Treadmill

Now that I'm back at work (2on/2off on the north slope) I have to adjust training to running on a treadmill and/or stairmaster. If you're not familiar with North Slope policy, running outdoors is frowned upon due to safety issues, mostly related to interaction with heavy equipment or wildlife. Staying focused and getting in quality training has always been a challenge, but now that I'm tuned in to higher volume, lower intensity training running on the treadmill has become mind numbing.

Issues I've run into

1. Competition for equipment. The gym at our camp is undersized and equipment is frequently broken. That means that you can't really plan a workout ahead of time. You have to show up and see what's available. It could be a treadmill, stairmaster, rowing machine, or none of these, in which case I usually do some core strength work while waiting. Then there's the guilt factor when others are waiting. So most days I have to shuffle between machines running 30 minutes at a time and just hopping on whatever is available whenever I can. This took some getting used to, but I like to think I've adjusted fairly well. Over the last few months I've been able to consistently maintain about 90 minutes of aerobic exercise every day. Sometimes I can hammer out 14 miles on the treadmill with little or no incline. Other days I only run about 5 miles and crank on the stairmaster.
2. boredom. 90 minutes a day of aerobic exercise can mean hanging around the gym for up to 2.5 hours. After a few days this just gets old, eats into sleep, and I generally wind up needing rest - mostly for psychological reasons. When I was in college I could watch sportscenter reruns all day long. Not so much anymore. And I pretty much draw the line at ice road truckers or any HateNews program. Physical fitness isn't worth the sacrifice in psychological well being.
3. risk of injury. Don't know if anyone else experiences this, but 13 consecutive days on the treadmill wreaks havoc on my legs. Hips and knees suffer the most. I don't know what it is, because I can get to Anchorage and run 20 miles no problem. But getting through those last few days of my hitch can be painful.
4. fatigue. The work schedule is a little tough for trying to squeeze in this much exercise. I usually wake up at 4:00 am and head to the gym somewhere between 5:00 and 7:00 pm. Again, not that big of a deal for a few days, but after a week and a half it gets kind of tiring. And that's to say nothing of the work sometimes just overriding any plans I have for exercise. Some hitches you just get wrapped up in series of consecutive 16-18 hour days and that's that.

I started working on the slope about 3 years ago. At the time I had never run on a treadmill. Ever. I take pride in my ability to get out in any weather and do what I do outdoors. So it took a while to get used to being forced inside, even when the weather is decent. At first I couldn't stay focused for longer than 30 minutes. Then I just started running hard every day, and I was able to maintain for longer. The intensity made the time go by faster. Over the last few months I've been stretching the workouts longer and longer. I guess you could say I've progressed over the years. Or regressed.

I don't really enjoy the incredibly long stuff. I have two more hitches before the TAR and after that I'll probably try to go back to a more normal exercise routine.