dr4b | Treadmills suck, and so do the Angels

I would have gotten up and gone running around the lake again today, except that when I left my place, it was raining, so instead I went to the gym and ran/walked on the treadmills there for a while. I figured out something fundamental, though:

Treadmills suck because you can pretty much get off the treadmill at any point and be right where you started, so there's nothing really compelling you to keep going other then augmenting the numbers.

Seriously -- if I start walking/jogging around the lake, I'm pretty much going 3 miles. That's all there is to it. But if I get on the treadmill I can just decide at any moment, "Eh, this sucks, I'm bored, I think I'll leave" and do so.

I spent the afternoon shopping with Megan and Heidi. Megan and I walked to a place near the lake called Title 9, which specializes in women's sportswear... which is all too expensive and too small for me. We had better luck at the mall with Heidi -- first I checked out some Eccos and other sandals at The Walking Company, and then we went around various other shops. In a moment of pique I bought a double-tank-top at Macy's (which I am assured looks cute on me, but which I have my doubts about), and then we ended up going down to REI, where we found a fitting room that all three of us could lounge around in and try stuff on, and I think I tried on like ninety pairs of pants. I found one pair I really liked, which has more pockets than I've ever seen in one pair of pants, and inadvertantly found a shirt, too, which I had just grabbed to try on with stuff, but which Megan said "That shirt! It's awesome! Buy it! Buy it NOW!"

Oh, I also found a stuffed animal, a duckling. I couldn't resist. You know how it is with me and ducks. The guy at the register quacked at me when ringing up the stuff I bought. He also helped me figure out that I'm apparently still in REI's member database, even though I hadn't been there in a really long time, so cool.

Came home. Went to Safeway. Got tortellini. Cooked tortellini. Called Nick. Goofed off on PP. I guess it's been a decent, semi-productive weekend.

Still not king.

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Weird; that means we were probably at REI at the same time. (We bought hats, and Llyne bought a backpack for our trip.)

Heh, but I was trapped in a fitting room the whole time!
I think we were there from like 6-7pm, though... pretty much until closing.

i've never really used treadmills, but they've never appealed to me either for pretty much the reasons you give. i know that having a running route helps motivate how much i put into it. i can use physical checkpoints to help push me on in spite of fatigue.

REI memberships are lifetime: you're buying a share in the coop. You will always be in their database.

I disagree with you. I am using this very expensive treadmill at my apt. complex. You can set up the program, the amount of time you want to walk/run, your weight, your age, % incline, etc. I set mine to walk an hour. This forces me to stay on no matter what at the same speed. When I walk around the area here I know I do not walk the same speed because I get tired, I get hot and go slower. I can't do that on the treadmill. I force myself to keep up with the speed.

see, i like that too, but, you could, actually, get off before your hour, which is what bugs Dee. I don't know how to fix that.

For the record, Dee is far more beautiful than she gives herself credit for!

King of tortellini?

And for the record, you're a much better friend than I give you credit for. I whine too much.

I agree with you vis a vis the suckage of treadmills.

I started going to the gym again a few months ago. When I first started out, I was doing the treadmills all the time. I got so bored that I was always making excuses not to go.

Since I've started lifting weights, I'm not nearly so bored. I also get the additional benefit of actually getting big (for very small values of big... I think we're talking epsilon here) muscles.

Mom, the problem is that if I'm on the treadmill there isn't anything forcing me to keep going. It doesn't matter to me whether I speed up or slow down as long as I walk the full distance or the full time I intended. I agree that it's great that you can set speeds and time and calories on the treadmill.. but unless there's a baseball game on TV at the gym, I just get *bored* on the treadmill and find myself wanting to stop a lot sooner than if I walk around the lake or elsewhere in town.

Yes. When are you going to come visit my pasta fiefdom?

I hear the Rotini vines are usually in full bloom during the late summer.

Well, the royalty I specifically figured we'd go see is this:

http://5thavenuetheater.org/princesses.shtml

Oren says you shouldn't come visit during the weekend of 8/20 since he'll be gone. I think.

I listen to my portable CD player when I am on the treadmill.
I get a stiff neck trying to look at the TV in the fitness center at my apt. If you like to walk in temperatures above 90 degrees in Richmond or Glen Allen, VA fine. I like walking in an air-conditioned room. The weather in Seattle is probably better for walking outside than it is here in VA.

So, for a while I was using recumbent bikes at the gym. They had a distinct advantage over treadmills, for me at least: I could read! So, as a way of bribing myself to go to the gym, I actually had a "gym book" that I was only allowed to read while at the gym doing something.

That solved my boredom issue. I don't know if you can read while on a treadmill. I've never liked treadmills because I think that running is evil and bad for you. :) Walking.. yeah, I'd get bored walking in place, too, if I didn't have something to read.

hey, thanks. I had fun and i'm glad you tolerate me. =)

(ps. comment down there about a bike - this may help you - i can't read on a treadmill, but i can on a recumbent bike.)

If you want to walk outdoors in VA summers, the best time is early in the morning, second best is right around dusk.

Treadmills suck, and so do the Angels

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