Or Maybe Not

You may recall from a previous post of mine that the gym that I go to is fairly small and is mainly used by folks who are at least a generation older than me. Truth be told, I quite often find myself to be the only person in the place at all! So I was more than a little surprised when I walked in today to see a girl about my age just getting onto one of the treadmills. I chose the treadmill beside her, and I began my run.

Let me tell you something about myself... I have a very strong competitive streak in me. And let's face it, when it comes to running on a treadmill, there really isn't any competition other than with yourself. So I welcomed the chance today for the little healthy competition that was taking place in my head as I watched this girl set up her machine. She was pretty much the same size as me, and I was immediately telling myself that I was going to have no problem out running this chic as she was starting off at a much slower pace than me. She kept at that same pace for about 5 minutes.

Here's a sample of the pep talk I was giving myself in my head. "Push it, Tiff. You can take this girl. She's got nothing on you. She's a slow-paced wimpy thing."

Um. Or maybe not.

It was as if the girl could hear my thoughts, and she decided to show me just what she could do. She cranked the incline to 2.0 and kicked up her pace a full notch and half faster than me.

People, one of the main reasons that I love running on a treadmill is that I can 100% guarantee that my run will have zero hills in it. NONE! Not even the slightest slope or incline. So there was no way that I was going to try to keep up with the display that she was putting on. She continued like this for about 10 minutes, and then she did something I have never seen before. She slowed down her pace to 4.0, but she jacked up the incline to 4.5. And then...

She turned around. SHE. RAN. BACKWARDS. ON THE TREADMILL.

I was ready to pull the emergency stop on my machine and go hide in the locker room. I was utterly humiliated for thinking that I could take this girl. Instead, I told myself that quitters never win, and I kept running. It got worse.

After she ran backwards for about 5 minutes, she slowed down her pace just a little bit. She then started doing this sideways grapevine type running at the same 4.5 incline. She did approximately 3 minutes one way, then she turned and started facing the other side. I was ready to throw in the towel and start bowing down to this chic.

It was at this point that her foot slipped off of the revolving mat part of the treadmill and instead landed on the base. Her foot stopped, but the rest of her body kept moving. INTO A HEAP ON THE FLOOR BESIDE ME!

Me... I held my head a little higher and decided to run an extra half mile. For some reason, I had just found my second stride with a whole new pep in my step!

Serves her right for showing off!

PS. I did ask her if she was alright. She got back on her treadmill and ran like a normal person for the rest of the time!