The Case of the Disappearing iPod

About 22 minutes in to our 35-minute run... I'm feeling okay, running at a 1.0 incline and a slow but steady 5.5 mph. I hear a funny noise next to me, and see Wil looking down at his feet, trying to stop his treadmill. He's dropped his iPod. I laugh and keep going, until I realize that his little Nano is nowhere to be seen. So I stop my machine, too.

We spend 15 minutes crawling around, trying to figure out where it's gone. There are people on nearby machines, looking at us as if we're crazy as we lie down next to them and look under their bike, treadmill, elliptical trainer. Since the thing is matte black, it's nearly impossible to see. And it simply isn't anywhere.

A woman finishes her bike ride and helps us look. By this point, I've expanded the search radius to 20 feet. I even run tests on the treadmill -- what happens to my iPod if I drop it when it's going 6.0 mph? Sadly, it just scoots off the end, landing a couple of feet behind the belt.

Where can it be? Wil says he thinks maybe it's in the machine itself. I can't imagine it. Either it would have had to cling to the belt and ride around under the machine, or he had to kick it into the tiny space between belt and frame.

Wil goes downstairs to get help. A man comes up with a flashlight, helping us look, telling us that the man who could actually take the machine apart isn't there today, but he can put an "out of order" sign on it. We're almost on the verge of saying to just forget it, but then the guy goes to get a screwdriver.

He works on taking the housing off... 6 or 8 screws, and we can open it up... and there, sitting near the motor, is the Nano.

Crazy.

It took 4 people, 25 minutes, and a philips-head screwdriver to recover the little guy... we profusely thanked the guy from the club, and, feeling foolish (and stiff and cold), we went downstairs, showered and left.

So not quite the 35-minute run we should have had (to make up for taking yesterday off...), but we did get at least a 20-minute run in. We didn't stretch though, and my shoulders feel stiff, so hopefully we'll still be up for our long run tomorrow or Sunday.