Because there are simply not enough hours in the day, I've been exploring creative ways of getting some additional running in, hopefully in a way that increases overall fitness while minimizing impact in the rest of the day. I've narrowed my options to two:
1. Get up a bit earlier and go for a run instead of having a steaming hot cup of coffee and reading three newspapers.
2. Incorporate a run into my commute.
Both have pros/cons. For starters, while I *am* a morning person, I'm not really a morning exercise person. And, since I'm trying to get in longer runs (which I currently define as five or more miles), I'd eat up at least an hour in the morning, what with getting ready/running/recovering. So, not great.
Dave Treadwell shared a series of good posts on adding exercise to the commute, and so I've been reading up/looking at options. In some ways, the easiest option is just to run home at the end of the day, (10 miles) assuming I can find a way back to work the next day. Other option is do what Dave does -- run to the bus, bus across the bridge, run to work. Do it in the morning, and again at the end of the day, and I'd get in about 11 miles, in two 5.5 mile sections. Easy peasy, as they say.
Well, because apparently I'm not an easy peasy person I decided I'd just run home today, which I've done before, but I'd add to the fun by carrying a pack and my HP tablet pc. Combined, the pack, cell phone, coat, computer et al weighs about 10 pounds. While standing in my nice warm cube it felt very doable, but I'll admit I had a few pangs of doubt as I started up the first hill.
First, the good. I got home. It took me 86 minutes, which is about twice as long as it would've taken me to drive. So by this method, I actually saved 45 minutes. The bad. The pack does not get lighter. I figure unless you are Dave Treadwell, carrying a pack adds about 45 seconds on the flats to your mile time, and a bit more on the hills. In other words, it was significantly harder than I'd thought, in that I ran for a longer period of time with a higher energy output than I'd anticipated. At the end of a work day, that's not a good combo. When I got home I bonked, which is not a concept my five year old relates to.
So, my lesson here is that running home sans pack is doable, running home with pack is not. I figure I could do the run/bus/run thing with pack because I have less hills and the distance is shorter...maybe I'll try that next week, once the pain has passed. ;)