GU at mile 4

Yesterday I set out at about noon to run 5.5 miles.  I haven't run much this week because my knee was hurting, and when I started, I felt pretty good.  Mile one clipped by fast and two was even quicker, both around 7:20.  Then came mile 3 and I was suddenly exhausted.  So tired, in fact, that I had to stop.  As I stood on the circular path where I was running, I was wondering why I was so tired.  Although the path was incredibly muddy, I didn't think it was having that much of an impact on my run.  I wiped massive amounts of mud off my shoe and continued on.

At mile 3.5 I have to cross a street.  Inevitably, I always get stopped as the road is fairly busy.  At this point, I was running in the 7:50s and it felt like I was sprinting.  After running up the one and only hill on the path and hitting mile 4, I stopped.  I knew I had a low blood sugar at that point, which was causing me to run slower and slower.  In the past, I have always held a miniature container of glucose tablets with me as I ran, but I have since stopped.  I really don't like holding things and have found that I can stick a packet of GU almost anywhere in a coat or running pants/shorts and be fine.  Plus, a lot of my pants have zippers made especially for such things. 

So at mile 4 of a 5.5 mile run, I had a GU.  I had about 3/4 of the packet, waited a few minutes, and then continued on.  I have never had GU on such a short run, but when you have a low blood sugar, anything with carbs works well.  Most days I don't even take GU on a 16 mile run.  I know I've become really bad at taking in carbs while running, and drinking liquid, so I know that needs to improve before my marathon.  I just hope it is a wonderful day blood sugar-wise...and no lows at mile 4, 14 or 24.

What is the shortest run you've ever had where you've taken GU?  When I told some of my running friends this story, they claim I win the prize.  At least it provided some laughs this morning.