ontheedgeofeverything

I am fortunate enough to have access to a treadmill outside of a gym facility. My parents own one, and I am privileged to be able to use it whenever I please.

I started running again last summer as part of my recovery from a severe concussion, and I’ve kept up with it in an attempt to enhance my cardio on the rugby field. I use it fairly regularly, and upon using it a couple of days ago, I knew something was off the moment I began running on it.

It felt as though the middle of the treadmill was bowing, and while I initially thought I was losing my marbles, I mentioned it to my sister and asked her to look at it. She, too, noticed a curve in the centre, and I didn’t feel terribly stable while on it. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great, either.

I did some Googling to see if I could determine what the issue might be, and everything I read suggested that the belt of the treadmill likely needs tightening. I was pleased to read this, because I figured the issue was of a grander scale, but my pleasure was quickly halted when I started digging a little deeper and realized the problem is more than likely with the deck of the treadmill, not the belt.

I watched a YouTube video of a gentleman describing the exact issue I encountered with my family’s treadmill, and he explains in the video that if you feel sloping, or bowing, while running on one, there is a strong probability the deck is cracked. It isn’t a great idea to continue running on a treadmill with a damaged deck for obvious reasons, such as eating shit dramatically, but, furthermore, because a faulty deck will put more stress on the other components and functions of the device, like the motor.

I’m not entirely sure if my parents are willing to get it fixed, but I’ll keep you posted.

Photo by Ryan De Hamer on Unsplash