"Activity Stopped."

Wednesday's Run:
Distance: 5 treadmill miles
Time: 59:54
Pace: 12:29 per mile

My Nike+ is conspiring against me. First, it insists that I run 1.2 treadmill miles for every 1 Nike+ mile. That's not so bad, because I'm training for a distance race, but then the pace gets a little discouraging. A 12:29 per mile pace matches up with my improving fitness level; a 13:50 pace does not. But yesterday, it refused to recognize my running at all! I got to 3.7 Nike+ miles, and the lady kept telling me "Activity stopped. Please press the center button to resume workout." So I'd press the center button, run for another few minutes, and she'd tell me the same thing again. And I wanted to yell at her "Activity stopped?! Can't you tell how hard I'm breathing??!" To add insult to injury, she was no longer counting my steps. Billy's online research revealed that this happens when moisture gets into the connection between the sensor and the iPod, so I guess I'll have to start wearing a sweatband underneath my iPod or something. Seems ironic that the harder you work, and the more you sweat, the less credit she gives you for your efforts.

I'm still stuck on the treadmill. Yesterday during my run, I was thinking about how running on a treadmill sucks for the same reasons Dad's cancer treatment sucks. (This is appropriate, because he speaks about his treatment almost exclusively in metaphors.) You are busting your ass, but you're running in place. You know you should get on there and log a few miles, but most days you don't feel like you're getting anywhere. You have to distract your attention away from the data on the panel in front of you or you'd never be able to finish. It's hard to see that you're getting closer to your goal when you're standing in the same place, breathing the same stagnant air, as you were when you started.

You put yourself through it because you believe that when you can get off the treadmill, out into real life, the hard work will have served you well. Your body will be in the condition necessary to take you where you want to go. But when you're standing on that treadmill, running in place, the idea that it's helping is only theoretical. There's no way to know that it's going to help you run farther, faster, longer, until you get a chance to get off the treadmill and run outside. It's a faith based exercise.

On Saturday, I have to run 8 miles. Billy says the weather is supposed to warm up to the 40s, which would allow me to run outside. Let's hope so.