Treadmill

Today was my first interval workout on the Treadmill of Torment.

First a heads up to my dad and wife who both enjoy death marches. I am now in training and plan to be able to keep up with you march-o-holics AND hold a conversation! So, unless you want to listen to a solid hour of whatever is pinging around my empty little noggin you better start training yourself. You've been warned.

Mainly what I notice about the treadmill is that I have sporadic trouble with balance. If I don't keep my eyes focused on the little display but try and look about (particularly during my work interval) I will begin weaving a bit and FAIL the sobriety test. My trainer doesn't want me holding on to the supports and I don't unless I get wobbly. She's right - the workout is more thorough when you're not holding on.

I figure I need to work up to the folk who can watch TV or play chess when running on the silly thing. Do you agree? Is this just something I have to learn or should I lay off the vodka?

It feels like a good workout when I'm done. I had to dial back the 4mph for the work interval to 3.8mph but I upped the incline to 4% to atone. I went thirty minutes at the first stab at it because I'm pretty respectful of the machine and I need to get a feel for it.

My trainer is there and when I'm done she pops up and wants to demonstrate the DB Lunge and see me do it. So she's explaining it while doing it and tosses her leg out and and pops up and down, see?

I know this will read really odd but it just looks pretty, the form of it you know? Immediately I'm dropped into this scene:

Here we are at the Women's Olympic DB Lunge competition. The United States has just finished with a perfect ten! Out lumbers the "female" East German contestant... ooohh this is gonna be good!

Well I lost points for having to hold on to a chair for balance, more points for not having my rear foot in parallel with my front one and still more points for not dropping my rear knee and that's the key for me. I must drop the rear knee without letting the front knee bend past 90 degrees. Well I'll try again tomorrow :-)