The Gym...

So I recently started going to the gym again. It's been a while. Usually it's nice enough in NC to run outside, but this winter has sucked. That, and I decided that I needed to stop talking about lifting weights and actually do it if I was going to get stronger.

With that in mind, Monday brought a nice mix of sleet and freezing rain, which wasn't exactly motivating me to lace up my shoes and head out the door. Being that I no longer had to convince myself that "it would get better once I got going" (which is complete bs when it comes to freezing rain), Matt and I went to the gym. 3.5 miles into the run, I was thinking that running outside in the "wintery mix" might have been the better option.

Seriously. What I want to know is why people are under the disillusion that running on a treadmill is not real running?! I have heard this sentiment echoed frequently, along with the general misconception that running on a treadmill does not rack up miles on shoes. Well, let me tell you, running on the treadmill certainly felt pretty real, and I most definitely logged it as the 6-miles that it said I covered... and it was way more difficult than "for real" running the same distance outside. I was literally getting nowhere, but sweating like I was running a marathon through a rain forest.

I looked around, and everyone else seemed fine. Most had been working out at least as long as I had, and most were wearing way more clothing than I was. Capris (or, for the one guy who was rocking them, "3/4 tights"), full pants, half zips... there was even a guy wearing a knit hat. What the heck? How were these people doing it? And, it's not like this indoor winter attire was unique to the outdoor winter weather. I observed this same manner of dress the day before when it was 70 degrees outside, which I found equally as perplexing. And why would you run on a treadmill when it was beautiful outside? The ground was still too muddy for circuit training, or I would have been out there!

This lead me to the conclusion that the reason why a lot of people hate running is that they get nowhere and are dressed like a wrestler trying to make weight. I would hate running too. On a side note, weight machines are a lot more complicated than I remember. I'm working on a way to look at the pictures on the machine while not making it obvious...