Official Winter Sucks and I MFing Can't Stand this Treadmill Anymore Thread...

Agree, but it's better than not having a treadmill at all. Midwest runner here as well, Michigan. It's going to be -15 with the windchill tomorrow morning. Those without deadmills/dreadmills have it way worse;)

Death by Treadmill wrote:

Live in the MidWest, December and January were relatively mild and even pleasant some days, but February has been brutal. I'm training for a marathon in mid April and I've pretty much put in 4 straight 80 mile weeks on the treadmill without a session outside. The first week or two wasn't so bad, but I'm reaching my breaking point and unfortunately the weather this weekend doesn't look so great. Looks like another 5-7 days on the mill with at least one of those days being a 20+ miler (ugh!).

Please use this thread to air your treadmill greivances/experiences.

Yeah, me too, I feel totally blessed to have my treadmill as an option.

Get your wimpy ass off the treadmill and run outside, then!

Yup winter blows. 4 months of bullsh!t every year. Gotta get out of here

Death by Treadmill wrote:

Live in the MidWest, December and January were relatively mild and even pleasant some days, but February has been brutal. I'm training for a marathon in mid April and I've pretty much put in 4 straight 80 mile weeks on the treadmill without a session outside. The first week or two wasn't so bad, but I'm reaching my breaking point and unfortunately the weather this weekend doesn't look so great. Looks like another 5-7 days on the mill with at least one of those days being a 20+ miler (ugh!).

Please use this thread to air your treadmill greivances/experiences.

1) As you somewhat alluded to, it's been a mild winter. Stop b!tching.

2) I don't care what part of the Midwest you live in, you should be able to get outside for at least one or two sessions a week to keep sanity.

3) It builds mental toughness. Be thankful for that. 4 of the 6 US sub 13 guys came from the Midwest and had to train in this crap (the other 2 from Kenya and Oregon).

Its worse in the south. It might be warmer, but if it snows, the gyms are closed. And they don't plow the roads, besides interstates and major highways. If I want to run at all the only option is strides through the snow in my backyard. Its almost not worth it,15- 20 minutes to have my shoes and clothes soaked and have to take a shower.

3) Not true. They had treadmills and they were not here 100% year round. If you're alluding to Ritzenhein, that's a perfect example. Dathan just left to Florida because he couldn't get a good long session (his words), hence the 1/2 marathon. Please, go tell him that he's bitching...good luck with that.

Yeah, you got me there. Clearly I wasn't thinking.

midwestern life wrote:

Yeah, you got me there. Clearly I wasn't thinking.

It is pretty childish to hijack a moniker to try to pose as them. You're better than that.

Midwesterner too wrote:

3) Not true. They had treadmills and they were not here 100% year round. If you're alluding to Ritzenhein, that's a perfect example. Dathan just left to Florida because he couldn't get a good long session (his words), hence the 1/2 marathon. Please, go tell him that he's bitching...good luck with that.

midwestern life wrote:

1) As you somewhat alluded to, it's been a mild winter. Stop b!tching.

2) I don't care what part of the Midwest you live in, you should be able to get outside for at least one or two sessions a week to keep sanity.

3) It builds mental toughness. Be thankful for that. 4 of the 6 US sub 13 guys came from the Midwest and had to train in this crap (the other 2 from Kenya and Oregon).

"Came from". What do you think that means? It means they spent their formative years training in the Midwest. I can tell you that Teg wasn't leaving Lee's Summit to go to Flagstaff to put in miles in the winter as a high schooler. The Wisconsin team didn't leave Madison very often, either. Everyone knows that once they became professional they went to locations that were more conducive to training, but they grew up building mental toughness in the Midwest, instead of being pu$$ies like the guy from the south that posted in this thread. And yes, I'm aware they had treadmills, and I'm not sure why you posted that.

The OP is not in high school.

The guy from the south is not a pu$$ie, he's just not used to what we are.

Dathan didn't train outside "every day", that was my point, ask him. I live in Michigan, I would probably know better than you and have watched him run numerous races in 1999 and 2000.

Mental toughness is what you make of it. You can train in California as a high schooler and be just as tough. I live in Macomb County. I'll be outside tomorrow morning in Dodge Park. It doesn't make me tougher than someone in the south. In addition, I surely wouldn't be able to do a speed session as well as I could on a treadmill in the current conditions, but it's just an easy 8 mile day and I'm not worried about pace. This is the second coldest snow on record for the month of February in my area. When it snows, it doesn't melt much and what does turns to ice. I call that dangerous, not tough.

