Go straight for a warm-up on a treadmill
From Create Your Own Story
You decide to start with a warm-up on the treadmill.
You place your bottle of water in the holder on the machine and tap the display to get it started. The belt begins to move beneath your feet and you ease into a light jog, settling into a steady rhythm.
As you run, you glance around the gym.
It’s quieter than you expected, with only a handful of people spread across the different machines. Most of them seem to be men, a few lifting weights, others using the cardio machines. A couple of them look pretty good too—fit, confident, clearly regulars here.
After a minute or two, someone steps onto the treadmill a short distance away from yours.
You glance over.
He’s taller than you, with white-grey hair cut short and neat. His build is slender but clearly toned, the kind of physique that comes from regular training rather than trying to show off. He adjusts the controls on his machine and begins running at an easy, controlled pace.
You focus back on your own run, but after a moment you get the strange feeling that someone is watching you.
You glance sideways again.
For just a split second, you’re almost sure he’s looking at you—but the moment you turn your head, his eyes shift forward to the display on his machine.
Soft pop music plays quietly over the gym speakers, mixing with the steady hum of the treadmills and the faint clink of weights somewhere behind you.
You increase the pace slightly and keep running.
Minutes pass. Your breathing deepens, your stride finding a rhythm as you push through the warm-up. But every now and then that same feeling returns—the sense that the man on the nearby treadmill is glancing over at you.
Each time you check, though, he seems to be focused somewhere else.
Still… you’re pretty sure you’ve caught him looking you over more than once.
By the time ten minutes have passed, you can feel the warmth building in your muscles and a light sheen of sweat forming.
Now you consider what to do next.
Do you: Keep running on the treadmill
