18 miles on a treadmill?

The thought is both terrifying and a big relief at the same time. Let's start with why it's a good idea.

I'll just throw this out there and get it over with. Many long distance runners develop issues with their stomachs...or uh... bowels. I don't know, it seems that no matter what I do, I've developed a need to use the restroom around mile 3. Sometimes mile 4 or 5. In any case, around Montague there are no bathrooms. There are no bushes or trees. There are wide open pastures with about 5 inch tall grass. And enough traffic that just squating on the side of the road like a dog or cow (ok, cows don't really squat) would get me arrested. Running at a gym provides ample restroom opportunities. That's a huge relief...no pun intended.

Weather. This is a big one. I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I've been extremely lucky with weather on my runs lately. It hasn't been extremely cold or windy on my long run days. I think this is about to end. There's currently a light snow going on outside the window, but I hear it's supposed to dump this weekend. Especially Sunday...which is the day I'm scheduled to run 18 miles. It also gets VERY windy in Montague being as it's part of the large Shasta Valley that is unprotected and gets wind funneled through there regularly. Running 18 miles in a blizzard is not fun.

I also just tore my only pair of winter running pants. Yesterday on my 9 mile run (among bears). Sooo... I have no winter running pants. I have sweat pants, but anyone who's ever run 18 miles will tell you that sweat pants are not the most comfortable thing to run in. A 3-5 mile run in sweat pants? Sure. As a matter of fact, that's what I'm doing today. 5 miles in sweats. I just ordered a new pair of running tights but they won't be here for another week. Maybe I'll have them in time for my 20 miler. If I run inside on a treadmill, I'm wearing shorts. And a tank top. And I'll be staring out the window at the blizzard going on.

So the cons: really for my situation right now, there's only one. Boredom. I am not a great treadmill runner. I'm pretty sure the longest I've ever run on a treadmill was 4 miles. I took a poll on Facebook and some of my friends have run 8-10 miles on a treadmill which is valiant. One of my friends has run 18. That's Shelly. She's crazy. She ran 18 miles on a treadmill because it was 20 below zero (-20) outside. They all mentioned tv and music.

Here's the problem. The tv's at my gym are sort of off to the side. I am physically incapable of running on a treadmill and looking to one side. If I have to look to the side, I first have to grab the side bar. This prevents me from falling over sideways and face-planting on a moving conveyor belt. That would be bad. And embarassing.

I do not have an iPad or an iPhone or really any sort of iThing. I have a few MP3 players and I think I'll bring all 3. I have a Kindle but I can't read while running. Attempting to focus on a stationary page while my head is bouncing up and down is a quick way to get a massive headache. I was thinking of bringing my French audio cd's and my portable cd player and learning some French while I run.

This run will take me between 2.5 and 3 hours to complete. I hope. The gym is only open for 4 hours on Sundays. 2.5-3 hours on a treadmill. Hopefully the one in front of the window is open. There's 2 rooms with treadmills at my gym. In one room the treadmills are about 2 feet from the wall and they look right at the wall. There are tv's to the left and right, but well...yeah. So I'd be staring at the wall for up to 3 hours. The other room has two treadmills side by side facing a window that looks out to a quiet street. I saw this morning that one of those treadmills is out of order. I suppose at some point in my run I can just up and move to a different one. You know, mix it up a little.

This is going to be fun.