Treadmill- How hard can it be?

“Woah!!! You’re out of breath in the warmup routine. How you gonna handle the treadmill?” Inuke asked. “Hmmph!! I can manage. You get out of the way.” I followed the helper to the other room. “This is speed, keep at 4.5. Today day1 naa.. Do it for 20 minutes only.” I nodded my head to this instruction and got on the treadmill. “Call me after 20 minutes. Ok, Boss?” “Ok, Bro,” I started my walk.

“Hey!! It's going to be a long 20 minutes da.” inuke said. “Dude, I walked long distances and ran marathons, this is nothing. I can handle it.” I replied with a confident smile. I grabbed my headphones, not wanting to listen to inuke the whole time. But it was showing a low battery alert. “Shhhhitee !! This is going to be a long 20 minutes.” I sighed as I kept my pace matched with the treadmill speed.

The Maatikichu song from a Tamil artist started playing on the gym speaker. This made inuke laugh. As if the universe is in on this joke. [Maatikichu means trapped or booked.] “The timing couldn't have been better,” inuke said, laughing. “It's not a big deal, I walk daily and from home to the bus stop, that's 0.5 KM, and from the office stop to the office, that's approx 0.25 KM and the same distance coming back. That's like 1.5 KM every weekday. And I am not factoring in the stairs. This is each. You get ready to pay up.” I tried shutting inuke down. “Haan, that may be true, but why are you sparkly? Are you sweating?” inuke asked me. “Sweating is obvious when you work out, and that's why I brought this.” I pulled out my green color handkerchief. “And now, all I have to do is wear it like this.” I wrapped that piece of clothing like a bandana.. While tying up the bandana, I misstepped and the treadmill wobbled. I was almost pancaked on the floor. “Oye!!” inuke yelled. “No.. I am fine! I just skipped a step.” I and inuke exchanged looks. The moment could have turned disastrous and landed on a meme page of a gym fail page, depending on the injury type.

“Hehe!! I should have put it on before getting on the machine.” I just tried covering the little embarrassment. “Yeah.” Inuke agreed. “I also thought that a treadmill is just regular walking, should be careful.” I kept my rhythm up and the walking continues, The bandana was a good trick, it kept the sweat off my forehead and eyes. “I think I should buy that headband like the ones from the '90s workout videos. Let's bring fashion back. What do you say?” I asked inuke. “Nope! Dont want that, no matter how cool or in fashion, I am not going to allow you to wear that headband.” “Why?” “You would look like one of the guys from the ‘90s workout videos,” Inuke replied. “So? That's the look I am going for.” I gained the rhythm back and with full swing. “I dont like that..?” inuke replied. “But why, dude?” “It's just almost all the Workout videos have guys and gals in band and next scene their clothes are off and they are doing different kinds of workout, and the band is still there on their forehead and..” “Please stop, no band. Got It.” I kinda grossed out as the image of one such video popped into my head.

I continued my walk on the treadmill. That's when I noticed. “Hey!! Did the machine glitch when it wobbled?” I asked. “I dont think so, what happened?” “It says, 2.15 in the timer.” The Maatikichu song from a Tamil artist started playing again, I guess someone pressed the previous song on the player. Inuke started laughing.

[To Be Continued.]

Hey Folks,

The good thing is that I am getting the hang of the gym. Making new friends. Being interovert and the whole thing. Completed Day 5 without any injury, hoping to continue in the same way.

Lesson Learned So Far. - Keep your mobile and headphones fully charged. And dont be the guy who thinks that a treadmill is a silly walking machine. Treat each piece of equipment with the attention it deserves.

As always, I am very thankful to my friends for motivating me to write. and if anyone is to blame for this post its them @mysteriousroad @ryivhnn and the whole gang from IndiaUnited and BeAwesome.