Zen and the Art of being a Treadmill Master

Photo by E.C. Campbell Photography

Treadmills are a necessary evil. They come in handy for when inclement weather prevents running outside, as well as for scaredy safety cats like me who don't like to run in the dark. Unfortunately, they are boring. Between a lack of scenery and hills, it's easy to feel like a hamster running on a wheel. However, treadmills can be great for maintaining a consistent pace, so I do appreciate them for pace and speed drills. Since you just need to move your feet fast enough not to shoot off the back of the treadmill, I have learned to love the miles I put in by listening to podcasts and audio books, as I never know what I'm going to hear next, creating something for me to focus on, other than that rotating track. Here are a few of my favorite resources for aural entertainment:

Overdrive: Overdrive is an application that connects you to your local library's digital collection and downloads your selections directly to your device. I've found this is the easiest way to get my audio book fix.

Librivox: This is a collection of works in the public domain read aloud by volunteers. Some of the volunteer's voices are a bit hard to understand but there's lots of great stuff on here to download for free. This is where I get all my H.P. Lovecraft, which is great for taking your mind off the treadmill.

Marathon Training Academy: I listen to a podcast about running while I run. Angie and Trevor give out valuable advice on training, running nutrition, along with race recaps that make me want to run (almost) every race they review.

Ben Greenfield Fitness: Don't be fooled by the strangely specific titles, each episode answers a wide variety of listener questions, making each episode a wealth of information.

For running outside, I'll stick to music but my heart belongs to audio books and podcasts for turning me from a treadmill hamster to a treadmill master.

PS- Don't forget to adjust the incline to 1.0% when you're on the treadmill to compensate for the lack of wind and hills!