Conquering (my fear) of The Beast

I one of the lucky ones.  I don't have to pay for a gym membership.  I don't have to haul bricks 100 at a time to get a work-out like my Most Excellent Friend, Nik.  I don't have to devote an entire room in my house to fitness equipment, either. Fortunately for me, my employer thinks providing a fitness facility at work is a good idea.

The gym is literally about 100 steps away from my office.  It's on my way home. Heck, it's usually on my way to the car.  I have no excuse not to use it.  So about a couple of months ago, my WorkTwin and I decided to start working out together. We agreed on the days we would work out and made a pact to keep each other motivated.  We tried to be good.  But things kept getting in the way - vacations, rock star travel, Skaterboy begging for a car, etc.  When my twin brings her stuff, I forget mine and vice-versa.

I decided I need to get back into the gym so I have been very devoted (this week). Yesterday while I was logging my 5K on the treadmill, there was another woman in the corner using "the Beast".  I was half watching TV and kept glancing in her direction, completely in awe that she was able to stay on the machine.  

You see, one of the first days in the gym, WorkTwin was showing me how to use all of the equipment.  She did a really good job of demonstrating each machine until she got to the last one.  The Nautilus Treadclimber.  She climbed on and started 'er up.  Then she promptly fell off the back end of the machine.  In the spirit of the Olympic games, I give her a 8.5 for her dismount!  Ever since that day, we have both avoided that machine.  In fact, it seems that most people avoid that machine since I haven't seen anybody use it until yesterday.

I was so impressed with the lady's ability to stay on and stay upright that I started to talk to her about it after we were both done.  She raved about the workout (twice the workout in half the time), she offered her advice (hold on), she swore that I would be hooked (Hey Mikey! She likes it!).  Treadclimber lady said she could walk on The Beast even though she was a klutz.  Hey, I'm a klutz too and we walk at the same speed so I vowed to try it.

So tonight I gave The Beast a shot.  I wasn't sure if I could stay on, but I figured that since the center was virtually empty - it was now or never.  I climbed on and picked the "standard" workout.  Twenty minutes?  That should be a piece of cake! Speed?  Shoot, that is half the speed I walk at on the treadmill - easy, peasy!  The Beast soothed my nerves by sweetly reminding me to just follow along with his pretty cobalt blue screen.  "There's no need to run!  It's 2X the workout!", the Beast would remind me ever so often.  Run?  Heck, I can barely keep up at this "slow" speed, I'm certainly not going to run!  "Is your speed ok?", the Beast would sweetly ask (even though I swear the machine was laughing at me!)  Nooooo, it's not alright, I think my heart is going to explode. But I was bound and determined not to let the Beast win. "Only 3 minutes at maximum treadle.  It's just like taking a hike."  A hike?  It felt like I was scaling Mt. Everest.  I'm sweating. Not girly perspiration, but full on, hair dripping, mascara smearing, shirt soaking, SWEAT!  I need this 20 minutes to be over now!  

Just as I was nearing the end of my agony, the Beast coyly asked "Would you like to add five more minutes?"  Are you crazy?  Do I look like I'm having a good time? What kind of fool do you think I am?  I'm crazy, but that not that crazy.  Well, maybe 5 minutes wouldn't hurt.  It would feel good to know that I not only survived the Beast but even stayed on longer than I needed to.  After all, it's only 5 minutes.

In the end, I conquered the Beast.  It was a close battle but I narrowly escaped with a victory.  In the infamous words of the Terminator - "I'll be back!"