Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

I’ve had my Nordictrack treadmill for over six years. It has been a really good machine. It got a little damaged in the move, so we replaced a part. It has been running with me every day for the last year, ever since we moved it out of storage.

About a month ago, however, the tread started slipping. It would only happen when I increased the speed. I had gotten to the point where I would put it on one speed, hold on to the handrails until it stabilized and keep it there the whole run. I was completely unable to interval train for my 5K race. Eventually, the slipping got worse and worse until Mike grounded me from the treadmill.

We had a choice. We could try to fix the tread or get a new one. Since we aren’t very handy, we decided to go to the Nordictrack store to see what is new in treadmills. As it happened, they were having a huge sale on their exercise equipment and we went home with a new treadmill sticking out of the back of the Golf.

The coolest thing about this treadmill is the running deck. It’s called a Reflex Deck and it feels like I’m running on a trampoline. I can run for over an hour now without any protesting from my knees. I’m totally stoked about my new treadmill. It has made my morning run much more enjoyable.

Of course, I went about buying a new treadmill with my heart instead of my head. Instead of reviewing the reviews of treadmills that I have been gathering ever since the tread started slipping, I went to the Nordictrack store because that’s where we got our last one. Since our last one did so well, I didn’t even consider any other brands. I even chose one with a similar console as my old one, forgoing the fancy new consoles. My old treadmill had iFit and Space Saver design and I wanted both of those features. I basically just wanted my old treadmill to be new.

I’m beginning to think that treadmill shopping is like shopping for a car. Because it’s a machine that I am going to have to greet every morning, I want something familiar and easy to use. Remember that if you are in the market for a treadmill.