Life Imitating "Art?"

Entry 1

The morning workout was a struggle,  but not because I was too tired. I should have known something weird was going on when I went outside, and had to restart the treadmill to get the video screen to turn on. After the reboot, I connected my phone via bluetooth to the machine and set my watch to treadmill. I selected the workout settings on the treadmill and the free video that makes it seem like I am strolling somewhere beautiful. I started the belt, and began walking. I slowly increased my speed. I didn't put on the rip cord, because the clip is broken, and I have very robust arteries currently. As I was enjoying the French Riviera and as Christina Aguilera was thanking me in song and verse for making her a fighter, things started to go sideways. The Bowflex speaker stopped working and my watch died. In the next instant, the treadmill, as if it were an amp on This is Spinal Tap, went to 11. Immediately. I did my best imitation of the Six Million Dollar Man, as I fumbled for the stop button. I never would have made 8 seconds, I'm no cowboy. I stopped it before it threw me--which turned out to be a two-step process. I hit the big red stop button, and then discovered I had to hit stop on the screen too. This seems quite stupid. My running posture probably made me look like a car lot inflatable fly guy that waves around in the wind.

An artist's conception of the morning's near-debacle.

So, four minutes in, I stopped. I had already lifted weights and had planned for an hour's workout. But now I needed to charge my watch, and I didn't trust the treadmill. There are also boxes behind the treadmill--and if I had lost it, could have been seriously hurt or, like the woman at the gym in Kent a couple of weeks ago, killed. 

I am currently driven, so I went out again in a few hours and got back on the horse. I had a fully charged watch and a rebooted treadmill, my phone attached to the speaker again, bad pop music blaring. I fired up the machine and managed to go at a good pace for about 22 minutes. For some reason, the pain from bone on bone contact on the right knee is unpredictable and can be brutal. It always hurts, my knee, but the more I am using it, obviously, the more it acts up. So, with it acting up, I stopped the treadmill and went into the house. I got a water and took a phone call. 20-30 minutes later and my knee was much better. So, I took advantage of this and went back to the treadmill. Ultimately, I got almost an hour at good pace. My weight, dripping wet, keeps falling. Today 174.4, I may make my goal by early fall.

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