So smooth I'm undetectable

I was supposed to do my 10 mile run yesterday morning, but I lagged too long in the morning and didn't get out in time. I had my clothes and gear on and was ready to go, but I had to be back by 8 am and it was already 6:30. So I threw my clothes off and just jumped back in bed.

I set my alarm for 5:30 this morning so I could be out the door by 6. However, with the time change, it was still super dark out and I've become a wuss. I fell back asleep and again, was up too late to fit in the 10 miles.

I was a huge grumpy butt because of the missed run, so this evening I headed to the gym to at least get some miles in. My stupid gym closes at 8 on the weekends. I got there at 6:30, so I knew 10 miles was out of the question. But I figured I would run what I could.

I was also conducting an experiment. I wanted to see if peanut butter m&m's (my favorite!) would work as fuel as opposed to the GU's and Clif shots I normally use. I had measured out a quarter cup, which was one serving at 220 calories, and broke that up into two (14 m&m's each), each being 110 calories, and wrapped each half in foil. I figured that would be a quick way to eat it on the run, when I had planned on running outside.

So I felt a bit foolish as I opened the foil packet and put it on the treadmill for easy access. Hehe, here I was surrounded by folks trying to lose weight and I put m&m's in front of me to eat as I run.

I had read an article on Shalane Flanagan in Runner's World the other day. It mentioned how she "glides" when she runs, not expending energy on unnecessary movements. So I thought of her and the Kenyans and I ran. Instead of my usual lumbering, huge arm-swinging gait, I kept my arms low and concentrated on a faster foot turnover rate.

It worked! I barely broke a sweat! And I guess I was channeling the Kenyans too well, because all of a sudden at 2.3 miles, the treadmill stopped! A message read, "(Person?) not detected on the treadmill - press enter to resume workout." I must have been floating! Hehe.

Unfortunately it happened again at 4.6 miles and again a few more times after I had reset it after 5 miles.

And I finally got my rate to hit 22 steps per 15 seconds! I felt like a super power speedwalker, but I did it!

I ate 7 m&m's after 3 miles and the rest after about 6 miles. I was going to try and squeeze in 8 miles total, but my stomach started feeling funky and I stopped at 7.3 miles. My stomach calmed down and I finished off with my stretching.

All in all, it was a wonderful run. I felt pretty great. I don't remember the total time. 5 miles at 52:30. But I don't remember the time for the rest of the 2.3 miles. I did the first 5 miles at 5.7 to conserve energy. The last few miles ranged from 5.7 to 6.0 because I was just feeling good.

While the peanut butter m&m's did give me energy, I'm not sure I'll be using them as fuel for my runs in the future. It made me want to go potty.

But I am a much happier person now that I've got some miles in.