Thursday, April 4, 2013

AM Treadmill vs. PM Outdoors

Yesterday afternoon as I was trying to plan my Thursday workouts, I posted on facebook with a question -

"Which would you chose? AM treadmill run or PM outdoor run in 50F weather?"

I loved all the responses (If you didn't see the comments, you should check it out) but it didn't really help my delimma.

I guess I should have put in more background information.

On most Thursdays this is my schedule - 
4:35am Alarm goes off
4:35-4:50am Get dressed, brush teeth, pour coffee
4:50am Leave for gym 
5:00am Arrive at gym
5:03-5:51am Run on treadmill at gym
5:52-5:59am Walk to Total body class, set up equipment
6:00-7:00am Total Body class
7:03-7:25am Shower and get dressed at gym
7:25am Leave gym and drive to work


Its a pretty intense morning but after doing this for over a year now, I have the schedule perfected.  I pack my lunch and breakfast the night before and have my gym bag packed before I go to sleep. I lay out my clothes to be worn to the gym to make the morning go even quicker.

Not very awake at 5am at the gym
And this schedule works great in the winter because its cold and dark so I don't mind running on the treadmill.  Plus its pretty convenient to get a workout in - usually 5-6 miles - and then just walk up the stairs to the total body class.

But now that the nice weather has finally decided to arrive, I am torn between the AM treadmill run and the PM outdoor run.

On one hand, running before Total Body class is awesome because I get to run and I get my cross training done all before 7am.  Then I have my evening completely free to clean the house, do laundry, or whatever else I need to do around the house.  But on the other, I have to get up super early and run on the treadmill which is not so awesome.

Waking up to go to Total Body class in the morning and then coming home to run after work is just tough for me because 1) showering twice in one day is just not fun for me and 2) I hardly ever feel like working out after work no matter how nice the weather.

Today is supposed to be the first nice day in a VERY long time and I wanted to take advantage of the warm 50F weather by running outside but instead I got up at my usual Thursday morning wake up and went to the gym and ran on the treadmill.  It wasn't so bad to run on the treadmill this AM because it was super cold outside (25F) and the run was actually pretty awesome.  After warming up for 10 minutes, I ran a 35 minute progression run starting at 8 min miles (7.5 mph on the treadmill) and increasing every 5 minutes, ending at 7:20 min miles (8.1 mph) then cooled down for about 0.4 miles before I was out of time and had ran off to TBC class.

Of course I would have loved to run outside but it just seemed more convenient and time saving to run at the gym.  Maybe once the weather gets to be nicer in the mornings, I will try and run outside before TBC class.  

Which would you choose??

9 comments:

Katherine said...

i used to ALWAYS run on the treadmill now I can't stand it! gotta get outside :)

http://therealfoodrunner.blogspot.com

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

I typically would choose the PM outdoors and a little sunshine on the skin (this time of year), but some mornings I do go out and run early. It just depends on my evening plans.

Laura said...

I'm so impressed that you do two hours a day! I thought I was being good by getting in just one workout. How many days a week do you work out?

Johann said...

Mine is always outside AM. I don't run any other time and never indoors.

Jford said...

I will always be a morning runner, that way I do not have it hanging over my head all day and also I have more options for lunch!

Kim said...

Ahh! I did not see that on FB! I just realized I had to change your settings from "most" to "all" :)

Ugh, I hear your dilemma. I would prefer the morning run, because I like to be lazy at the end of the day, but I would prefer it to be outside, which doesn't work for you! Sigh. I would choose to stack the workouts together, but knowing me, I wouldn't use a treadmill.

Unknown said...

I definitely agree that it's hard to find motivation for working out in the evening. Personally I'd have to pick running in the evening though, purely because I could never get up early enough to run before work! Your morning routine is impressive!!

Joanne said...

I know exactly how you feel. I would love to run when it's warmer in the day but I just don't have the energy after work. But I do run outside in the cold and dark and, if there isn't snow and ice on the roads, actually like it. It's quiet, no cars, sometimes spooky but that's why I have my dogs :)

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

I hate the dreadmill so I would definitely choose a run in 50 degree temps!