I love my treadmill!

Best big chunk of money I have spent in a LONG time.

AB finished setting it up tonight and then took the kids outside. I hopped on and ran a half mile with the internal fan blowing cool air in my face, in full view of my computer monitor (that has a TV tuner) and with my iPod blasting out tunes.

And seriously one of the best things about it was slipping on my shoes, a pair of shorts, my sports bra and jumping on at a moments notice. I can wear whatever I want to work out.

AB came in to check on me and was impressed with how quiet it was - I am certain I can run after he goes to bed and I will disturb him less than with the TV watching Big Brother.

The downside though is that stupid bite on my leg. I jumped off and immediately AB ordered me onto the couch with my leg up. The red area is about baseball sized now, itchy as hell with spikes of pain to different parts of my leg and toes. It has a few tiny blisters that are starting to crust over.

By my calculation of when I think I was bitten, it has been 48 hours and so I am expecting that the icky internet pictures are not going to be my fate. It will crust over I expect and look like a big rug burn most likely and will probably take a few weeks for the hard golf ball like patch to dissipate. But all in all, I think things will be on an upswing here shortly.

And that I will be able to jump on the treadmill and run to my hearts content!

Bloomsday 2009 here I come!

I no longer have any excuses!

Well I will no longer have any excuses after another day or two... AB has to finish putting my new treadmill together still. But once he is done, no more excuses! I can run whenever!

I know I can do this. I trained for Bay to Breakers on a treadmill my first time around and then ran it. And actually, that was my best ever race. I can get up before the kids get up and run. I can run after AB and the kids go to bed!

So Bloomsday 2009... who's in? (Oh and for the record... I am a slow as molasses runner. Come join me and you could probably walk next to me as I run. Yes, flies collect around me when I run.)

Frustrations

I am starting to think that health clubs are about as honest as used car sales.

For awhile I have been looking forward to joining a nearby (to my work and next door to the kid's school) healthclub so I have a place to go run on a treadmill. A few weeks ago I ran down there with the intent of joining after having received a flyer in the mail for $45 joining fee and $45 a month. They gave me their flyer, but sent me off. Turns out that I have to go to the main club to join.

After having a busy week I finally found time today to run to the main club (my running shoes and clothes packed in my gym bag in the car, ready to start off my running again at the end of the day).

I stood in line at the desk after not finding anyone in the Membership office. They directed me back to the Membership office. I waited.

And I waited.

I was headed back to the desk when a woman finally walked up who works in memberships.

She suggested I go back to the desk to check in and fill out some stupid form.

At this point I was starting to get annoyed.

She finally tells me that their current "deal" since I work at one of the local employers is $100 joining fee, $55 a month and a $50 annual towel fee.

I asked her why the flyer I got 2 weeks ago and the postcard sent to me no longer applies?

She told me they were old and she doesn't know where or when I might have got them.

I showed her the postmark on the postcard from around Memorial Day and noted there was no expiration date listed. Also the flyer? It was picked up two weeks ago from their satellite club.

Sorry she says, $55 a month.

I was ticked. First off, no way in hell was I paying $55 a month when most clubs offering what their offsite "Express" club offers were half that price. Then just the simple fact that the sheets I was given were no longer valid. How convenient! And third - three visits to get signed up for a membership? How bad did they really want my business? Apparently not that bad.

She took my name and phone number that I reluctantly gave after deciding I was leaving and they could keep their club, so she could ask her manager if we could come up with a "deal".

On the drive home I got to thinking, and then I got more ticked off. So when she phoned my cell phone this afternoon, there was no way I was answering. I suppose what I should have done was to take the call and tell them exactly what I thought.

I started running through my options in my head. I have always done well as a morning runner. I need to get up and get to it before I have much time to think about it. I don't need any time to talk myself out of exercising, because I can far too effectively convince myself not to go! My biggest problem is my two sleeping children and a husband who goes to work at 5:30am. I considered other clubs - but I can't spend time driving with my already tight schedule. I am not bad at running outside... but the heat KILLS me. It will be September probably before it cools down enough for me to run outside in the afternoons.

Then as I was walking into my building it dawned on me that maybe simply purchasing a treadmill would solve ALL my problems! I can run in the mornings while the kids sleep without having to worry about my already tight schedule at work. I consulted with my mom, called AB (who is thinking if we did this even he would start running) and I am looking forward to treadmill shopping this weekend!

Bloomsday May 2009 here I come!