The Treadmill

So, I don't have anything exciting to report on today, but I thought to myself "I should really write about some of the past things that have happened to me." so here's one of them for your reading pleasure.

A few years back, I was training for a half marathon, so I spent a lot of time running. It was winter, so I was running on a treadmill. Now, let me preface this story with a little treadmill etiquette for you non-runners. For me, running on a treadmill is like peeing in a urinal for dudes. If there are 4 urinals open, and one guy on the end urinal, you don't go right next to him, do you? That's just awkward. Well.... some people don't realize that's proper treadmill etiquette, specifically one chick who often flashed me in our pilates and yoga classes.

This particular day, I had to run 7 miles or so. I'm rounding the 2nd mile, and with 4 open treadmills, on hops flasher chick right next to me. I can overlook this etiquette issue, but what I can't overlook is someone who consistently glances at my speed and bumps hers up to try to "beat" me. We are on treadmills, doll, you aren't going to win some race here. I know I have 5 miles left to go, so I try to zone out and ignore her crappy gym behavior, when suddenly, I feel like I'm passing her. Now, again, we're on treadmills. I shouldn't feel like I'm passing someone, as we should be running right next to each other the whole time, no? So, I glance over only to see her frantically trying to reach for the emergency stop button as she launches off of the back of the treadmill.

I, of course, start laughing. Audibly. She jumps back onto the treadmill like nothing happened after peeling herself off of the ground, and keeps running. At this point, I wanted to say "just leave and come back when NONE of us are here anymore", but I didn't. Instead, I tried to focus on the fact that I now had 4 miles left of running next to her, and if I continued laughing I would probably not be able to do it.

After I finished my jaunt, I grabbed my workout bag and headed out the door. I was still chuckling to myself as I reached into my purse to call a friend and tell them about the situation when I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and face planted, right there in front of the giant gym windows.

The universe sure showed me that day, didn't they?