New personal best!

There it is, in all it’s glory. My new personal best. Today I ran 3 miles on the treadmill in 30 minutes, and boy are my leggies tired!

Our gym has a rule that nobody under 18 years of age is permitted on the cardio floor, for ‘safety’ reasons. I’ve always thought it was ridiculous but have recently been presented with two pieces of evidence supporting the rule.

The first piece of evidence came a week or two ago when two teenage girls snuck in to use the treadmill. They were so giggly, loud and annoying that their safety was certainly at risk. I wouldn’t have been surprised if another member had throttled them.

The second piece of evidence? Today a young man who was around 18, if not younger arrived on the cardio floor and looked like he had a point to prove. He took to the running track around the room and ran at full speed. He was even inclining as he went around the bends like olympic cyclists do. After making me dizzy with about ten top speed laps, he climbed onto the treadmill two down from me and started going at the same speed. I have never seen anything like it.

Suddenly, I heard a loud thump, despite having Jimmy Eat World pumping through my headphones. I looked over and his treadmill, still going at full speed, was now empty. He was sprawled about a metre behind the machine, not moving. Uh oh! His position on the floor reminded me of those chalk outlines that police make at crime scenes. The guy next to him and I jumped off, and as he slowly got to his feet he insisted he was ok and looked really embarrassed. He’s just lucky there was space behind the treadmill and that he didn’t land on a rowing machine! He hopped back on for another minute or so, but when everyone kept looking at him he gave up and left. Poor guy.

Anyway, back to me. 3 miles. WOOHOO!