September 26, 2011

Double Digits

Thankfully, I'm not talking about my dress size or anything! Just my dreadmill--the stupid machine saw DOUBLE DIGITS for the first time ever today!  Ten miles scheduled, and of course it would be pouring rain again. However, after I managed to run nine miserable miles on the dreadmill last week, I figured one more this week was certainly do-able. I set it at 6.0 mph for the duration, and found that pace easy.

At mile 7, I realized why it was so easy. I forgot to set the damn incline! I NEVER do a 0% incline. When I'm running, I set it at 1% to make it feel a little more like running outside. When I realized it was on 0%, I bumped it up to 2% for the last three miles.

A couple of people have asked me lately about my treadmill. It's called an Epic TL1700, and I bought it at Sam's Club for $600 (now it is $650). I've mentioned before that I like to buy my expensive purchases from Sam's Club because if something goes wrong with it, they have never refused a refund (in my experience). I feel "safe" spending a lot of money there. They don't have a huge variety to choose from, but the things they carry are always good quality. 

Things I like about this treadmill:  The speed goes up to 12 mph and incline goes to 12%--most treadmills in this price range only go to 10. It's quiet compared to other treadmills I've been on. It doesn't take a doctorate degree to figure out how to use it. It feels sturdy and of good quality. The buttons to change the speed or incline are one-touch--meaning you don't have to press an "up arrow" or "down arrow" for a long time to change speed/incline. Just push one button and it changes to the speed/incline that you want. It has speakers for your mp3 player, so you don't have to wear earphones. The preset workouts make the time go by faster if you don't feel like running for 30 minutes straight.



Things I dislike:  If you accidentally pull the emergency cord while running, there is no way to recover the info from your run. When doing a manual workout, you can't set it to count DOWN the miles--it only counts up (when running 10 miles, it'd be nice to see it count down!)  When viewing past workouts, you can't see the actual number of minutes you worked out--it's shown in hours. So, if you run 20 minutes, it shows 0.3 hours--get it?  There is no book/magazine rest.  It's not SUPER quiet--I still need the TV on as loud as it goes to be able to hear it over the treadmill.

That said, I haven't used all the features on it. You can use the iFit workout cards with it, which I've never tried. But I would definitely recommend this treadmill--as much as I love to hate it! It's great for someone who wants it for running/walking without all the bells and whistles that you pay an arm and a leg for (like a built-in TV).

I was catching up on my Google Reader this morning, and I'm feeling SO left out! It seems like everyone is training for a fall marathon except me. Lots of people did their 20-mile training runs Sunday. The marathon/half-marathon that I had my sights on happens to be the same weekend as the wedding I'm in on October 15th--and considering I'll be in Arizona, I obviously won't be able to do it. I really hope to be able to run the full marathon next year; I just hate feeling out of the running loop right now :(

Has anyone else registered for the Indy 500 Festival Mini-Marathon next May? I, of course, registered as soon as I got home from the last one. I got a few e-mails from people who were interested in doing it in 2012, so I was just curious if any of my readers are going to do it. It ALWAYS sells out, so if you plan on it, make sure you register ASAP--and then let me know, so maybe we can meet up! ;)


8 comments:

  1. Why must you be such a rockstar all the time? 10 miles is fantastic! Congrats.

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  2. When you started running did you start on your treadmill or outside? I want a treadmill but we are living in a hotel right now. Um, yeah the hotel has one but I have a fear of working out in front of other people. I don't want to see my fat bouncing around let alone expose a stranger to that sight. I feel motivated and ready to go... until the thought of people seeing me pops into my head. I know, it sounds ridiculous but it's where I'm at. Hopefully when we move into our new house in another week(ish) we can afford a treadmill and I can start with the C25K.
    Good job on getting 10 miles in. I'm inspired by you every time I visit your blog... if only I could get over myself.

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  3. I am training for Marine Corp Marathon in Washington DC on Oct 30,, I had my 18 mile training run this week,, ugh !!! it was fun though,, great training buddies make it so much easier :-). You should check and see if there is any running events while you are in Arizona,, you might come across a half that is within reach for you .

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  4. Thanks for the info on the treadmill. Gonna look & see if they have one in stock at our Sam's Club. Otherwise they do ship but it adds another $175 to the price.

    Deb N.

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  5. Love Sam's Club (I used to work there!). My husband gave me the choice between getting a treadmill or joining the gym for Christmas this past year. I weighed the pros and cons and decided on the gym membership. I'm glad I chose what I did because working out with others is inspiring and challenging. I kinda kick things up a notch when others are around! Plus, I can use other equipment besides the treadmill. I've also bumped into friends there and made new ones. I'm a highly social butterfly, as you can tell.

    Congratulations on the 10 mile run! I've only run 6 miles on the treadmill, so far. I do want to run more outside to make good use of my Garmin and the new Cuddl Duds shirt I just bought at Kohl's. I think I'll be working on the half-marathon for next year and maybe the full the year after that. Can't believe I just uttered those words!

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  6. I hear ya on the incline issue with the treadmill. When I first started C25k last summer, I never used the incline feature because it was so much harder. I just wanted to be able to say I completed the distance. Once I finished the program, I signed up for my first race. I found out quickly that I should've been using the incline! I was up to a 5mi distance till around March, and life has gotten very crazy for me this year and I haven't been running. I'm actually back to C25k again but started at week 6 instead of week 1. I hope to be back at my 5mi distance by Christmas. As for the mini-marathon, I would actually LOVE to complete that distance. I just don't know if I will be able to push myself that much, that fast. That's a lot of distance to work up to in 5 months (granted, it can definitely be done). If I could get to that distance, I'd be at a snail's pace. I'm mentioning all of this because my husband and I are actually moving to Bloomington (an hour south of Indy) in a week or so and it would be something to work towards. If I decide to bite the bullet and sign up, I'll let you know. It would be great to meet you.

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  7. I will not be doing the mini because there is no way I would be ready but I usually go to support some of my friends so I would love to meet up! Let me know!

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  8. Maybe i could walk it!?!? My uncle ran it last year i believe. Im totally being inspired by your blog. but DONT assume i hold you to high standards!! We all have weaknesses and its ok if we get a little weak sometimes. (I read your blog yesterday where you were feeling so down in the dumps because you felt like you were letting your readers down) So i thought id throw that in!!

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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