I Think I Can, I Think I Can.

I have finally decided to face my FEAR and get back on the treadmill! I have been trying to get back into a gym routine and being more active. On Monday nights I have indoor field hockey, Tuesdays a dance aerobics class, and I try to go to the gym on the other days. But, I am getting bored with the same routine all of the time. So, I found this walking boot camp that I want to try - but I just can't motivate myself to go outside in the cold. Yesterday, I convinced myself that I could and would be okay on the treadmill. This was the first time I had been on a treadmill since middle school/freshman year of high school. Which brings me to the whole reason I am terrified of them.

Around my freshman year, I went with Sarah to visit her Aunt & Uncle in Waterville, ME. For some reason I decided to listen to her when she said to get on the treadmill and see how fast I could go. As I was walking along she would slowly increase the the speed. I eventually had to start jogging, which turned into a run, and then very quickly became a full sprint (which I could only do for so long). The end result was that the treadmill did not slow down fast enough and I fell. However, t I did not want my face to hit the track and get burned or scraped. So, I decided that the next best thing to do would be to hold on until Sarah could get the track to STOP! Unfortunately, while I was holding on my knees were touching the track and the treadmill was still going, until FINALLY it slowed down enough so that I could let go. I ended up with REALLY bad, painful burns on both of my knees. The good news was that they were not on my face!

Sarah and I proceeded to go upstairs to find Nancy (who is a nurse) to find out what to do. Unfortunately, the answer was to pour peroxide on the wounds, which was VERY painful. Then for the rest of the day I tried to stay still as much as possible. Getting home was another adventure, because I couldn't really bend my knees to walk around, let alone sit in a car for 45 minutes.

Since then (about 13 years) the scars have slowly faded away, and have avoided going anywhere near treadmills. That is until yesterday! I decided to try it out. I was very hesitant to increase the speed at all, but I thought it was a huge accomplishment to even try. I can't say that I really went as fast as I possibly could, but we'll get their someday (maybe). If the speed even went above 3 mph you better believe that I was holding on for dear life! We'll see if things improve as I go through this boot camp! Hopefully it will be worth it!