Mall Running: It CAN Be Done!

This weather sucks.  I am sick and tired of sub-zero temperatures, especially when the snow looks so fluffy and soft.  I don't own a treadmill, so usually what I do is pop in a Leslie Sansone dvd and run while she walks and talks.  She talks a lot.  She is very perky.  I hate perky.

This is EXACTLY how I look. . .NEVER.

I intend to review her videos at a later post because, while I mock her a lot, I find that her routines implement a good amount of core work with walking/running.  I've used her to recover from The Great Nut Incident, and if I run while she walks, and I use two-pound hand weights, I can get a great workout.  More on that in another post.

When the members of my running club, The Ohio Runners Network, were posting all kinds of trail runs for Sunday (my long run day),  I was looking at the Weather Channel app and fretting.  High temperature of two degrees?  Really?  Disgusting.

So, I decided to do something about it.  I ripped off a throwaway suggestion from my running peep, Deidre, who wrote, "We should go to the mall with the walkers."  Brilliant!

I posted that I was going this morning, and I was going to RUN, baby.  Sheila, my coach from OneLife Fitness Coaching, was betting that I'd get stopped by a mall cop.  She was interested enough in seeing that happen to make a call to the mall security to find out what time the mall was open to walkers.  She didn't blow my cover.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I'm stopped by a mall cop while running in the mall.

And so I went.  I did two miles in the mall, Peeps!  Nobody stopped me, nobody yelled at me, nobody cared.  I only did two miles because I got there later than I wanted, and as the mall started filling up, I was worried about wet floors from people tracking in the snow.  Safety first.  Next time I intend to go earlier; 9:00 is when the mall opens on Sunday to walkers, and I will be there.  I think it would be best if I'm gone by 10:15 at the latest.

So, yeah, I BEAT THE SYSTEM.  I RAN in the mall!  Who needs a dreadmill?

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