Friday, November 30, 2007

Just one of those runs

You ever have a run where everything just seems to go wrong?

That was my run tonight.

I waited until Tim came home from work to run. Matty has been sick the past few days, and it was quite cold here today, so I didn't want to drag the sickie around in the stroller.

Of course it was dark by the time Tim came home, so I figured I'd run on the treadmill.

My warm-up walk went fine. I started running on the 'mill, and it was OK, too.

Until I reached .4 miles. Then the damn thing stopped abruptly and showed some weird error sign on its readout screen. I have never seen this error sign before, so all I could say was " What the hell?!?!".

I turned the treadmill off, and unplugged it from the wall. Plugged it back in and turned it back on. I entered my info again (weight, distance, whatnot) and tried to get it going to 5 mph. The belt started moving. Then it stopped again. Argh!!

I tried once more to get the stupid thing working to no avail. But I was determined to get a run in tonight. So I threw on a sweatshirt, grabbed my Garmin and a flashlight and headed out into the darkness.

Naturally, I didn't put any running pants on, which was really not bright. I was wearing these knee-length spandex shorts and it was freakin' COLD out!! I thought about going back inside to change but realized if I did, I probably wouldn't come back out.

So I started off by the glow of my flashlight. As I ran, I noticed a lot of the street lamps either weren't on or went out just as I reached them. I actually tripped once because the sidewalk changed elevation at a driveway. Ugh. And wouldn't you know, but my effing flashlight died with about a mile left. So I had to run pretty much in the dark for 11 minutes. It's amazing I didn't get hit by a car or fall in an open ditch, because I couldn't see crap.

But I made it home in one piece, happy that I went through with the run. Now I have to figure out just what the heck is wrong with the treadmill. I will be VERY upset if it has died for good.

Tonight's stats:
Run:
Treadmill: .4 miles
Outside: 3 miles
Time (outside): 33:02
Pace: 11 minutes/mile

7 comments:

Nancy said...

Hope you can fix that tread mill.

Great job gettin er done anyway. That probably would have been enough for me to bag it.

Randy - Maniac #788 said...

I hate those runs in dark areas when you can hardly see the pavement, send a note to the city works people to get off their duffs and replace lightbulbs...and watch out for those elevation changes, the scars to the knees from falling are slow to go away...I know...

Mary Gee said...

Eeek. Be careful out there!

Sonia said...

Oh man what a crappy run! I can't believe your flashlight died.... it wasn'T meant to be and you still went! I would have bailed after the 2nd stop of the treadmill! I applaud your effort!!

David said...

Hmmm, sounds like some parts in the drive mechanism may be needing some lovin'. Maybe some bearings, or a drive belt/chain. I hope it's an easy/cheap fix. You might try to vacuum it out to see if that helps.

I'm with Sonia and Nancy: after 2 aborts on the 'mill, I'd have called it a night and hit up some barley sodas. (or do you guys call it pop up there?)

J~Mom said...

Sorry about the night! Nice job getting the run in!

Mendy said...

Holy cow! I can't believe you kept going. I would've quit earlier on. That was some determination to get that run in. Good for you and glad you made it back in one piece.