
Surviving treadmill runs for me is mostly about music, those obnoxious dance mixes and stadium anthems that you would only admit to listening to with a hand over your mouth, and visualization. It’s like I’m on a hamster wheel coming down the finishing chute of a race, over and over, with thumping bass. If nothing else, this seems like an okay way to boost my serotonin. My dad’s treadmill borders on comical, and I probably wouldn’t place too many bets on it being 100% accurately calibrated, but I did what I had to do, and a slightly creaky treadmill is better than nothing, specifically tripping over mountain things and spraining parts of me, or having an ill-fated meeting with wildlife not accustomed to encounters with weekend warriors.
Mostly my time with my family was filled with lazy mornings on the porch, lots of grilling, and it’s possible that this also happened:
For the record, that’s jalapeno infused tequila for margaritas. All things in moderation, including moderation, right? Verdict: delicious, and will be enjoying this again soon, though we all agreed it was more of a sipping beverage than something you’d knock back with less abandon. Instead of mixing the tequila with anything, I froze the following concoction in an ice cube tray: half lime juice, half water, and a little juice I squeezed from a small orange. I served the infused tequila over my fancy rocks with a splash or two of club soda. It was the perfect compliment to the smell of the ribs coming from the grill.
I’m back home now, and while I enjoyed my time off and away with my family, I’m glad to be back home and kicking it on my usual morning routes.
Happy Friday!
