I hit the treadmill today to avoid the pollution (not that any indoor facility in China has good air filtration) and to force myself to try and pick up the pace. Without all the distractions of electric scooters, city buses, pedestrians, and poop it's much easier to focus on form and intensity on the treadmill.
Since I'm still just building my base before "real" training (and I'm trying to make excuses for being so damn slow) I kept to a simple ladder workout. It's common in any sport that requires speed and/or endurance (so, not golf or bowling): go for a certain distance or speed, and incrementally increase until a predetermined threshold, then decrease back to the starting point. My plan was to run 4 minutes at increasing speeds, bumping it up 5 times before going back down. That was the plan. I didn't make it to that last notch, so at least I've got that to look forward to next week.
Other things I can look forward to on my next treadmill run: the lady next to me walking backwards for over 20 minutes; the man lifting weights wearing a scarf and slippers; examining every footfall and muscle flex in the reflection of the darkened window; wondering why my ponytail swishes past my left ear instead of my right; or trying to figure out how on earth another treadmill workout could be worth blogging about.
Maybe it will start snowing in Shanghai, and that will be reason enough to be happy to get on the treadmill.
The Fine Print
Date: 1/16/13 Time: 5:15 pm Location: Shanghai, PRC
Time: 43:00 Distance: 4 mi Pace: 10:49
Music: Genius mix based on Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" - some U2, Jamiroquai, REM, and Madonna to help pick up the pace
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