Merry Christmas! In January!

A little late for the post title? Yeah, I guess so. But last night I finally got the Christmas present that I Have been waiting for!

Well, OK, it's actually for Sara and I both, but here it is...

Cool, eh? I'm pretty stoked.

Here's the story about this treadmill. First off, I don't want anyone posting comments (as if anyone actually reads this) about how this treadmill sucks, that one is so much better, etc. I don't really care. I have what I was looking for, and that's all that really matters.

This came about when Sara had me call to find out what it would cost to renew the gym membership for the year. $400. HOLY CRAP that's expensive, especially when I'm really the only one who uses it, and it's only a few days per week.

Add to that the money that Sara's parents gave us for Christmas, and we were VERY close to $1000. So we thought about getting a treadmill.

Anyone who read this blog will know that I'm a large person - at 4% bodyfat (which I am NOT) I would be a very large person. That's just the way it is.

So I needed a treadmill that would be able to handle constant pounding from me. Right now I'll be doing around 10 miles per week, and I expect to build up to 20-30 or so regularly. The thing that has always bothered me about treadmills that are around $1000 is how they constantly "slip" when I'm running on them. I can't find a better word for it. When my foot hits the belt, it stops for a moment, creating a rather jarring feeling while running. So I was planning on having to spend around $1500 to $2000.

Enter the New Balance 1500. The moment I started it up and got running, I absolutely loved it. It was smooth, comfortable, and absolutely NO slippage. After checking all over the place, it turns out that for $999 it is a pretty good deal.

So last night I went to the local Sports Authority and picked one up. I emptied the back of the van out of all of the seats, and the guys at the loading dock just slid it right in. After getting home, I had a friend help me slide it down stairs.

Turns out that assembly from the box is easy - you assemble it right in the box. After that, I just worked it over to the mat where we're going to have it sit and voila! Instant running surface.

So I was a little tired last night, after lifting it all over the place, so tonight is going to be the inaugural run. I'm planning on two miles, nice and easy. It should be a breeze.

Anyway, I'll take an official picture of me on the tread, working out, so you can see how things are going. Hopefully I'll post tomorrow.

...it begins.

-Silas