Treadmill Love...Not!

The weather this afternoon has been crazy. A thunder storm made it's way in around 3:30pm just about the time that I was heading out for a 4 mile run. I figured that I'd go ahead and head out since there was no lightning. Less than half a mile out the lightning started. Now, I'm not stupid enough to run when there's lightning especially when it felt like it was starting to rain. I turned around and came back home hoping that I had gotten a mile done so that I could count it for the Runner's World Summer Run Streak. Alas I only had 0.68 miles. So to meet the 1 mile requirement I hopped onto the dreaded treadmill (hereafter referred to as the "dreadmill") and did 0.33 miles for a grand total of 1.01 miles. Yes! My minimum was met...time to get off that stupid machine!

The thing is that I had 3 more miles to do. I kept looking at that machine and thought to myself, "Just get on the darned thing and do it!" Instead I went to make dinner. By the time I had sat down and eaten half a rib eye the weather changed and was nice, but now I had a full stomach. I decided to wait 30 minutes and hoped that the weather would stay the same. Not. By the time I was ready the weather had become windy...around here, in the high desert, windy means blowing sand/dirt...not something I want to run in. So I gave in and decided that the dreadmill would be the only way I could get my 4 miles in.

I turned it on, got on it and started running. Immediately I started hating life...that is not an exaggeration. In less than 4 minutes I was off, turned the darned thing off and was on Twitter and Facebook bitching and moaning about the dreadmill. The strange thing is that I used to love the treadmill. I don't know when my infatuation with it ended but I want to run outside, not on some machine! So now I have a 4 miler the day before my 14 mile long run. Joy. Well, as long as it gets done that's all that matters right?

Do you prefer running outside or on the treadmill? Why?
What do you do if you can't complete a scheduled run for whatever reason?