I didn't make the rules friend, that's the way it is. I know 2 outstanding high schoolers in the area that fell on the ice in the last month alone, hitting their heads hard on the way down. When it's just cold out, I agree that most can get out there and hammer on "dry pavement" a couple days a week.

Personally, I don't think running in jagged snow and ice makes me, you or anyone else tougher than someone who has no snow. Twist and ankle or go down hard and you could be out of commission for quite some time. But you have the right to your own opinion.

For the record, I didn't hijack your handle and have no clue who did.

I agree about the cold weather--it makes things difficult. The piles of snow do not help, either.

Question for deadmillers: Does the treadmill mess up your stride? I have heard, from a good source, that it may not be good for one's stride (and that it create even more impact than the road). I had an injury in January, perhaps caused by very cold conditions, and am considering buying a treadmill for those exceedingly cold days.

I didn't say Dathan trained outside every day. You seem to think I am telling people to suck it up and run outside everyday. When I say training in the Midwest during one's formative years and how it builds toughness, I am referencing treadmill running as well. If it's not safe to run outside then find a way to run on a treadmill. I'm saying stop b!tching about having to run on a treadmill or having to run in the cold and just run, because we have found a way to manage for decades.

So then we are really just at an impasse that training in less than ideal conditions or on a treadmill makes you more mentally tough than someone in SoCal training who has trained in 55-70 degree weather their whole life. I'm fine with not agreeing on that. I guess we are also in disagreement about the southerner whining about not being able to run or find a treadmill for the rare instances it snows or ices in the south.

At least you are still aspiring for greatness.

You could be like me. We had 3 days of ice and my calf is f***ed up so I didn't run during any of them or cross train, but I remember thinking, "what if I didn't have this calf issue?" And this is in Texas where it will be 50 or 60 degrees within every 7 days in the winter.

It made me look fondly the days when my daily existence often centered on getting my run(s) in no matter the weather.

Keep your head up. March is fast approaching.

I couldn't agree more about safety concerns. I tripped on ice badly several years ago while on a jog in the evening and dislocated my shoulder, was out of commision from running for a month. I promised myself that I would never run outside again when it was both dark and icy (i.e., black ice that you can't really see).

I mainly choose to run inside for safety concerns (see above), my schedule doesn't help matters either. I'm sure I'm not the only one juggling a full time job, grad school in the evenings, and family responsibilties (wife, house, etc...). Running right come after the above responsibilities, which means that I need to find time for it very early in the morning, or late at night, and neither of those times are particularlly pleasant in the winter.

I am fortunate to have the resources to go to a gym and use a treadmill for 1-3 hours at a time, I agree with that sentiment. It is mind numbingly boring at times though, and I do find that I need quite a bit more fluid to stay hydrated on account of the dry and often warm conditions at the gym.

Ultimately, I'm just bitching, and wanted some humorous responses or rants from others who are forced to use the treadmill in the winter.

I feel your pain. Move to central coast Cali if you can. Best decision of my life to move out of the midwest. Always perfect weather.

outsiderunner wrote:

I agree about the cold weather--it makes things difficult. The piles of snow do not help, either.

Question for deadmillers: Does the treadmill mess up your stride? I have heard, from a good source, that it may not be good for one's stride (and that it create even more impact than the road). I had an injury in January, perhaps caused by very cold conditions, and am considering buying a treadmill for those exceedingly cold days.

I live in N.Y. and run outside mostly except when roads are slick then it's treadmill time.

I have no problem with them you throw on a iPod and get your rhythm going it's a good workout and sweat.

I don't suggest buying a treadmill for what a decent one costs you could join a gym for a few years and beat on theirs. Plus you have other equipment available to try.

Death by Treadmill wrote:

Live in the MidWest, December and January were relatively mild and even pleasant some days, but February has been brutal. I'm training for a marathon in mid April and I've pretty much put in 4 straight 80 mile weeks on the treadmill without a session outside. The first week or two wasn't so bad, but I'm reaching my breaking point and unfortunately the weather this weekend doesn't look so great. Looks like another 5-7 days on the mill with at least one of those days being a 20+ miler (ugh!).

Please use this thread to air your treadmill greivances/experiences.

Dan, is that you?

Thanks, PTO. No issues/problems with your stride?