Treadmills and Workout Fun

Today was the first day I used my new gym membership. I went to the gym almost kicking and screaming since it was really great running weather outside. I wanted to go to the gym so I could start getting a routine going and get familiar with the gym before too many weeks went by.

I started out my workout by hitting the treadmill. I figured it's a treadmill and is easy to figure out how to get it moving. I didn't want to be 'that guy' walking around looking at all the equipment then finally start using it. Treadmills are pretty basic and easy to figure out. I always go for the Quick Start option so I have control over my run. I don't care much for surprises during my run. The other thing I always do on the treadmill is set the incline to 1.0 or 1.5 depending on how I'm feeling. This makes the run a little bit closer to outside conditions.

As I do for all my runs, I started out with some dynamic stretches to get things loosened up a bit. After that, I got on the treadmill and got my mile warm-up in. Though some people are able to jump right into their run, I've learned my body responds better if I wake it up before hitting the gas.

Trying to figure out how to take a picture of my warm-up and time was a bit difficult. No I did not run 1 mile in 3 seconds. I hit pause on the treadmill and quickly took a picture. I'm sure there is an easier way to capture this. I'll get it figured out

I walked for a couple minutes, then started up with the meat and potatoes of my workout. Because it was my first time running on a treadmill in awhile, I figured 3 miles would be a good goal. I could tell the heat from running indoors was something I wasn't familiar with. I'm used to running outside where things are a bit cooler or there is a breeze. All in all, the 3 miles felt really good.

As I do with all my workouts, I do a cool-down mile. I like being able to slow things down, but still being able to push the body to do more (at an easy pace). The cool-down felt great. I was able to focus on having completed my goal of running 3 miles at a good pace on the treadmill. The cool-down almost felt like a victory lap.

After finishing up on the treadmill, I hit some weights. Nothing too crazy since I haven't lifted in awhile. I focused on my arms and core. I used mostly free weights as those help me focus on control on the up and down. For me, weight lifting is a really good way to help strengthen the muscles which will only help me on my long runs.

Last Mile Power Song - As with all my runs, the last mile of my 3 mile run I had a power song playing on my mp3 player. This time around, the song was Suffragate City by David Bowie. It helped me pick up the pace and push through to the end of the workout