The treadmill graveyard in my basement is growing. There are two of them in a corner down there now. The latest casualty -- a two-year old NordicTrack -- is my fourth treadmill in ten years to grind to a halt.

I learned long ago to always purchase a service contract on treadmills and, frankly, I'm surprised the company hasn't blacklisted me yet. They loose their shirts on me. They rebuilt the aforementioned tradmill #4 twice. And, they're poised to do it again. I have a service call in to them for it now.

The way the service contracts work though is kind of annoying. Sears does not come out & service my treadmill. Instead, I must call the warrantee company and they must authorize and schedule a work order from a local repair service (they call you in 2-4 days). Then, you must wait for parts (7-10 business days) and then call to schedule your service repair appointment (2-4 days after calling).

Best case scenario -- you are without a treadmill for at least two weeks (because all these "days" are "working days" of course). Worst case -- you are without it for weeks -- possibly months -- as happened to me once when the ordered parts were defective (so then I had to wait for more parts, schedule another appointment, etc.)

No way could I handle that again.

So, I did what any hard-core runner would do. I rationalized purchasing a new treadmill.

I figured that I'd have the old one serviced and keep it as my "backup" treadmill. Besides, I said to the husband, the serviceman himself said that treadmills aren't made to last more than 5 years and they have a hard time getting parts for them if they're over 5 years. May as well just upgrade now.

Off we went to Sears -- Sunday sales circular in hand. We left an hour later with a brand new treadmill (and a brand new Sears card with a little over a $1,000 balance).

My handy hubby had my new treadmill put together and running like a champ before he left for bowling that night. God, I love being married to a man who can fix things.

So, in an effort to help all of you who may be considering purchasing a treadmill for the winter months. Here's my top-ten list of personal advice on treadmill shopping:

1. Know what's important to you before you go. All those bells and whistles are great, but if you aren't going to use them -- don't pay for them. For instance -- Those "pre programmed" fitness workouts and ability to create your own program can cost you. I have never once used them -- ever -- and they were the only visible difference between two treadmills I was considering that differed in price by $500. Just not worth it to me.

2. Wider, longer belts are best -- especially wider. This should be a consideration when weighing between two treadmills.

3. Where will your water bottle go? Laugh if you must, but this is one fo the most important features to me. I need space (as anyone who knows me will tell you) -- I want a place to put my water bottle, my notebook and pen and my stereo and TV remotes.

4. More expensive is not always best. Read the fine print. Check out the book that lists the models side by side (I know Sears has this for you to look at) and note -- carefully -- what the differences are. You'll likely be paying for features you might not even care about (like extra "built-in" workouts or higher elevation that you might never use).

5. Buy the bigger motor. If you're going to go for the best of anything, make it the motor. And, if you can, buy one that offers a lifetime warrantee. They're usually the things that goes (along with the belts).

6. Buy the service contract! If you think you may not use the treadmill all that often, this may not be worth it, but...for most, I'd urge you to spend the $200 because you will likely get your money back with just one service call. Be aware, that these service contracts do not typically include maintenance (i.e. they will not come out & clean your treadmill, oil your belt, etc.) but are mostly for major problems. And...they've come through for me -- in more than a few ways. I opted for the three-year contract with my new treadmill because I know they don't last much longer than that (at least not as long as I'm stuck running on them every weekday morning).

7. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS carefully when you're putting the new treadmill together. And, before you step on it. They may all seem the same, but...trust me...they're not.

8. Look for a treadmill that has a fan (or two) in the front -- it really does help. This is another "must-have" for me.

9. Buy a surge-protector for the outlet you intend to plug your treadmill into. This is vital. The warrantee company will ask you if you have one -- if not, they may refuse to pay for damages caused by electrical surges or electricity. You can pick these surge protectors up at the home improvement store or Sears for less than $20 & they just plug into your outlet -- then you plug the treadmill into that.

10. Don't spend big bucks on a treadmill with a TV in it. I admit it, OK...I was almost swayed, but then realized that it was highly unlikely I'd get any kind of reception in my basement anyway. Go to Radio Shack and get yourself a $10 pair of headphones and a $10 extension cord (they sell them up to 100 feet, I think) and plug it into your existing TV.