Back in the fall, our local meteorologists were predicting a snowier than normal winter for us – something about El Niño, La Niña, El Snowman, or something like that.

Anyway, Bill and I talked about getting a treadmill for our home gym so we wouldn’t have to miss any of our winter runs.  I stopped in Leisure Fitness a few days before Thanksgiving and they already had their Black Friday sale going.  Since I already have a Life Fitness Lifecycle spin bike and Life Fitness elliptical, I decided to stick with a brand I know and trust.  I purchased the Life Fitness Gym Series treadmill, but decided to surprise Bill with it as part of an early Christmas present.

Side note:  When I was pregnant with my second son, I bought a pretty basic home-quality treadmill so I could run while the babies were sleeping.  While the repairman was replacing the third motor, yes I said third, he suggested I contact the company and ask for a full refund for the piece of junk.  Luckily the manager agreed that I’d gotten a lemon, and gave me a full refund.  I swore that I’d never buy another treadmill…..

Our new treadmill was delivered on December 9th, and I put a huge red bow on it before I escorted Bill down to the basement that night to see it.

LifeFitnessTreadmill

A few mornings later, I decided to go for a short run on my new treadmill.  Oh man, is it smooth!  It’s a joy to run on, and I was having a great run until about two miles into it when my right calf started hurting.  I was perplexed since my speed was within the range of my normal training runs.  I slowed my speed down a bit, but my calf continued to hurt (sciatic nerve pain), so I stopped.

It was a pure coincidence that my back decided to rear it’s ugly head again during that first run on my new treadmill.  The nerve!  Literally.

It wasn’t the treadmill’s fault.

It’s too snowy and icy to safely run outside tomorrow morning; and unfortunately, I won’t be running on my treadmill.  Right now cross-training on my spin bike is my best bet, but I’ll be back on my treadmill – walking first, and then running like a rock star!

 

  • Questions:
  • Do you call it a treadmill or a dreadmill?
  • What’s the farthest you’ve run on a treadmill? ~ I ran a couple of 16-milers, an 18-miler, and a 20-miler in 2010 while training for Boston.
  • What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen happen with a treadmill? ~ I watched helplessly as a gym member set a Swiss ball down behind the treadmill my next client was warming up on.  The fast moving belt pulled the ball under the treadmill and caused the treadmill to come up off the floor and balance sideways on the ball.  My client fell onto her knees, but fortunately wasn’t hurt.