Treadmill Mishap: More Embarrassment Than Pain

All of us who work out at the gym have heard these horror stories, and we ask ourselves, "How could somebody fall off the treadmill?" Well, let me tell you that it does happen, and more often than most people realize, or admit. I am living proof.

About three years ago, I went into the gym and started my routine pretty much the same as I did every morning. On this particular morning, it was my morning for cardio on the treadmill. I put my water bottle in the slot, and got my ear phones and music ready to go for when I started my run.

After my warm-up, I picked up my pace to 4.2 for a nice comfortable jog. With my favorite music encouraging me on, it wasn't long before I was in my 'la la zone,' and was just jogging along with not a thought in the world. This was when I ran into trouble.

I started sweating profusely, and my t-shirt was sticking to me; driving me nuts. Instinctively, I did what I do when jogging at the track; I stop and pull it off, tossing it aside until I am done. To be honest, I hardly remember much of anything else, I just remember that it took about two seconds and I was flat on my back.

In no time at all everyone working out in the gym was over asking if I was okay. All I could do was sheepishly affirm that I was, while picking myself up off the floor. That wasn't the worst of my mishap though. My husband just happened to be there working out at the same time that I was, and he saw the whole thing. What I got from him was, "What did you do?" "How did it happen?" and "Don't you know you're supposed to turn the treadmill off before doing anything like that?" It didn't help matters when I told him that I was in my zone, and wasn't thinking. He saw that I was near tears from embarrassment, so he didn't press the matter much after that.

He knew, that I knew to turn the treadmill off before doing that sort of thing. We were the owners of that gym, and he was the personal trainer while I was the fitness instructor: of course I knew to turn it off.

To this day my husband has no problem telling people that his wife can fall off the treadmill, because she is in her zone. What can yours do?