Yikes!!

[Mitts]

Two lovely new treadmills arrived at my gym last week and today I thought I'd give one of them a go, instead of my tried and trusted elderly 'mill in the corner where I can hide nicely (and watch all the fit young men in the weights room at the same time )

So off I went, George Michael and his Careless Whisper in my ear as usual (don't you love songs that are exactly 5 mins long...), completed my warm-up walk and went on to a gentle 10 minute jog at 7km/h. The new treadmill's great, tells you all sorts of things and you can watch telly or choose if you want to watch yourself running round a track or round a woodland or cross country trail or up and down a mountain.

I arrived at my four minute walking interval feeling quite fit, then did another 10 minutes at 7km/h and after that's where things went pear-shaped....

To reduce speed you can either hit the downward arrow which reduces you 0.1 km per press of the button, or you can use one of the 'quick-set' buttons. They're set for 3, 6 and 9km/h, however just above them the approximate MILES per hour is printed on too...

Numbers were never my strong point... instead of hitting the button for a 6 km/h cooldown walk, I hit the button for 6 Mph which is about 9k/h and much too quick for my only-just-recovered knees... I was left there pushing up with my hands on the side bars, legs dangling in the air as the band whizzed round beneath me, everybody in the gym staring at the crazy woman in the red for danger top...

Fortunately I didn't fall off... stood down on the sides for a moment to reduce speed properly, then my feet were able to rejoin the band at a modest 6k/h...

Next time I'll just go back to the old treadmill - it only does kilometers so I can't possibly go wrong... I hope!

[Malcy Graduate]

Hah - brilliant post! I bet there was smoke coming off your shoes at one point (:->)

[Mitts Graduate in reply to Malcy]

Never mind off my shoes, it was coming out my ears when I realized - too late - what I'd done...

One of these fun moments you get when you're a runner

[Malcy Graduate]

Thinking lf the aroadrunner - those legs spinning so fast that they're a blur. Wish I was there to see it. A story to tell your grandchildren in years to come!

[Mitts Graduate in reply to Malcy]

Yeah... don't think I'll tell my kids though - I'd never hear the end of it!

[DeliaItaly Graduate]

Hahahaha! Poor you! Are you Ok?

Didn't one of the fit young men come and rescue you -- as Popeye did to Olive Oyl?

(btw I'm in an anxious mood right now as Joe is coming tomorrow and it's snowing again and no way am I driving to Bologna.)

[Mitts Graduate in reply to DeliaItaly]

I'm fine - one fit young men took a couple of steps in my direction but there was no way I was going to dangle there till he crossed the gym so I fixed it myself.

Let your brother get a taxi, Delia - the roads here are vile and I don't imagine yours are any better. Icy and snowed on and completely horrible.

[DeliaItaly Graduate in reply to Mitts]

Hahaha, should have let him help out!

As for Joe, he just wrote : "They're forecasting snow in bologna. I shouldnt have tried to go !! I may struggle getting there !! We'll see !" Grrrrrrrrr

[Malcy Graduate]

oops - dyslexic fingers again. sorry for the typos

[greenlegs Graduate]

Oh my goodness, Mitts, poor you. That sounded so funny it made my eyes run, sorry! Glad you managed to sort yourself out and avoid the indignity of having to be rescued. At least you didn't fall over and fly off the end! (Can that happen? - I've no idea, having never been on a treadmill yet. That's exactly the sort of scenario that puts me off them!)

[Mitts Graduate in reply to greenlegs]

Yes it's very possible to fall off a treadmill... lots of people here have but as far as I know noone's been seriously injured, except to their dignity, like me yesterday! Generally I think they're great, I'd never imagined before I would enjoy going to the gym all winter instead of my lovely woods but I do!

I'll be back out there as soon as all this white stuff melts and the tracks dry out though. (Might sneak back in on real wet weather days!)

[Fingalo Graduate]

Right Mitts, I expect you to get some of your fellow gym members practicing this and post the results.....

youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCN...(Not working as expected?)

[Mitts Graduate in reply to Fingalo]

Thanks Fingalo - I'll get the fit young men onto it tomorrow!

And wow, I really can't tell you how impressed I am... especially the bit where they were with one foot on two different treadmills going in opposite directions...

You should post this up on a thread of its own, people are going to miss it here.

[Mitts Graduate in reply to Mitts]

Managed to post it up myself

[Anniemurph Graduate in reply to Fingalo]

This was brilliant - thanks

[greenlegs Graduate]

That was fun!

I *love* that gliding movement side to side as they walked across the treadmills.

Well, Fingalo, which one is you!

[Fingalo Graduate in reply to greenlegs]

I'm the one who best encapsulates the 'Rock God' look.....

[skf28 Graduate]

oh Mitts - that is hilarious - your blog has really made me chuckle - thank you