I’ve talked about it more than once on this blog. I LOVE Friday morning long runs. It’s one less thing on my weekend to do list and now, while I’m triathlon training, it also allows for time swimming and biking with Bo.

However, sometimes things don’t go as planned. I woke up this morning at 5am, got dressed, ate a banana and peanut butter while sipping on Nuun. I walked out the front door at 5:15 and heard a loud clap of thunder and saw lightening in the distance. I am all for running in the elements, including rain,  but I do not like taking chances when it comes to lightning.

Knowing in the back of my mind that we have plans tonight and a Fourth of July BBQ and party tomorrow, the last thing I wanted to do was try and schedule my long run between those activities. While I have learned over the past few months that I can definitely bike with a hangover, I have no desire to run with one. I went back to bed for two hours and decided to pack my gear for a post work long run on the treadmill.

I can now say that I have run 13 miles on the treadmill.

With a little bit of planning and strategy, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Here are my tips for making your next treadmill long run a success.

1. Break it 30 minute increments. For some reason, 30 minutes is a very manageable and acceptable time to run on a treadmill. It also means that anytime your eye sees the clock it sees a number that isn’t intimidating. Every 30 minutes I grabbed a sip of water and quickly restarted the treadmill.

2. Switch up your entertainment. For this run, I brought three forms of entertainment: music, television show and the World Cup. I listened to music for the first 4 miles, watched an episode of Mad Men for 5 miles and then watched the France versus Germany World Cup game for the final 4 miles. If you don’t have a television or iPad show option, changing playlists or genre of music can be a good option. Another idea is to listen to a podcast or audiobook half the time and then music the other half.

3. Don’t forget fuel and water. I kept a water bottle next to me on the treadmill but when I started to get tired around mile 11 I realized I forgot to bring fuel. Since my tank was empty for the final few miles my pace definitely suffered a bit as did my overall mentality.

4. Take advantage of the elevation button. Whether or not you’re training for a hilly race, using the elevation button on a treadmill can spice things up during an otherwise monotonous long run. Of course, be careful not to push the elevation too much if your goal is a long distance. One great tip that I found a few years ago is to download the course map for your upcoming race and use try to replicate some of the elevation changes during your run. You can find a lot of elevation maps by typing “elevation grade of <insert race name>” or “elevation chart for <insert race name>.”

5. Bring a towel. I didn’t think to bring a towel since our gym has paper towels readily available. Maybe it was the humidity or the fact that our gym isn’t air conditioned, but I found myself sweating more on the treadmill than I normally would outside! Two hours of sweat wiping later, my face didn’t appreciate the cardboard like paper towels. Next time I’ll bring a small towel to wipe myself down and cover the screen.

A little over two hours later I was able to push stop on the treadmill and kick off the weekend. Thirteen miles is a new personal distance record on the treadmill and while I have no desire to do it again soon, at least I know it’s always an option when weather or scheduling gets in the way.

How far have you run on a treadmill?