A quick welcome to the place where I put my thoughts about running and everything else. This blog isn’t a running blog – I just happen to do a lot of thinking when I’m running. I write about things related to running because I’ve been running for over half my life and running is a part of who I am. Some years I run more than others and I have had a few years that I haven’t run but I always come back to running. I enter races so that I have a reason keep running when I don’t feel like it.
Although I do enjoy running outdoors, I mostly run on a treadmill. This blog is called “Confessions of a Treadmill Runner” because there are a lot of people in the running community (you know who you are!) who tend to look down on treadmill runners. These members of the running community seem to believe that treadmill runners are not real runners. I believe that if you run, you’re a runner. It doesn’t matter where you run – treadmill, trail, track, street – or how fast you run – 13 minutes/mile, 10 minutes/mile, 6 minutes per mile – or if you do a run/walk to finish a distance. If you run, you’re a runner if you choose to call yourself a runner.
When it comes to running, I’m a slow runner. I think of myself as a back-of-the-middle-of-the-pack runner. Although lately, I’ve been more of a front-of-the-back-of-the-pack runner! For my first half-marathon, I was right in front of the sweeper van for 2 or 3 miles while going uphill. I eventually passed someone else and so put the sweeper van further behind me but after that race, I decided that I didn’t want to be at the back of the pack. I have a great deal of admiration for the last runners in a race – they’re the ones who keep putting one foot in front of the other without freaking out about the sweeper van. To me, they are the real winners of the race.
Confessions of a Treadmill Runner 