My Treadmill DeskI don’t like to exercise. I do it, but I don’t like it. You see, I’m often lost in my own little world, usually thinking up plot twists and witty dialog. (Or so I like to think!) So any form of exercise that requires me to pay attention and count reps, keep track of time and measure breaths is irritating to me. That pretty much knocks out all weight training, running (although I don’t run for other reasons) and yoga. I may be flexible, but I can’t touch my toes. (HA!)

But I like to walk. Walking is exercise that allows my mind to go where it pleases, when it pleases. In fact, some of my best writing occurs on long walks with my dogs. Walking is good for them, too.

But I live in Illinois, which is (usually) a state that experiences a full range of winter. (I say usually, but things have been wacky recently. We had a full-on blizzard two winters ago, but last winter? Not a single snow day, warmest winter in decades.) Walking in icy, snowy, cold temperatures is not my idea of a good time.

A while ago, my grandmother had given us a treadmill. It’s nothing fancy; in fact, it was a bare-bones model ten years ago. It has no bells, no whistles. We’d used it some during the blizzard-y winter, but not at all during the summer. I don’t like sweating, after all, and walking indoors is a good way to sweat.

But then I read an article about treadmill desks in the Romance Writers Report. And I looked at that ugly thing taking up space in the corner of my living room in a new light.

What if, instead of an instrument of torture, that treadmill was a productive workstation?

I asked my husband what he thought it would take to add a platform to the treadmill. Forty-five minutes later, he’d cobbled together a ‘desk’ out of leftover closet shelving, ‘found’ wood (that came with the house), and a bungee cord.

So now I can ‘exercise’ while not thinking about it. Plodding and plotting, I call it. I walk/plod between .8 and 1.4 miles per hour—slower if I’m writing, faster if I’m reading email or playing solitaire. It’s a great way to add some movement to my day without getting extra sweaty or taking time away from my work. If there’s a good movie on or I’m reading a good book, sometimes an hour will pass before I notice it. I’m not doing anything I wouldn’t anyway—I’m just moving while I do it. It’s especially great in the winter, when the house is a little chilly and my toes are cold.

True, I don’t plod as much when I get my four miles of walking in outside. The treadmill gets more use in the winter than it does in the summer, but that’s okay. An hour plodding and plotting a day makes the author happy!

What about you? Do you love or loathe exercise? Leave a comment telling me and I’ll randomly choose one name to win an autographed copy of A Man of
Distinction. (winner to be announced on Sunday!) Plus—bonus—I’m giving away a handcrafted (by me!) book necklaces from everyone who commented throughout the week! Check the Authorial Moms blog September 11^th to see if you were the winner! For another chance to win, sign up for my newsletter here.

A Man of Distinction Blurb:

“Let me see my son.”

He’d said goodbye to his life on the reservation without regrets. He’d asked Tanya Rattling Blanket to come with him too many times, and Nick Longhair never begs. But when business brings him back to his ancestors’ land, he finally understands what he exchanged for money and power.

In the years he’s been in Chicago, Tanya has been raising his baby, a son he didn’t know…. Determined to give his child every advantage, Nick isn’t about to leave again…at least not alone.But that means winning back the love of those he left behind.

A Man of Distinction is available! Visit your favorite bookseller, at Amazon, or for the Nook.

 

 

Bio: Award-winning author Sarah M. Anderson may live east of the Mississippi River, but her heart lies out west on the Great Plains. With a lifelong love of horses and two history teachers for parents, it wasn’t long before her characters found themselves out in South Dakota among the Lakota Sioux.  She loves to put people from two different worlds into new situations and to see how their backgrounds and cultures take them someplace they never thought they’d go.

When not helping out at school or walking her rescue dogs, Sarah spends her days having conversations with imaginary cowboys and American Indians, all of which is surprisingly well-tolerated by her wonderful husband and son.

 Blog Boilerplate:  This post is brought to you as part of the A Man of Distinction Blog Tour.  For a complete tour schedule and rules, visit www.sarahmanderson.com. Comments on this blog will be entered to win a signed copy of A Man of Distinction. All comments will be added to the weekly book jewelry prize drawing.