The 5 Stages of Treadmill Running

Back on the 'mill again today. I'm in the latter stages of this cold, so I didn't want to push it by going outside. I feel sort of remiss because I really haven't reflected much on my running, or anything else for that matter. I'll be honest, I really didn't know when I would feel like posting.

Fortunately, that all changed.

As I hopped on, I told myself 5 miles. Then, it was 4 miles...5 miles if I'm "feelin it". This got me to thinking about the stages that I go through when I'm on the treadmill. They're eerily similar to the 5 stages of grief.

• Denial - "Treadmill runs aren't so bad. I don't have to worry about weather, getting smacked by a Buick. If I want to go up a hill, I can go up a hill. If I want to run a 9:15/mile pace, I can just set the timer. No guesswork. It's actually pretty nice."
• Anger - "Jesus, I've only been running for 2 miles???!!! I think this @#$%@#@ timer is broken!"
• Bargaining - "OK, maybe if I just run 4 miles, I can sneak in 2 miles tomorrow (normally an off day) and call it even. I mean, I'm recovering from (cue echo) the most ferocious cold known to mankind.
• Depression - "This sucks. My legs hurt. My back hurts. I look like an idiot running in place. My iPod shuffle is not shuffling the way it should be. I'm never going to make 13.1 miles at this point. I don't have anything to write about in my blog. Ugh."
• Acceptance - "Well, hell. You've gotten this far. You only have .5 miles left. You've pretty much done it. Just read the closed captioning on Oprah and get it over with."
  

Actually, a nice story to go along while in the "acceptance" phase: In the weight room today, the football team had strength testing. There was a little guy, 16 years old, at most. He was squatting while having 2 of this year's captains spot for him. When he finished, one of the captains gave him a high five and told him to look at the records on the wall. After he saw that he broke a record, his face lit up and then the entire team applauded him. How cool is that? That got me through the last .5 miles in no time!