As the temperatures start to rise as summer approaches, my enjoyment of running outdoors starts to decline. While I love a good run, I do NOT love feeling like I’m roasting in a hot oven.

I don’t sweat that much so as a result I’m prone to overheating. So, unless I can sneak in an early morning run, this time of year I head indoors and do my running on the treadmill or treadmill, as many call it.

I’ve always loathed running on a treadmill. I feel quite like a hamster running in a wheel; working hard but making no forward progress. I also hate the lack of interesting scenery.

These days I’m working out at the UREC at LSU which in the afternoon has the worst TV shows to watch while you run. I’m pretty sure my IQ goes down 10 points every time I see Jersey Shore on the TV in front of me while I run. That, along with being one of the oldest people in the cardio room, makes running on the treadmill much worse.

So. to make my dreadmill runs more interesting, I started using my inside runs as speed workouts. Last week I ran a total of 5 miles on the treadmill, which for me is mentally challenging.

I started off running one mile at my normal pace, then starting doing some pace intervals. I ran .25 miles at my regular pace, then .25 miles at a much faster pace. I continued to rotate this pacing cycle for the next three miles and ended the run with one more mile at my regular pace. The speed intervals made the time fly by and made for a really great workout.

I also found that when I hit the road later in the week for an outside 5 miler, I felt a little bit stronger and dare I say a wee bit faster. I didn’t use my Runkeeper app on that run to time myself but it was definitely one of my better runs recently. I think I’m going to add this little treadmill interval workout to my normal workout routines over the summer. I rather enjoyed it, minus having to watch Jersey Shore.