Treadmill running can get really boring. However, sometimes it can help you keep up a pace you may not have thought you could do.
Well, I went down to the gym and did my run, and did the thing in record time for me. Since I don’t trust treadmill computers anymore — found out the ones at school haven’t been calibrated since they were purchased — I used my trusty Garmin 210 and my footpod for good indoor stat tracking.
Then I just turned the treadmill on and cranked it up to “6″ … which was supposed to be challenging but doable for most of the run. However, about thirty minutes later I look at my watch and see that I’ve been pulling a 9:10/mi pace over the last half-hour. That’s way faster than I have run for that kind of distance — what the what?
Indeed, today I just kind of hit a sweet spot, and zoned out mentally while watching the TV in the room, and let my body take over on the repetitive motion of running on a treadmill. When I came out of my stupor, I still felt strong, so I kept at that pace. Another 15 or so minutes later and I was finishing up with my five-mile training run. This was something I have never been able to do before — and I don’t know how to do again.
Have you ever felt that sweet spot? How do you consistently find it?
I had no idea they were calibrated so poorly. I wonder what my new one is?
Not all of them are that bad and usually they are pretty good when new. But it is one reason I love a well-calibrated footpod.
Sweet spot for me takes at least 30 minutes of running before I get there. The first 30 are the worst.
30 minutes huh?
Other than this work out, I have only once felt like I had during that time — and that was last February on a 6-mile run that I hit my stride around 30-40 minutes in. I have yet to feel a “runner’s high” or continually find that sweet spot. So thus I solicit for all people’s help.