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Treadmill Desk

What sedentary lives we writers lead. When I heard about the treadmill desk, I decided to try it out. Here’s the update on how it’s working.

This is my treadmill desk

Here’s my setup. I bought a used treadmill and accidently found out the most important thing: the noise level of the treadmill. This one is very quiet, so you barely know it’s running. After I bought this, I tested others and found them to be very noisy; I got lucky without even knowing it. The wire shelving I used can be found at The Container Store. We removed the side-rails for it to fit under the shelving.

During the first four weeks, I walked 70 miles. That’s in addition to my regular exercise of walking, spinning, biking, stretching and Pilates. End result? Two pounds off. It’s the first time I’ve actually managed to lose weight in a long time.

I’m finding that I’m sharper mentally, especially in the mid-morning hours. By late afternoon, I’ve been more tired, but I expect that to get better.

Related posts:

1. August
2. changes

Are you in the mood for another building rendering step-by-step?
OK good. Cause I have one for you.

This here is a restaurant I need to render up nicely. This is the sketch I give the art director, showing which 'view' I'm doing and how I'm going to crop the image (he sends me a pack of photos from different angles, and I pick the one I like best.)


So here it is with just the sky done, and some of the reflections in the windows.
I should add that I traced that rough sketch above onto my Stonehenge paper with a lightbox, and am doing the final art on that. I'm not coloring that sketch above. I have a very light drawing I'm working on. (Guess that's obvious ~ just making it clear.)


I use Light Ultramarine, Light Pthalo Blue and Sky Blue Polychromos for the sky. There are no clouds in the original photo, just milky white blah sky, so I'm doing my own thing with it.

Yesterday I bought a treadmill. Well, I ordered one, and it'll be delivered in a couple of weeks. Sitting at the drawing table and sitting at the computer are taking their toll! Its too hot to walk now (its supposed to hit 100 this weekend), and I'm not a "get up early before its hot and get out and exercise" kind of person. So I'm doing the next best thing. I'm proud of myself. Now let's just hope it doesn't turn into one of those furniture hangers that gets sold at a garage sale next summer...

The Chronicle's Wired Campus blog has an audio feature on the library building as part of their Tech Therapy segment.

Interesting, as one of my predictions from 2006 of what would extend the library brand too far--that is, treadmills in the library--has now apparently been envisioned for Goucher College.

I love to admit I was wrong about the future. Me, I have to underline things in order to read them intensively. But college students today are probably much less hung up about such things. Flexibility in thought, schedule and outlook on life reigns supreme these days.

Or maybe I just like their restaurant name so much, I am willing to concede that some people would be able to read Descartes on a treadmill.