Today a couple of friends and I planned to meet at the Wheat Ridge rec center to get a run in. We planned to meet at 9am and to run about 4 miles. The track is measured at 10.4 laps per mile, so about 40 laps was our goal. I've run once on the indoor track at the Y where my boot camp has indoor classes. That track is 16 laps per mile. It was very difficult to keep track of the number of laps I was running so I didn't feel very confident that I'd be able to manage today either. However, that turned out to be the least of my worries. Turns out, the rec center doesn't open until 10am on Sundays. That and the foot of snow (ok, maybe it was just 6 inches) I had to shovel off my car, made for a difficult morning. One friend over slept so wasn't going to meet us there. The other was still on. I thought I was going to be late so I text her to let her know. I ended up getting there early some how and was quite excited to see an empty parking lot. I thought folks had decided to sleep in with all the snow and we'd have the place to ourselves. But, no, it was closed. I text my friend to let her know but it turns out she left her phone at home so didn't get my messages.
By the time I got home I felt like I'd lost my mojo. But, when my friend finally got home, after waiting for me because I told her I was going to be late, I rallied. I decided to go back out at 10am. She thought that was a good idea. I'd be able to check out the rec center since we hadn't been there before. That seemed like a good plan.
This rec center is very close to my house. The track has three lanes, one for walkers, joggers and runners. Even though the lanes are color coded, people still can't seem to pay attention to those simple rules. Oh well, it wasn't crowded so it wasn't too bad. And aside from the random person walking in the wrong direction, there weren't any mishaps. The weight room is also upstairs, along with elliptical machines, treadmills, cycling machines and rowing machines. The work out machines were pretty fully occupied the whole time I was running on the track. There are restrooms upstairs and water fountains, which were very cold and very conveniently located. Strategically located in the corners of the track were smaller work out stations. And along one long side of the track was one rowing machine, elliptical, and cycling machine. And across from that area was a place with some mats where folks were doing sit ups and stretching. Also, across from the weight area was another area with fit balls, mats, and aerobic steps.
I was able to easily count my laps by using my current lap number as a sort of mantra. I tried to use my iMapMyFitness app to keep track of my mileage but it has a hard time keeping track in such a small area. I'll have to find a pedometer app maybe. My fall back was going to be to just run for an hour and call it good. But, by using the mantra and also having an even number of laps to remember, it was pretty easy.
I ran for 40 laps plus one cool down lap to be pretty close to 4 miles. The track is really comfortable. It doesn't bank as much as the one at the Y which was nice. The surface is not too soft and not too hard and has good grip. There is also a very flattering mirror at one end which was nice to be able to see who was behind me. I stopped at the water fountain every ten laps. It was so nice not to have to run with the water bottle. I finished my 40 laps in 41:37. I was pretty happy with that!
All in all it was a good day. I'm glad I went back out and got a good run in. I was so not going to get on the treadmill. Yep, a good day. :-)
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