i'm off and running!

we had decided that the exercise bike gets a bit monotonous. (ok, that's what my beautiful wife told me. i'd never used it enough to know...) anyway, we decided that a treadmill would be the best addition, and we earmarked part of the tax refund to that.

well after a lot of looking, one of the frontrunners in our search went on sale, so yesterday we picked it up. it was a lot of fun. i know that sounds silly, but think about it. my wonderful wife couldn't wait for the change of pace, and i was so looking forward to the "some assembly required" element. (it's a guy thing. like a puzzle, but you get to use tools!)

well, the treadmill is a wonder. it started working as soon as we got it home. we both got a good workout hauling it from the van to the basement!

later that night, after dinner, reading to the boys, and tucking them it, i gathered my tools and set off for the basement!

put on the music and let the party begin! it's a good one too! lots of little screws and washers, bolts and everything. this isn't just a phillips screwdriver job! i need a couple of wrenches, pliers, wire-cutters, etc.

without boring you with details, an hour or so later, it is whole and ready. we play with the various controls, and walk on it a bit. yes, this will certainly work the legs and get the heart pumping!

this is where the story takes a turn toward the unbelievable. i'm lying in my comfy warm bed this morning, and wonder what time it is. it's 5:50am. ten full minutes before my alarm will go off. why am i awake? what is going on? this isn't right!

can you guess what happened then? that's right. i went back to sleep. i'm not that crazy! (i know, what's so unbelievable about that? ok how about this?) i'm looking at my clock through bleary eyes when it turns to 6:00am, and the alarm goes off. but i don't hit snooze. i shut it off. i get up. (i kind of have to now, or i'll fall asleep with no alarm!)

well my body resists waking as i stumble downstairs. but soon enough, i'm walking a nice leisurely pace as the treadmill ramps up into the pre-programmed "course" i've selected. fifteen minutes later, i'm now running at six mph with sweat running down my face. this is good exercise! i'm feeling it. only another minute or two, and this program will take me back to a quick walk for another ten minutes or so, and then cool down.

what? why is it slowing down already? and so quickly? aw crap! i pulled the little safety key out and shut the sucker down. i was so enjoying the program i was on too! i had to finish out my walk in manual mode guessing about when to increase and decrease the spead based on the graphic representation of the program i was in the middle of.

despite my flash of anger and mistrust, i didn't take the safety key off. thoughts of my out of shape, early-waken, worn by running, legs giving out sending me to the floor to have my face sanded of by the running belt, prevented that. it will take some time to get a feel for running on a treadmill.

that's nothing to the feel of walking around the room when you first get off the treadmill! that was fun. my legs were a bit rubbery, but not as bad as i thought they'd be. time felt distorted, as though i was moving way to fast for the size of steps i was taking. the floor seemed to want to rise up to meet me, like i was leaning dangerously far forward. it wore off quickly, but it was kind of fun while it lasted.

on top of it all, i went upstairs, shaved, showered, got ready and caught my bus to work. this of course means two days in a row. it's not a personal record, but it is certainly a vast improvement over the past year or five.

it felt good too. good enough to know that i need some good running shoes. hopefully good enough to keep me going when i am really tired one morning...