Deep down I know that my machines are only going to take me so far, so I know I’m going to have to make some changes to my plans in the next few months. I was up until about 4 a.m. with excitement, thinking about all the things I’d try to do (and the intermittent thunder wasn’t gonna let me sleep, either, so I figured why not sit up and plan?).

Part of the reason I avoided running and stuck to walking and the occasional light jog until I made this marathon commitment is because of my weight issues and my knees. I haven’t had major issues with my knees in some time, but I’ve learned to pay attention to them over the years after twisting them multiple times due to falls or stepping off the uneven ladders on the ship when I worked there and pivoting or putting my weight down too hard on them.

Today the squishy ground due to days of rain and my need to not slip and fall has made me feel like there are rubber bands pulling behind my kneecap. I will do some elliptical work today, later on when I’m sure I won’t lose power (again) during my workout. But eventually, I’m going to have to work on getting away from the elliptical trainer and on the actual road to do some runs.

My schedule makes that difficult, unfortunately, because 90% of my shifts are in the evenings. I don’t have the gas to drive somewhere safe to run, drive home to shower, then drive to work again. I’m gritting my teeth these days in between paychecks enough as it is… adding wear and tear to my aging car when I don’t have to is NOT a good sign.

I live out-county, which means barely any shoulders on the road and I’m sure my cat would try to follow me to exercise and end up squished on the main farm road around here (or lost if she got chased by a dog… few other than mine are contained around here). I live several miles outside of town both directions and there aren’t really walkable places here. Folks walk down the road all the time to get to the dollar store only because they don’t have a ride… nobody walks or jogs for exercise on these roads.

I am trying to implement plans where I work out more often outside my shed, though I love my elliptical trainer and the programs on it. Now that I fixed the reed switch, I’ll be working with my rower, too, pretty soon. But the elliptical is built with the motion of running in mind, minus the impact. My knees and joints have to get used to surfaces that aren’t gonna have give to them when you land on them (I hate treadmills because of that extra give or bounce in the steps… my knees ended up hurting like hell my first half mile on normal roads a decade ago, which is how I learned treadmill running was not even CLOSE to road running).

Ellipticals ARE useful as hell when it comes to training, ESPECIALLY after an injury or some pain that makes getting back into road training difficult. Most sources agree with that, and plenty of distance runners use them in their cross training. But exclusively training on the elliptical? No, that’s a recipe for pain down the road on the literal road.

To be fair, ellipticals seem to help with improving or maintaining the cardio aspect of the body training about as well as running outdoors would. O2 stats, improving stamina and core balance… there are a lot of upsides to training with the elliptical, especially when starting out with exercise and trying to get a sense of your abilities and how you need to improve.

I always liked the elliptical, but I have to admit, it makes it feel too easy, like I have training wheels on. And the more I read about training on ellipticals, the more I know I need to start some short road runs sooner rather than later. Running technique can only be achieved by actually running, not going through the motions.

Today, though, it’s pouring down rain and my shed is warm and dry (and the cat will be eager to join me from her perch in the rafters). I also have that rubber band feeling in my knee again, so some slow build-ups to several miles will be a great thing as the day goes on.

I just wish I had more opening shifts I could do… then I could pack a bag and change into my workout clothes and running shoes and hit the park on the way home. That’s the only way I could really swing safe runs at the present time. Perhaps I’ll get some schedule changes that’ll allow that to happen soon.

Til then, strength training and ze machine awaits…