The haunted treadmill - conclusion
The moment of truth had arrived. A choice must be made – go on to higher levels, or conclude my walk without attaining my goal. Not one to shrink from a challenge, I hit the up button once again. 7% incline. Music blaring in my ears, I walked along, bobbing side to side in time with the beat of the song – Gloria Estefan’s Conga, a great workout song. I tried not to think about whether or not I could decline the machine. Halfway through the song, I hit the up button again. 8% was grueling. I had to lower my speed. I was slipping backward a bit with each step at 4.2 MPH. Fortunately, the speed portion of the treadmill worked perfectly. I slowed a mere .1 MPH, but it made all the difference in the world. I couldn’t maintain this steep an incline for 2 minutes, though. I haven’t been working out long enough. Time to see if the decline works. I hit the down button. The motor hummed, the incline didn’t change. I tried again. Again, humming motor, no change in the incline. I tried the up button. The treadmill raised. I hit it again, and it raised again. I was now, theoretically, at the highest incline possible – 10% - though the computer showed only 8%. I hit the up button until the incline showed 10%, then hit the decline button. Success! The treadmill lowered 1%. I waited a few seconds, then hit it again. Again it lowered. Perhaps the secret was to wait a few seconds between attempts to lower the incline. I continued this process until I got to 4%. At that point, further attempts to lower the incline failed. The treadmill was stuck at 4%. Feeling smugly successful at having vanquished the demon that possessed the treadmill sufficiently enough to allow me a modicum of control, I finished up my walk at 4%, burning a respectable 366 calories in my half hour stroll. The woman next to me smiled approvingly. I had conquered my fear and, for the most part, the machine. I hit the stop button. The machine lowered into place, awaiting its next victim. Perhaps I should notify the gym owner about the treadmill’s curious behavior. Perhaps he could call in an exorcist. To the showers….
