Road warrior to treadmill warrior

As I mentioned in my last post, running in south florida sucks. Now that "spring" has turned to summer it is even worse. I have decided to move to the treadmill. It has been an interesting transition as I have dreaded the treadmill throughout the years. Often it is boring and doesn't feel like my natural running flow.

Over the last 2 months I have been able to adjust to the change. I have been able to run for longer distances without having to stop. Although my pace has been slower than when I was running on the road  most recently it is faster than when I ran outside last summer. My average distance completed has also been much higher. One of the things I have added to make running on the treadmill more bearable is adding watching tv instead of just music or staring at the wall. This has contributed to me getting extra miles in as I get caught up in the show that I just keep running,

Overall, it still isn't as fun but it is serving the purpose of keeping me moving. I don't think I will be beating any records with this but I am also not losing my fitness, which is the main purpose of my running. I have also been adding in speed work once a week and doing those outside. I have been surprised at the quality of those workouts despite me running on a treadmill most days.

Pros:
Running everyday
Run anytime of day (vs night or early morning for outside)
High miles per run
staying healthy
more comfortable environment
more tv time

Cons:
Inside
controlled enviromnent (no hills, heat, change ups)
slower average mile
Not building speed
more tv time

Back to Running again, for now

I have gotten more free time lately due to COVID-19 and the slow down at work. I have gotten back into a regular running schedule since the new year but have now been able to pick up the training. Here are my thoughts from lately:

Running in South Florida Sucks:
-It is always hot (a few cools day but still)
- You need to run before Sun rise or after Sunset
-Both options suck. You either have high humidity or heat and often both
-I hate treadmills
-No good trails to run
-How did I ever run cc down here? Maybe that is why I sucked so much.
-No elevation unless you find a bridge.... I think everyone knows this but makes trying to change things up a bit harder and isn't much worse then South Georgia
- I miss the South Georgia Running Community. I haven't has luck finding one I gel with here.

Running as I have gotten older:
- I use to be pretty fast, comparatively ( I didn't often feel that way, although I didn't feel slow either)
- I use to workout hard- I knew that but man did I put the effort in. I find it hard now to do (lack of community? Accountability?).
- 15-20 lbs makes a difference and is harder and harder to keep off
- I eat bad.... Well really I eat to much and that doesn't help with the above issue
-I don't care to race so much as to be healthy and have a positive outlet. Although putting a race on the schedule has motivated me to run more consistent and have something to work toward in the past.

Making Running exciting while alone :
- I play little games on my runs. This has gotten me out of the habit of running the same boring route every day and gotten me to explore new areas of the neighborhood.

• Try to not  run down a dead end
• Run down every dead end
• Don't run on the same street twice. 
• Try to run a mile in a random neighbor hood
• guess how long a street is
• Try and run down every street in a neighborhood
• I always used running as a way to relieve stress or think about something that is going on or get always from thinking about something that is going on. I don't drink, I don't smoke, have many other hobbies and running has always been my outlet. 
• You get the point.