After my less than stellar outdoor run on Tuesday, last night I was determined to get in a good run by logging some time on dreaded treadmill. As a longer distance runner, this is always a bit tricky. My gym doesn’t have time limits to their cardio equipment, but even so I try to be courteous – hitting the gym during non-peak hours for my long runs.

I arrived at the gym around 9:15 last night. Seemed like a solid plan. Parking my car, I caught a glimpse of the treadmills through the window. They were all full! I sat in my car for a few minutes, pondering what to do. After about 10 minutes I decided to leave and drove back home. I just didn’t have it in me to wait any longer. So frustrating. Los Angeles is so congested. The streets are crowded, the gyms are crowded. So today I’m going for attempt #3. I have my running gear at work with me and plan to run around the neighborhood by my office before driving home. Fingers crossed.

With the days getting longer, I’ve started to take advantage of the late afternoon sunshine. I’ve recently moved from the beach to mid city Los Angeles and just can’t seem to find a good outdoor loop. Yesterday I was determined to change this – surely it can’t be that difficult to create an amazing 5 mile loop.

I mapped it all out while still at the office, choosing familiar streets and neighborhoods. At 6pm I shut my computer down and began my 30 min/9 mile commute home. I hate traffic. By 6:45pm I was laced up and out the door. I figured even at a 10 minute/mile pace I had enough daylight remaining. My run did not go as planned. Between pedestrians, bike riders, dog walkers, bus stops and traffic signals I was only able to run 6-7 minutes at a stretch before having to stop. It was miserable. My run ended up taking me over an hour, even though I had clocked less than 50 minutes of running. Ugh, there’s got to be a better way.

So tonight I’m going to hit the gym for a good 90 minutes on the treadmill. I need to get some serious cardio time in so I don’t lose all of my progress from my recent LA Marathon training. My quest for the perfect outdoor running route continues…