February 08, 2021

A Running Game to Pass the Time on the Treadmill

My five-mile per day walking streak is now up to Day 205. Almost ALL of the walks have been outside, but last week was ridiculously cold on a couple of days that I just couldn't stand the thought of going outside. The wind chill was below zero and the wind gusts were 30+ mph! I felt bad for Joey, but I chose to use the treadmill instead of walking outside with him.

As you know, I'm addicted to the game Best Fiends on my phone (I actually started playing it on my iPad instead). When I turned on my iPad to find a show to watch while I was on the treadmill, I saw the Best Fiends app and decided to see if I could play Best Fiends while I walked. I set the iPad on the treadmill console and it actually wasn't too hard to play--I was able to walk my usual pace of about 3.5 mph while playing. The time went by so much faster than when I watch a show.


Since I've been wanting to add a little running to my walks lately, I thought maybe I'd run during each 30-second ad that is on the game (about every 10 minutes or so). But then I thought of a better idea... I would walk while playing Best Fiends, and each time I lost a level, I would have to run for one minute.

The levels are pretty challenging and I lose a lot more frequently than I win ;)  It takes anywhere from 4-5 minutes or so to complete each level (win or lose), so I thought that was a good amount of time between running intervals. And if I won a level, I'd get double that amount of recovery time.

It actually was pretty fun! The time flew by. My walks take about 90 minutes, which is a long time to be on the treadmill, but it felt like 30 minutes.


The running felt hard, but because I was only doing one-minute intervals, I knew I could manage. I did them at 6.0 mph (my Garmin's calibration is way off, so I just counted the distance/speed on the treadmill). It's crazy how heavy my legs felt--my whole body felt heavy and slow as I ran. But the best part of the whole thing was that it boosted my mood. It made me feel like I "worked out" instead of my usual walk with the dog.

I figure that I can use this little treadmill game to add some more running until it feels comfortable again. I'd like to be able to run three miles again without feeling like I'm going to die. I can increase the running time to 90 seconds, then two minutes, etc.

I still want to walk Joey, so I may do half my walk outside and half on the treadmill a few days a week; or maybe I'll just choose a couple of times a week to do the treadmill. Either way, it feels good to run again--even if it was for only a minute at a time! 

(I've walked outside a couple of times with my new coat, and I love it so much! It's so cozy and warm.)

3 comments:

  1. What a brilliant idea, Katie!

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  2. It's so cold here in NE Iowa! Yuck I hate winter! I'm forcing myself to go to our 4 floor antique mall for my stair workout. I don't even want to leave the house. It's the same temp in the mall that it is outside "cause it's closed and the furnace is off. WaWa!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh wow I love that for the intervals! I might try doing that at home I’ve been watching shows but even that gets dull on the treadmill after a while.

    ReplyDelete

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