Coming to Grips with Katie

If you'd like to submit your own story about coming to grips, please send a PG story, 500 words or less in the body of an email (no pictures or attachments) to pollyoscott[at]gmail[dot]com.  Include your info, so I can link back to your blog. 

Coming to Grips with Treadmills by Katie Blakesley

I used to hate running. I don’t, particularly, anymore. It might not be on my top ten list of things I would like to do everyday, but sometimes it is. I first noticed a change when I came home from a swim/run last year and said to my husband, "It was the perfect night for a run."

He just looked at me and said, "Who are you?" 

I will never be one of those people who dream about crazy-all-night-200-mile-relays, marathons, or even half-marathons, but I run because it is good for me (or so they say). Oh yeah, and because I really like swimming and cycling, and unfortunately, running is the third leg of a triathlon. And so, I run.

I like running with friends. I like running when the weather is nice. I like running outside; you see the world in an entirely different way than when you are driving in your car.

Wintertime ruins everything I like about running. I am a bit of a weather wimp and don’t run outside when it is cold, and I grew up in Northern California, so my version of cold may not be your version of cold. Worse still, wintertime introduces the necessity of a treadmill in my life. Last week, on the way to the gym in the pouring rain, my four year old asked me how I was going to run in the rain. I told him I would run on a treadmill.

He answered, “What is that? Is it like pretend running?”

I pounced. Yes, running on a treadmill is EXACTLY like pretend running.

And yet, I have still logged some pretty serious pretend mileage this winter, all in the name of “training” and “sanity” and “my clothes must have all been washed in hot water this winter. They seem to have mysteriously shrunk.” I now am lucky enough to run on a treadmill with floor to ceiling windows which looks out onto an actual road. A busy road. It isn’t the same thing as running outside, to be sure, but at least I get a sense of movement. I’ve gotten to the point where I almost don’t mind running on a treadmill, especially since I have a new treadmill related goal. I was complaining to my brother-in-law about running on a treadmill the other day, and he had words of wisdom for me, having just returned from a Caribbean cruise.  “On the ship, treadmills face out toward the water, so you feel like you’re running really fast. You just need to run on a cruise ship treadmill.”  Now that sounds like a treadmill I would like!

Katie writes the blog www.swimbikequilt.blogspot.com.