Rotating belts and yes, I'm a wuss!

So what DO you look at when running on a treadmill? Have you ever tried to read on a treadmill while running? I've tried it and my head must bounce up and down too much because I can't even concentrate on a large print Reader's Digest. And my gym, in a stroke of genius, placed the televisions at just the right angled location that you would have to be the little girl in the move, The Exorcist, to have a comfortable view. So what do I usually wind up looking at? That's right: the numbers.

Yep, I watch those little minutes and those pesky miles tick tick slowly by. Pretty exciting huh? The only problem is, I discovered Saturday that I have now developed a habit of looking down when I run. Pretty easy to get hit by a car that way you see. While these Mississippi drivers, unlike the rest of the world, know to show respect by pulling over when a funeral procession comes down the road, they must think runners 'bes' move over now'!

So I decided on Sunday that I need to get out more and run the roads; stop looking down and lookin' all self-conscious and all. The only problem is I am a wuss and HATE to run outside when it is below 40 degrees. So when I woke up this morning, saw the temp at 36 degrees, off to the gym I went, looking all down and all yet again!

I'm starting to get pretty dern bored on the ol' rotating belt, especially now that I am doing longer distances. I tried little games today to break the monotony: like not looking down for a while and trying to guess how far I went, or counting and recounting all of the other people working out. You probably guessed these didn't work too well and I went back to my routine of staring at the numbers. So I'm praying for warmer weather this Thursday and have a route all marked out for me. The weather forecast for this Thurday am? A comfortable 49 degrees! But what?! Rain. And yep, when it comes to running in the rain, I'm a.....

Looks like I'll be staring at the digits yet again. :-(