I wish I could say it was exciting, and that I got to take pictures… No such luck.
Since the area around me is deserted on one side and super-busy-can-barely-walk-through on the other side, I can’t do a lot of outdoor running until I move to Makati. Or maybe I’ll start taking cabs over to nice places to run in — we’ll see if it’s worth the almost hour in traffic to get a run in. But for now, until I’m feeling more adventurous, the treadmill it is.
If you’ve been reading a while you KNOW how I feel about the treadmill. I haven’t stepped in one in over a year since I hate it so much. But one’s gotta do, what one’s gotta do.
So I grabbed my Walkman, put on my running clothes, and off I went. It was only 3 miles, right, it couldn’t be THAT bad.
Hahahaha. Yeah. Famous last words.
Does anyone likes staring at their face the whole time they run? Am I the only one who hates that crap where a gym will put the treadmill lined up in front of mirrors? All I keep thinking is “oh my god, my face looks red. Damn, I look sweaty. I look like I should be really tired. Maybe I AM tired. Maybe I should stop now?”
So the treadmill is boring enough without me staring at my sweaty, red, tired face for 30 minutes.
But of course, I was doing really good. I set the incline to 1.0, started playing around with the paces, slowing increasing from super-slow to slow, and I was really on a groove. “Hmmmm… this is not so bad…”
A few minutes later my thoughts changed to “OH MY GOD WHY IS THIS SO BORING? CAN I STOP NOW? I’M SO TIRED. SO BORED. IT MUST HAVE BEEN AN HOUR ALREADY! AAAACK!!! ONLY 12 MINUTES?!? WTF? Ok, ok, hang in there for 3 miles… You can run 3 miles…”
Needless to say 2 minutes later it was “The mileage thing MUST be broken. I run, I run, I run, and stupid thing barely moves. Ok, hang in there for 2 miles. 2 miles and you can do something else…”
When the counter hit 1.75, I decided to sprint the last 0.25 miles, but ended up stopping the machine completely. Instead of taking this as a sign, I just quickly hopped off, drank some water, wiped the sweat off my face, and went back in. “Ok, 1.25 miles and you’ll have your 3 miles in. It’s really not that bad. Go!”
Of course, it really WAS that bad. Half a mile later, I decided to do intervals until the end to keep myself entertained. Keeping the incline in 1.0, I decided to walk at a 15 min/mile for 0.1 miles, run for 0.1 miles at a 10 min/mile pace, then sprint another 1.0 miles at a 7:30 min/mile pace. On my last sprint, not only I hung out for 0.15 miles (nothing, I KNOW, but I tell you, it was grueling, it felt like forever), but I changed the pace to a 7 min/mile.
With 3 miles in the bag, and my heart racing fast, I slowly walked a quarter mile as a cool down. (Which I never do.) I thought that the mile marker was moving slow when I was running? HA! That quarter of a mile felt like I was there all afternoon.
My plan was to take a quick rinse at home and go swim laps. As soon as I stepped outside the gym, my head started burning, it felt like it was on fire. I walked into the cool apartment quickly, and felt faint. I was seeing spots in front of my eyes.
You see *someone* completely underestimated the humidity and the heat in Manila. Sure, the gym had AC, but as the mirrors showed, it didn’t do much as I was dripping in sweat within a couple of minutes.
Turns out, I probably should have kept it at a 2 mile run, even though I don’t remember the last time I only ran for 2 miles. Or even 3 for that matter… My body is not yet used to this.
So I ditched the swimming idea (as cooling as it would have felt at first, you DO sweat while swimming, and I definitely didn’t want to end up dehydrated today), I jumped in the shower instead and called it a day.
I think until I get used to this weather (which will probably take a couple of weeks), I will be running every other day and swimming every other day. Not doing both…
Wish me luck that I can find a way to keep myself better entertained at the treadmill…
Good luck with the treadmill boredom. I have been using it once a week during lunch (so I can spend the evenings with Steven) and I just don’t think I can take it anymore!
It’s horrible, isn’t it? We bought one for home, but for some reason I think at home it’ll be easier to keep myself entertained? I think putting the TV or computer in front of it so I can watch a movie, the fact that I can just run with my sportsbra and no one will be the wiser, etc…
I told you it was HOT! 😉
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