My Nano Almost Died

The scariest thing that could possibly happen while on a treadmill happened today. Well, actually, I guess the scariest thing would be falling off which is a huge fear of mine. Can you imagine flying off the back?? Did you see when whats-her-name on The Biggest Loser fell off? Wow. Talk about painful both physical and psychological. I saw her on The Today Show this week and she is just now getting over her fear of treadmills. Shiver.

Anyway, back on point, I didn't fall off but my iPod had a near death experience. I don't wear my iPod on my arm or wrist mostly because I haven't found a way to do it that doesn't bug the crap out of me so when I run outside, I carry it. Running on the treadmill has been a bit more difficult depending on the type. Sometimes I put it in the cup holder but usually, I set it on the little ledge just under the display screen. It works ok but I have to be aware of the cord. Today, I went to a different gym and the treadmill I used (a giant...I mean HUGE) LifeStyle model, had a ledge under the screen but it was up quite a bit higher than I've seen before. I got my iPod going, turned on the Nike+ and started to speed walk. About 2 minutes in, my hand hit the cord and my iPod went flying! The ear buds stayed in my ears but the cord came out of my nano and that thing took 3 quick hops on the treadmill belt then flew off the back.

Fortunately I wasn't running yet because my immediate reaction was to turn around while reaching for it and yelling "No, no, no! Stop! Ahhhhh!!!" (yes, people were watching with evil little grins on their faces). I came frighteningly close to flying off myself but then came to my senses, spun back around and slammed my hand down on the 'stop' button. Somehow, my iPod stopped just inches from the front of the treadmill behind me. I snatched it up and could see on the screen that the time was still clocking away so I put it back on and started up the treadmill again. The screen was in fact working but there was no sound. Nada. I could see on the screen that I should be hearing Dexy's Midnight Runners (please don't laugh at me....I enjoy starting up to perky 80s music and I can hear you singing Come On Eileen right now!) but there was nothing! I pressed the center button and the little lady in there that lets me know how far I've gone happily told me I had gone .18 but that was it. No music! So then I had to do the unthinkable. Run without music. Without music, people!!!! On a treadmill!!! My two biggest nightmares were happening at the very same time!

I left the iPod on because the Nike+ was still working and started running. As it turns out, it wasn't so bad. I can't believe I'm saying that. I really was fine with it. And it forced me to pay attention to other, what now seems like, more important things like my breathing and pace. And you know what I did? I warmed up. I know! What a concept!

Normally I jump on a treadmill, speed walk for about 3 minutes then crank that baby up and sprint for as long as possible. Then I lower it to a speed walk, recover for 30 seconds to a minute and crank it back up to a sprint again. My thought process in doing that is that when I finally get back outside, I'm going to naturally be slower due to elevation and wind, etc, so I've thought that if I can get fast on a treadmill, I'll eventually be a bit faster outside. I have no idea if this makes any kind of sense at all (I'm pretty sure I can hear you laughing and shaking your head at me). So today, I started off slow and easy at 6.2 then after 1 mile, bumped it up to 6.5, then after mile 2, up to 6.9, etc until my last mile (7) was at 7.3. I felt so much better doing this gradual increase. The best part? I never had to stop for that recovery break. The only part that was hard for me was just letting go of the distance part of it. I only have an hour on the treadmill and it wasn't going to end in high mileage but it did end with me feeling really good about the workout.

By the way, do you guys ever just start the treadmill back up again once it gets to 60 minutes and automatically wants you to cool down? Assuming there are available treadmills, of course, which there always is when I'm there. I've thought about doing it so that I can get more miles in but I'm a real rule following chicken shit and am sure that the gym-police are going to come haul my ass off the treadmill if I do that.

Oh, and good news: I turned the iPod off after my workout then turned it back on when I got in the car to check it and the music was back! Phew!