Treading
I have had my treadmill now for five days...
1. Pacing is everything when it comes to treadmilling. I enthusiastically got on the treadmill on Wednesday, set off at way too fast a pace and was pretty much exhausted after ten minutes. On the second day I slowed down my pace considerably and went over twice as far. The trick becomes to learn to vary your pace, speeding up when you feel the energy to do so, slowing down when that energy gives out. My aim is to keep my pace steady and move up to thirty minutes of constant treading each day this week.
2. Treadmilling is much like doing weights- better start small and work your way up. Setting a slower pace and treading for 30 minutes is a worthy goal. And once that thirty minutes becomes easy I can move then to increase my speed, just like I increase my reps or my weight as I move to each level of weights. Simple is better and patience, as in many things, is a virtue.
3. It is not as easy to watch TV as I tread as I thought it would be. A major reason for this at this point is that it takes more of my focus to actually tread on a manual treadmill than I had expected. I expect this to become less the case as I get more experienced and then maybe TV can be used as a distraction.
4. On the other hand, just as in my outdoor walking, music is a brilliant motivator for keeping a steady pace and good energy. I've been strapping on my CD Walkman and using my retro-rock mix CDs as I tread and that has been really helpful in encouraging myself to tread longer.
5. It is way too hot to wear track pants and a sweatshirt while treadmilling. I've now moved to shorts and t-shirts and that is much more ventilated and comfortable. And, believe me, in the middle of this extreme cold spell here in Ontario when there is no way I would have been power walking outside, this is the only way to add walking to my exercise.
6. In the winter months I will be walking for time, but not so much for distance. It'll be great for my "Idita-Walk Challenge" (a timed challenge), but not so great for my Middle-earth "Walk to Rauros" (a distance challenge). According to the electronic board on my treadmill, I'm not covering nearly as much distance in 30 minutes as I do when I walk outside. I assume it's because it takes more energy to move the tread on a manual treadmill than walking on a sidewalk, so my slower pace still takes as much energy as walking outside, but doesn't notch up the distance. As opposed to not walking -at all- in the winter, it's a worthy compromise. Plus, the "Idita-Walk" can be done on the treadmill in Feb.-Mar. (as well as adding my walking to and from school) and I can step up the mileage on the Middle-earth challenge once it's warm enough to walk outside again.
7. So far, I'm enjoying the treadmill. This is a relief as I paid a fair chunk of change for it and feared I might discover early on that I didn't enjoy using it. So far I do and just about the time the novelty may be wearing off the "Idita-Walk" will kick in to jump-start my motivation again. I think this purchase was a good choice for me.
1. Pacing is everything when it comes to treadmilling. I enthusiastically got on the treadmill on Wednesday, set off at way too fast a pace and was pretty much exhausted after ten minutes. On the second day I slowed down my pace considerably and went over twice as far. The trick becomes to learn to vary your pace, speeding up when you feel the energy to do so, slowing down when that energy gives out. My aim is to keep my pace steady and move up to thirty minutes of constant treading each day this week.
2. Treadmilling is much like doing weights- better start small and work your way up. Setting a slower pace and treading for 30 minutes is a worthy goal. And once that thirty minutes becomes easy I can move then to increase my speed, just like I increase my reps or my weight as I move to each level of weights. Simple is better and patience, as in many things, is a virtue.
3. It is not as easy to watch TV as I tread as I thought it would be. A major reason for this at this point is that it takes more of my focus to actually tread on a manual treadmill than I had expected. I expect this to become less the case as I get more experienced and then maybe TV can be used as a distraction.
4. On the other hand, just as in my outdoor walking, music is a brilliant motivator for keeping a steady pace and good energy. I've been strapping on my CD Walkman and using my retro-rock mix CDs as I tread and that has been really helpful in encouraging myself to tread longer.
5. It is way too hot to wear track pants and a sweatshirt while treadmilling. I've now moved to shorts and t-shirts and that is much more ventilated and comfortable. And, believe me, in the middle of this extreme cold spell here in Ontario when there is no way I would have been power walking outside, this is the only way to add walking to my exercise.
6. In the winter months I will be walking for time, but not so much for distance. It'll be great for my "Idita-Walk Challenge" (a timed challenge), but not so great for my Middle-earth "Walk to Rauros" (a distance challenge). According to the electronic board on my treadmill, I'm not covering nearly as much distance in 30 minutes as I do when I walk outside. I assume it's because it takes more energy to move the tread on a manual treadmill than walking on a sidewalk, so my slower pace still takes as much energy as walking outside, but doesn't notch up the distance. As opposed to not walking -at all- in the winter, it's a worthy compromise. Plus, the "Idita-Walk" can be done on the treadmill in Feb.-Mar. (as well as adding my walking to and from school) and I can step up the mileage on the Middle-earth challenge once it's warm enough to walk outside again.
7. So far, I'm enjoying the treadmill. This is a relief as I paid a fair chunk of change for it and feared I might discover early on that I didn't enjoy using it. So far I do and just about the time the novelty may be wearing off the "Idita-Walk" will kick in to jump-start my motivation again. I think this purchase was a good choice for me.