A New Perspective on Running Outside

Here's my top 5 reasons for being a treadmill hermit:

5. My schedule. Either have to run early or late after the hubby comes home from work, since I can't take my little one on runs with me. Don't do early, so I would have to run after 8:30 p.m and after dark, like I did tonight.


4. I like to have music when I run. It scares me to run with my iPod on full blast when outside alone.

3. If running outside, I have to run mostly on the sidewalk because of crazy drivers in my neighborhood, or the fact that I have to run at night, and I don't want to get hit by a car.


2. The weather. Not fond of running in weather over 80 degrees or below 50. And humidity over 60% is a daily occurrence in this valley, so I have avoided outside running like the plague. Here was tonight's weather. Not horrible, but humid, nonetheless:

1. Allergies. I live in the 3rd worst city for allergies, according to The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Typically have to take a bunch of Kleenex with me if running outside at least 6 months out of the year.



The weirdest thing happened tonight. I had 4 miles on the schedule, but I was going to play it by ear because of the knee/shin thing. The hubby was going to get home later than normal from work, so I got started on the treadmill. I knew half a mile in that I wasn't going to make it very far. Shin splints on my right leg were UNBEARABLE!! I stopped and walked, I stopped and stretched, hell, I even just stopped for a few minutes. But they just got worse. So at 1.20 miles, I stopped and iced my shins for about 15 minutes.

Then I decided to take the dog out for jog/walk about a half mile out and back.

Here's the weird part. My shins did not hurt at all the whole time.

According to my iMapMyRun App, I ran 1.02 at a pace that I have trouble hitting on the treadmill unless I'm doing speedwork (i.e. sprints, then walk breaks). I don't know how accurate these GPS apps are, and I have yet to spend the moolah on a Garmin (holding out for my b-day...*sigh*). But I do know that because the shin splints didn't bother me, and because my dog was keeping me going at a pretty steady pace, I'm sure I was pretty close to the time the app said. I ran longer and harder than I have been on the treadmill. Again, I was reminded why I need to run outside more.

I didn't keep going because Heidi (our dog) probably couldn't take much more. She and I have not run together in months, so I didn't want to over do it. She is overweight. And I also didn't want to push the shin splint/knee issue. So I will take the 2.25 miles tonight and plan to do 4 on Thursday instead (Thursday was originally 2 miles). I'm listening to my body during this training and not just looking at the numbers on my schedule.


For me, getting outside to run is a rare thing. I would like to change that. I am going to attempt to start running outside at least 1 out of the 3 days a week that I run, as long as Satan's weather stays away. Maybe I'll even shake things up and get up early before work and run, who knows!

As long as the weather cooperates, I can make the time to do it, my knee and shins hold up, my allergies stay in check and I can learn to live without music while I run, it may work! I'm not asking much, right?