Why treadmills? That's the number one question I get most often. It all started on a cold February morning on the East Coast. I'm out running, as usual, fighting frigid temperatures and icy winds. I make it halfway through my run and I'm on a roll. I don't feel the cold anymore. I'm finally in a groove and feeling good… then I hear a dog bark. I look to my right, nothing there, I look to my left, nothing there, then I see someone coming around the next turn, a young woman getting walked by two dogs. I thought, “Well, I'm halfway through anyway, time to head home.” As I turn around I look up and I see a pair of familiar shoes. All I could think was “Why the hell are my legs above my head right now,” then I hit the ground. What happened? You guessed it, I slipped on the most apparent patch of ice ever. To make matters worse, the girl getting pulled by her large dogs laughed out loud while I'm still on the ground. After a quick system check, I walked home. Outside of my bruised pride, I was okay. After adding that to the other weird things that happen when you run outside, like running into teenagers hanging out under a bridge, all of the poor pet owners that think Pucci is the nicest dog in the world until he bites somebody in the balls, or grown men dressed as fairies running around in the dark. Now I'm quite sure many of you have your own stories of running and seeing some weird stuff. So that leaves me with the question of: why not get a treadmill? Sometimes it's just safer to run indoors. After a few bad experiences, I decided that I don't want to run outside in the dark or when it's freezing cold unless I'm training for something specific. There's no need for me to be outside in those conditions. That's why I bought a treadmill and a stationary bike. And honestly, I've been seeing fewer crazy people over the years ever since. I still go outside and run once a week but, for the most part, I do my cardio indoors. Take some advice from me and consider purchasing a cardio machine. Sure, it's good to run outside but you should always have the option to run or bike safely and securely in the privacy of your own home.
