Run while you work, work while you run.
In this second installment in my series about my quest to becoming an ultra-distance runner, I’m gonna talk about something that I’ve been doing for a while to build up my base miles a bit. Commuting to work on foot.
Oh, and if you want to read a good article on the topic, check out what Runner’s World says about it. If you’re okay with a mediocre article on the topic, carry on here.
To be completely honest, my decision to start running to and from work wasn’t only motivated by my need to add miles to my running regimen. All the reasons above contributed to the decision as well. Here’s why I do it:
- Yes, the numero uno reason is to add miles to my training. It’s either 3.25 or 5.6 miles each way, depending on my route. That’s up to 45 miles a week, just in commuting.
- Here’s an unexpected benefit: I arrive at work feeling great. I arrive home feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.
- Yep, that’s 45 miles not driven in my car, saving me money, the planet some of it’s ever-decreasing fossil fuel supply, and the atmosphere some pretty bad emissions. Oh, and that’s up to 2,300 miles a year of wear and tear not being put on my car, too.
- It actually gives me an hour or two of “alone time” every day where I can just listen to podcasts, think…whatever. Then again, I suppose I could get that on a run anytime, but the reason I list it here is that I don’t treat my commute as a training run. I just run at a comfortable pace and enjoy myself. Very different than tempo, speed, or hill training.
In fact, the only downside is that my commute is just a teensy bit longer, but I avoid rush hour traffic, so it’s not that much longer. Plus, I need to run the miles anyway for training purposes, so in a way, I’m actually saving myself time by avoiding the hours per week I would have spent in my car.
So that’s the “why”, but if you’re wondering about the “how”, here it is:
- On Sunday, I pack up clothes, food, and various supplies for the week. Boom.
- Then, Monday, I drive two work, taking all that stuff to my office.
- Monday night, I run home. Then, the rest of the week, I run to and from work. Because I don’t run hard, I don’t really get all icky on the way to work, so I kind of sponge bath it up in the bathroom (no showers there), and then at night, well, I’m home, so who needs to shower? Okay, I shower when I get home.
- Friday, I drive all my crap home and the process starts anew.
Now, obviously, not all of you can do this. Some of you live too far away, and I know that for girls, this becomes a little less feasible by nature of the fact that getting ready for work can be a little more involved than for a guy like me. I have a friend who lives in south Colorado Springs but works in Pueblo, which is a good 30 miles or more away, so running 60 miles a day just isn’t realistic. But I would move that even if you work 10 miles away from home, this is still realistic for you (if you’re serious about distance, that is).
So this is partly an update on my running stuff, but if you’ve never considered commuting on foot…give it a try.
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