28 Laps=1 mile

Are you kidding me?!? I think I just stood and stared at the sign for at least an hour (okay maybe a bit of an exaggeration), but I was trying to process the math in my head. You see, I prefer to run outdoors. There have been a few occasions when I have been forced to run on the treadmill taking up space in my living room (doing a fantastic job as a dust catcher), but it REALLY makes my hate relationship I have with running overpower any love I might have for the sport. I'm not sure exactly what it is about the treadmill that makes me despise it, but I've come to the conclusion that it might have something to do with the following:

1. I do not believe in sweating. I know. I know. I hear you already. "If you want to excel in any sport, you are going to need to sweat. No sweat, no gain!" I realize this, but every time I feel a trail of sweat start to trickle down my cheek, I nearly have a panic attack (okay maybe another slight exaggeration). I think my strong opposition to sweat is one of the reasons my past attempts at becoming a runner have failed. This is why I believe I have lasted (so far) as long as I have this go around. I have enjoyed running in 40 and 50 degree weather. When I am finished with a run, my cheeks are as red as Santa's, but still dry to the touch. This has definitely allowed my love for running to bloom! :-)

2. I do not believe in running and running and running.....only to get NOWHERE. This is awful. End of story. I also really dislike passing by the same landmark twice, so combining dripping sweat with the view of my living room makes for an unhappy run.

3. It's just not as exhilarating as running into the wind......or if you're running back to where you started, against it. ;-)

So back to the sign that read '28 laps=1 mile'. Today was a cold snowy day, which normally I wouldn't mind stepping out and attempting to brave the elements, but being a running mommy, sometimes I don't always have that option. Today was one of those days. So I had three choices:

1. Not run. I will admit, this was definitely the easiest choice and the one with the strongest voice in my head this morning.

2. Try and find a time to squeeze in a run on the treadmill. Yuck.

3. Drive to the local YMCA and run indoors on the track.

I chose option 3. I suited up, laced up my Brooks Adrenaline sneakers (awesome shoes btw), packed my kids in the car, and drove on down to the Y-M-C-A. (Feel free to take a break and do the dance now since I'm sure the song is now stuck in your head as it was in mine the entire way there). I dropped the kids off and eagerly made my way to the indoor track. The track is located on a mezzanine (or something like it) inside the gym. I made my way into the gym and stopped at the door that opens up to the magical spiral staircase that leads up to the "track". A sign was posted on the door that said '28 laps=1 mile'. Right at this moment, I thought of a (yet another) running device that would come in quite handy. I'm not certain of the name of it, but it's a clicker of some sort that a person uses at events to track the number of people entering. This would be the PERFECT device to use as I run around like a hampster on a hampster wheel to keep track of my laps. However, not knowing even what this device is called nor where I could quickly get one, I set my Pandora to the Pitbull station, opened up the 'iMapMyRUN' app on my phone, and made my way up the spiral staircase and began my adventure. As awful as it sounds (and I anticipated), it actually wasn't that bad. I started out with a brisk walk for about 10 minutes and then set off on my run. I only had about 30 minutes to run, but 30 minutes is better than 0 minutes, right? This was my first time running on the indoor "track", but it actually wasn't that bad. Yes, I was dripping sweat by the time I was done and yes, I passed landmarks more than once (it was probably actually more like passing the same landmark about 60 times), but I still enjoyed it more than the treadmill. I guess it could have been Pitbull since his music is super bad ass for running. There also was a high school dance team down below in the gym practicing a routine. They were great motivation for me! We are not young forever. We're only given one body. I want to run while I still have the ability to run. Every time I finish a run, I seem to appreciate my body a little more (although I would appreciate it a gazillion times more if when I get flat abs). I have come to focus not so much on how fast or how far I'm running, but how hard I'm trying. I think it was the PX90 dude that I heard say in one of his videos "do your best and don't worry about the rest". I say that quote to myself over and over again when I'm running.

So you might be wondering just how far (or how many laps) I ran today (or I've already bored you to death and you are no longer reading or you really could care less). In any case, according to the 'iMapMyRUN' app on my phone, I ran a grand total of........are you ready for this!??!?!.......0.0 miles. That's right. I ran ZERO. ZILCH. NADA. ZIP. :-( My guesstimate would be maybe 2 miles or 56 laps. No wonder I was dizzy after I was finished.

Tomorrow might be another day on the track hampster wheel. Hoping I can locate one of those clickers before then.....

Happy Running!