Treadmill Adventures Part 1: I ran on a curved treadmill!🏃‍♀️😳🏃‍♀️🫣🏃‍♀️🙂🏃‍♀️😃🏃‍♀️😅🏃‍♀️

[CBDB]

Annual Leave Day! YEY!!! 🤸🤸🏼‍♀️🤸🏾‍♂️

Hello, you all runners you. Today, my posts come from a curved treadmill in my local gym. ↩️🏃 Yes! I ran my first treadmill run on a curved treadmill. Yes, there is such a thing! And yes, it’s a treadmill that is curved, as instead of power, it uses your own gravity to propel you forward….. or … on the spot, depending on your perspective!

My first curved treadmill run was a wobbly, shuffling, “WOAH!!!” sort of affair. 🤭 I walked most part, with hands initially firmly on the solid railing! I managed to do 15 minutes of a shuffling jeffed run-walk, by the end to have only one hand tethering me safely to the robustness of the machines’ sidebars. ⚖️

Hubby, the ever so athletic long-distance walker and ex-half-marathoner, jumped on the same curved treadmill, and within seconds he was walking energetically without even needing the handrails, and bursting into a powerful run, not even looking at the machine. That's what good balance, excellent proprioception, and overall great physical ability can do. Yeah, couldn’t he spare some of it for me, please? 💝

However, my aspirations are high, and I loved trying out this beast of a machine. You probably can tell, for quite a few weeks, I have been pondering about buying a curved treadmill, that is if I ever can find an affordable second-hand one nearby. I’m now set to buy one, but which one, how and where? ⬅️➡️⤵️🔄

The conundrums that buying a second-hand curved treadmill raises take up a long list, detailed in various personal mind-boggling humming-and-hawing posts yet to come. I hope it will not be too self-indulgent and maybe give those interested in treadmill running some insight into this specific subset of treadmills. 📝

It’s been a long-winded decision-making process, with an increasing amount of research, as curve treadmills are quite expensive, even second-hand ones, and I had never experienced one… that is, until today. So, in the process of my research, hubby and I simply decided to go to the nearest gym that had a curved treadmill, and give it a go. 👍🏽💪

That alone, of course, was fraught with its own difficulties. I hadn’t been to a gym since well before Covid. And although hubby was a member once, I never was.

So on arrival, expecting to maybe have to pay £6 for entry, we were thwarted by not only a raised entry fee of £8.50, but also we each were asked to pay £19.90 for a first exploratory taster session. The stern teller, only after 5 minutes of having to listen to my rant about “how anyone could actually afford that kind of entry fee” and how “we, as the unfit nation we are, should help people to explore if gyms are worth their money!”, and “yes, she was only the messenger”, “but golly! £19.50!? Really?”, did the teller give us a free taster pass. We did thank her profusely, but I think everyone should have a free taster pass in a council-run gym, right!? 💰💰💰

Isn’t it extraordinary!!! The poor NHS is on its feet, we are one of the most unhealthy nations in the European space, and we still have local council-run gyms named “everybody gyms” that are too expensive for most! I know I’m ranting again, and I know the last time I went to the gym, a similar feeling got me to buy my own indoor rower for 2 years worth of membership fees, an investment so worth it. But not everyone can afford that, but affording a £30/month membership, or an £8.50 session? Who can afford that!? 🩺💰🩺💰🩺

Rant over. 😅

And I was so thankful for the free entry, as we had fun trying out the curved beast!

The make of that beast was a Technogym Skillmill. And I will list some other brands from my research in a subsequent post.📮

Additionally, I had a go at their Technogym indoor rower, using it as the first thing for a 7-minute warmup. Fun, but so much less smooth than a Concept 2 rower, of which I have one at home! 🥰🚣

I also tried out the Technogym traditional powered treadmill, and hubby and I walked on adjoining treadmills for another 15 minutes. It struck me that this was the only way we could walk side by side, and glancing jealously over at his display, I could see that his giant legs were doing a 7.2km/hr walk 🐆💨, contrasting my measly, midget-y 4.5km/hr.🐢⏳

But a walk is a walk. And a run is a run. No matter how slow, how midget-y your legs, how spindly your calves, how wobbly your gait.🏃‍♀️🤸🏃‍♀️🤸

Hubby also tried one of the strange elliptical machines, and as the last machine, I got to try a Concept 2 Ski-Erg, another strange beast that works out your arms and upper body only. 💪

My circuit was completed with a last 5-minute jeffing walk-run on that almighty beast of a curved treadmill.

So I am on a treadmill journey here, another new experience to this runner. I don’t know where it leads, but I’m hoping I’ll soon be the proud owner of an affordable, but also solid, good quality second-hand treadmill… but there is still some way to go until we get there. 🛣️🏞️

Next post: Why I dream of treadmills! 😴💭

Until the next chapter of this adventure, signing off as the “treadmill dreamer”!

Happy running, everyone, no matter where your treads take you

[Gthants 60minGraduate]

My take? Proprioception is an absolutely awesome word!! 🤣

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Gthants]

🤣🤣🤣 it is, isn’t it!?

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10]

Your comment about you and your husband walking side by side made me think that things like Parkrun times should be adjusted for height as well as age. If I was six inches taller that'd increase my stride by a lot which would mean that for the same number of paces I'd cover a lot more distance, hopefully in the same time.

My husband just can't get his head around the fact my legs are so short. We were docking the boat a couple of months back and he was so emphatic in insisting that I could safely jump to the pontoon that I believed him.

I realised mid jump that he was wrong and I was right in thinking it was too far and somehow grabbed hold of the lifelines. Unfortunately that left me hanging there, unable to move, somehow sitting on the fenders. We had an 'interesting' time getting the boat to where it should be.

Once I'd got over the excitement, he showed me how easy it would have been for him to step from boat to dock. I don't think he actually believed me when I got on the boat and demonstrated what a difference there is between his stride and mine but he hasn't questioned my judgment about jumping distances since.

I console myself that I'm much more comfortable on budget airlines than all these long legged folk.

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

oh dear! That sounds like a scary adventure all on its own! I know exactly what you mean. I was in a similar situation ca 2 years ago, not with a boat but rather a burn (stream) in a dip that hubby gazelle-like flew over! I just about made it, but it rather felt like a baby elephant jumping a hurdle! I definitely didn’t feel “leg-confident” and it could have easily gone so wrong! 😅

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to CBDB]

What is it with men and jumping? 😂

[Doris8 Graduate10]

I think I would get seasick or vertigo with my balance on that treadmill. I know what you mean about hubby longer legs. Mines are tiny my steps are 2 to his one and he wonders why I have to tell him to slow down, being only 4ft 11 1/2 inches, remember the half inch. The only thing is I get more steps than him on the walks. 😊

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Doris8]

ha ha!! Yey for counting steps! In that indeed we excel!!!

[Jools2020 Graduate10]

I’ve never used a treadmill and I’m actually concerned about getting a gait analysis done because I’m not sure I could even do it! That curved one looks fun, though.

Very interesting post.

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Jools2020]

yes, this was my first time on both treadmills. And it was great to have my support team with me (hubby). So I think it was a great idea for us to simply say to ourselves, let’s go to that gym together and have fun just trying out some equipment.