Repair

Later this afternoon, the NordicTrack repair guy will be visiting my house. We've had this treadmill for four years, A2550. This is the first time we needed a service call. I noticed that the belt was slipping when I was running last week. When I say slipping, it felt like I was running on ice. I told my husband, who told me to adjust the belt. I adjusted the belt and it worked.

After the belt was adjusted, it started moving on the rollers a day later. Instead of staying in the middle, the belt shifted over to the left. I had my husband adjust the belt back to center. Besides the belt being messed up, the left side was slanted down. It felt like something was broken underneath and making it an uneven surface. Last Tuesday, my treadmill was injured for good. While running on the hurt treadmill, the belt started to fold up on itself. When the belt does that, your use of it is done. I was mad because I wasn't able to finish my run. I decided to dress in layers and go outside and finish my run.

The next day, I ran on a local bike trail. I dressed in layers again. On the first half of the run, I was warm. I got cold on the second half. I was sweating a lot and running into a cold headwind. I almost called my husband to tell him to pick me up. I didn't and continued on with my run. It took me the rest of the day to feel warm again.

Since I didn't want to be cold again, I opted to pay money to run on a treadmill at a local hotel. I had the fitness room to myself, which was nice. Instead of being cold like the previous two days, I was sweating to death. It was very stuffy in the fitness room. Every 20-30 minutes, the air would kick on and blow some cool air. I ended up running 16 miles on the treadmill. Sweat dripped everywhere. I wiped the machine down with a towel. I also needed a towel to absorb my sweaty clothes. My tank top and shorts were soaked with sweat. It was like I stood outside during a storm.

Unless the weather is in the high 30s or 40s, I will be opting to run on the hotel treadmill until ours is fixed or we get a new one. I should enjoy running outside, but I don't. When I run alone, it is difficult for me to gauge how fast I'm going. I own a Garmin 101, the first one ever made. I was looking at the pace while running the other day, and it was jumping all over the place. I didn't know what to believe.

I do like running outside when entered in races. I have people around me, people to pace me, people to catch up to and pass. I like running on the treadmill. I can come home from work, change my clothes, head down into the basement and start running. I have my water right in front of me and a bathroom one floor away. I can do speed and hill workouts with a touch of a button. I don't have to watch for cars or low spots in the road that could twist my ankles. The treadmill has helped me run consistently, lose weight and become faster. I miss my personal treadmill.

We will find out today if we need to order parts to repair our current treadmill or if we need to buy a new one. I don't care what the outcome is, I just want a working treadmill at my house. The sooner the better.

Top photo: NordicTrack A2550 (my current treadmill)
Bottom photo: NordicTrack Incline Trainer X9i (the treadmill we will buy if the current one can't be fixed)