Back To The Unthinkable: The Hamsterwhizzle!

The last time I ran on a treadmill was September 27, 2012. While some runners have streaks and take pride in keeping those streaks going, I’ve been taking pride in not running on the treadmill. I’ve done a little too much of not running at all, but back in 2012, when I was living in Colorado, I told myself that if I was going to go to the gym to work out, then I was going to ride the bike. If I wanted to run, I had trails all around me and fresh air and I needed to get outside and have my me time.

Well that streak is going to come to an end pretty soon. It’s not because of the winter we’re having here in Pennsylvania — I’ve run outside here in temps that are sub-zero with wind chill. I think I ran outside last summer when it was hot (I say I think because it’s been so darn long since it’s even been warm that I don’t really remember it ever being hot … but I’m sure it was).

The real problem we’re having here is that with my wife Tiffany’s schedule of taking care of the kids and the house and me and pretty much everything, she doesn’t have the time to break away to go to the gym. Not only that, but we had a sweet deal with 24 Hour Fitness in California and Colorado ($29/person annual membership) and here I think it’s $30/month a person for the gym. That’s more than 12 times as much.

So, I’m taking the discretionary part of my last bonus and buying her a treadmill for the basement. She said that would make it a lot easier for her to exercise, and that, in turn, would make her a lot happier. For everything she’s been through in the past two years supporting the family and taking care of our severely autistic son Jack, I think it’s the least I can do for her. Actually, it’s pretty much the most I can do for her (dang kids, keep eating every day and there’s no money). But I know it will help her find happiness every day, so I’m going to buy it. No hesitation. She deserves to be happy. As I type this, I can hear her upstairs dealing with another one of Jack’s meltdowns — it’s 9:30 p.m. and he still won’t go to sleep. This is every night, so I think she deserves whatever it takes to make her happy.

She misses the days when she went to the gym and was very fit. I, um, don’t think there’s anything wrong with the way she looks right now. But I know how she feels (I’m struggling to regain my fitness, too) and I want her to find that happiness she used to get when she exercised. This is what she says will help her get that, so this is what she’ll get.

And of course, if it’s going to be sitting there in the basement, I’m … going to … run on it. Uggghhh. My #notreadmill streak is going to come to an end after getting past 500 days. But it will be good for me and help me add things into my training. I’ll admit it, I did like progressive treadmill runs, and I did like the treadmill for recovery runs, and they’re good for hills. I don’t want to admit I’m excited about running on it, but I’ll admit it — I’m excited about it. I’m kind of thinking that it’s going to help me tune up in some areas I need to tune up (the speed stuff will force me to improve my turnover, because there’s no slacking off when the belt is moving). Hopefully this gets me going again.

But more important, hopefully this gets her going again. I can’t stress how tough she’s had it, and she really needs a positive outlet. So hamsterwhizzle it is for her. And me too, I guess.[subscribe2]