All Tracks are NOT 1/4 mile!

Well, I'm in Minnesota for work again.  One of the reasons Steve and I decided to start running for fitness was because of the travel we are doing and it's not easy to continue cycling.  October in Minnesota is a lot colder than October in California for sure.   The days are in the 40's and last night as I drove late into my hotel, there were snow flurries.   From my last trip two weeks again trying to run early in the morning I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up with my exercise plan because it was soooo cold.  I had resigned myself to having to run on the treadmill in the hotel fitness room. 

My 1/2 marathon training book said that treadmills aren't really that accurate and one of the things I love about exercising is that I can be outside.   Plus the fitness room is so small and when someone else is in there I'm a little bit self conscious.  So I did a little research and found out that Minnesotans not only have remote starters for their cars because of the cold, but they have indoor running/walking tracks.   I found one very close to my hotel that opens at 5:45 a.m. and closes at 9:45 p.m.  No excuse to not be able to continue training.   The single visit fee is $2.00 and you can get a 5 day pass for $5.00.  Although it is indoors it's a very large area and you kind of feel like you are outside.

Well assuming that the track was 1/4 mile I did what I thought was a 3 mile run/walk.   When I was beginning my post run stretch, I saw a sign that said, "11 laps = 1 mile."  What?  The track looked as long as the one on the Alaskan cruise ships which 6 laps= 1 mile - course maybe my memory is failing me.   So I went back out and did another 12 laps.   I was wondering why I wasn't as sweaty, just assuming it was because I was in an air conditioned or climate controlled environment.

The weird observations coming from a California fitness person, was there was a coat rack to drop your jacket off when I came in.  Then after my second set of 12 laps, I was a little more sweaty, it was hard to think about putting a jacket back on to go outside.  It was very windy and cold though, so I'm glad I did.

When running outside I use my Garmin 405 which keeps track of interval running and distance.  I thought the indoor track would be easier, but it was amazing how easy it was to lose count of tracks.  Everyone else seemed to have headphones and ipods.  Maybe they know with their play lists how much walking/running to do.  One older man was walking with a heavy pack on his back.  I wanted to stop and ask him what kind of large hike or summit climb he was training for.

Tomorrow is a strength and stretch day.  Let's see if I can get up early Friday morning to try the track again.