The Connection Runners

Monday Meanderings (powered by pretzel m&ms)

1. Two sweaty thumbs up: Last week I got in my Sony W Series Walkman® MP3 Player.

I'll admit I was a little skeptical. I just didn't think it looked comfortable. But I went ahead and loaded some songs and podcasts on it and decided to take it out for a 6 miler. (It was SUPER easy to set up by the way) Well, the weather wasn't cooperating so I hopped on the treadmill and set off. Once I got it adjusted for my head/ears I didn't have to touch it again. I'm thrilled with how comfy the headphones are. They stayed in place even though I got SUPER sweaty.

(yeah... that tank started out light pink.My garage is pretty much a sauna)

Well, last night I had an 11 miler on the plan and once again it was storming. I found myself back on the treadmill and grabbed my ipod out of habit. I became VERY aware of how much time I spend trying to keep the earbud in my right ear. And if thats not annnoying enough, TWICE I somehow got my arm tangled in the cord and sent my ipod flying. I definately wont be forgetting my Walkman again, cord-free is the way to go.

2. Embracing the treadmill: I've put more miles on my treadmill in the past week than I have in the past 3 months. Half of my 12 miler sunday, 6 miles on Friday and an 11 miler last night wrapped up my week of embracing the treadmill. We are in the middle of hurricane season so my options are:
1. get soaked,
2. don't run,
3. make peace with the treadmill.

I went with #3. Besides, after reading about Emz's 20 miler and TMBs 16 miler on the treadmill I figured I'd better keep up appearances and pound out my 11. Ahhhh... .the power of peer pressure.
3. Complete: So, that 11 miler wrapped up week 4 of marathon training. Done and done.

4. Crosstraining: My usual cross training consists of swimming or kicking, but this week I've put down some "functional fitness" as my cross training. Each day has been spent packing, moving boxes and cleaning for our move. I am EXHAUSTED by the end of the day, but can happily say I've still gotten in my runs, just not as much swimming.

5. Alternate forms of fueling: I've been reading SO much chatter about the new Pretzel M&Ms. I'm a sucker for a salty/sweet combo so I picked some up, figuring I'd save them for a special occasion. Well... .whats more "special" than trying to push through an 11 miler... .on a treadmill... at 8pm... after 10 hours of packing?

What? You think that ledge is just made for holding magazines?
:)
It made an excellent M&M holder. I lined 11 up, and popped one in my mouth to mark each mile. It seemed like a great idea... ..except for that I was sick of them by mile 2. Too sweet. I liked the pretzel part though and am thinking about taking a handful of mini pretzels on my long runs.

What do you fuel your long runs with?
What's your favorite salty/sweet combo?