To treadmill or not to treadmill...

Once upon a time, I used to hit the treadmill (interval-style - no straight 20 to 30 minutes of running, or even jogging, for this girl) at my apartment complex's gym for my cardio. I've never been a fan of actual running. The last time I ran was on the trail at Town Lake with a friend freshman year (about three years ago), which probably involved more walking than running since I've never been able to run for longer than 2-5 minutes straight. The last time before that? 8th grade, when we had to run the mile for gym. Okay, so I didn't run the entire time, but I never took a break to walk, though I'm sure my slow jog in the last few laps could have been mistaken for walking.

For awhile, before I moved into my apartment two years ago and had access to a gym, I regret to say that my cardio consisted of running in place. Yes, when the only living space I had was my tiny little dorm, I would lift weights or work my abs, inserting a two-minute or so standing-in-place-jog between each exercise. Pathetic? Yes. Hard on the ankles? Most definitely. Effective? I'm going to go with negative.

After moving into my apartment, I hit the gym about three days a week for 30 minutes of cardio. I loved it! It was a great stress relief, and I always felt amazing after. I kept it up for most of my sophomore year. That is until my rides (friends who LIVED in my apartment complex and went to the SAME school as me, that I would ride to school with based on THEIR schedule even if it meant having to sit at school for a couple hours till my classes started) bailed on me, and I had to turn to the bus. This also meant a 10-15 minute up and down hill walk twice a day between the bus stop and school.

No, it's not terrible. I can handle it. But it definitely wears a girl out, to the point where going to the gym to my beloved treadmill seems like torture. When I first started taking the bus, I didn't want to use my bi-daily walks as an excuse for cardio. So I kept up doing both for as long as I could. Until about last year, maybe just the spring semester, when my schedule left me little time to hit the gym, even after I'd get home. Then I relied on my walks for my cardio.

I was excited for summer to roll around because that means I always have more time to work out. Unfortunately, I've had to be at school at 9am everyday all summer (I'm definitely a cardio-in-the-morning person, but I was already getting up at 6:30am to make it to work.) And don't even get me started on the heat. For awhile there, I would go to the gym on my 9-12 days because it wouldn't be so hot, and I wouldn't be as worn out. But as the summer went on, the heat went up, and it just wasn't happening.

So the point of this? I finally have a week off of work before school starts, so I've been excited to be able to go to the gym a few mornings this week. When I went to bed last night, I was excited about waking up and going for a "run" on the treadmill...until I woke up in the middle of the night, sick and feeling like death. Totally ruined my day.

But I have four free days/mornings left that I can go to the gym, so bring on the Thera-Flu, Ibuprofen, and rest today cause tomorrow I plan on having a date with the treadmill. (I WILL be doing my abs workout today though. Sickness doesn't stop me from that or lifting weights.) Or if I feel better today (which I'm starting to) I'll make an attempt at some interval treadmilling. I actually read in one of my Oxygen magazines that it's still okay to workout if you're sick as long as you're feeling up to it and your illness is something above your chest. I only have a sore throat, but the question is whether or not I'm up for it.