ernie's lab II

…Due to the rainy/winter conditions today in the STL, my 5 mile tempo run was done on a treadmill.  Ugh.  How did I survive the 50 minutes of boredom?  Well, let’s break it down:

1. Video Podcast from one of the sermons I missed at church.  Excellent stuff that kept my eyes off the clock - 35 mins

2. Jason Derulo album - definitely not the peppiest music when I’m wanting something to energize me, but still an excellent album - 10 mins

3. The “yes I can” game where I spend the last 0.5 mile of my run upping my speed until I’m flat out sprinting on the treadmill leaving my neighbors a bit uncomfortable — probably due to the grunting and other noises I make when I’m going flat out - 5 mins

I do other weird stuff on the treadmill that makes me not the best neighbor.  For example: I get horribly tense in the shoulders when I run over 3 miles.  To relieve the tension, I’m constantly flexing my arms down and doing shoulder shrugs while I run.  Occasionally, I raise my arms all the way above my head and let the blood rush out.  I have no idea while it feels good…but it does.  These arm exercises are something I do when I run outside; however, they just don’t seem to translate as well in the gym.  People think I’m going to whack ‘em or are afraid of my B.O. (this could also be due to the fact that I sweat something horrible).  I also tend to lip sync to my music.  I had one guy tonight think I was trying to tell him something.  No sir, I’m just rocking out — don’t you see the white plastic things coming out of my ears?  

Ehh, all in all it could have been worse.  I finished — and that’s the truly important thing.