When your treadmill becomes a "dreadmill"

When cleaning the bathroom tiles with a toothbrush and tweezing your eyebrows both seem like better choices than a date with your treadmill, it's time to rethink your relationship. Before you begin referring to it as the "dreadmill," change your attitude and develop a passion for going nowhere fast. Take these tips to heart so you and your machine remain on speaking terms through the winter.

Set the mood. Lights, TV, music, ACTION. If your treadmill is at home, put it in an inviting place with requisite entertainment like your TV, CD, DVD or radio -- whatever gets you pumped. Get it out of that cold, damp basement -- even die-hard mill users have trouble getting motivated in a cobweb-covered setting.

If the gym is your preferred sweat-stop
Take advantage of the many entertainment options most gyms offer. But if your gym's entertainment system doesn't get your People's Choice Award, bring your own. A new portable CD player -- or a homemade tape of the worst '80s music you can imagine if you think it's a hoot singing along to Cyndi Lauper -- could be your best fitness investment yet. Whatever it takes to get you through a treadmill session is fair game.

March to your own drummer.
Occasionally tuning in to your treadmill workout rather than tuning out can be a refreshing change and can help you develop your own inner rhythm. Take off the headphones, turn off the TV, cover the treadmill console and listen to the sound of your inhale, exhale, the slap of your feet, the swish of your hands swiping your sweats. Match your inhale to each stride. IN-IN-OUT-OUT-IN-IN-OUT-OUT. Let your mind get into the zone and take you away from the drudgery.

Make a list.
Since you don't have to worry about watching traffic, the treadmill is the perfect place to focus on form. Run through a full-body checklist, beginning at the top. Think: Tall; Rhythmic breathing; shoulders relaxed; relaxed arms with elbows bent at 90 degrees; hands loose and swiping your hips; legs moving like the blades of scissors, eating up space with each stride; foot strike, heel-toe, heel-toe.

Fun and games.
Try a few mind games to carry you through a run or power walk. How about a Fartlek workout, an odd word that means speed play in Swedish? Say to yourself: For the next three minutes I am going to run at six miles per hour, then I can walk at a comfortable pace for the next three. Then, for the next two minutes I will run at 6.2 mph before walking another three minutes again. And so on until your workout is complete.

More games.
If the Fartlek method is too freeform for you, come up with a definite structure beforehand. For example, try a pyramid: Increase your speed 0.1 mph every minute until you hit the halfway time of your workout, say 15 minutes. Then for the next 15 minutes decrease the speed 0.1 mph every minute. It is a great workout that probably burns more calories than your usual "run of the mill" program.

It's on the schedule.
You wouldn't dream of missing your regular 8:30 Thursday meeting with your supervisor, or the season finale of E.R. But a workout? It always gets pushed to another time slot. Commit. Put it in your Palm Pilot or Week-at-a-Glance -- in INK.

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