I’m
coughing and spluttering, all the while as I try to gulp breaths of air running
along on the ‘dreadmill’ (a nickname I heard another runner give speed training
that is done on the treadmill). The man next to me, who is going at the
enviable speed of walking pace, grumbles something about ‘bloody runners,
getting in the way of you on the street and making loads of noise in the
gym....’ I lose track of his moaning, as I try to focus on not flying off the
treadmill. I would say that I care about what this man is saying, but I am
finding it simply too hard to get a good rhythm on the dreadmill and I am
having to use every ounce of concentration to complete this workout. Not a
pleasant experience.
It
seems even Google is willing to confirm this, as typing in ‘treadmill history’,
immediately brings up posts about treadmills being invented as a form of
keeping idle prisoners active and productive in the early nineteenth century. I
base this on a Wikipedia post, so how reliable that account is another matter;
but what it does state to me is that treadmills were never invented with a
positive purpose. Even if they have been adopted en mass by the fitness
industry, my speed session is certainly not a pleasant one.
