Lessons From A First Day of Run-Commuting

Multitasking in the Key of Ow

It seemed like a good idea at the time. The ferry terminal is only about three miles from my house, which is a doable but long walk. Taking the ferry home is nice, but it means that I don't have time to work out in the gym at work. So the solution was obvious: I should run home from the ferry.

According to the internet*, run-commuting is actually a thing, though most of the people who do it seem to be either serious racers or British. I am neither, but I thought I'd go ahead and try it anyway.

So I bought myself a backpack, broke my shoes out of their cushy life on the treadmill and elliptical, and on Monday I gave it a shot. It went okay, but there were a few things I learned, which I thought I should share.

1. When packing your backpack, do not load the keys, wallet and phone into the main compartment, where they will slide to the bottom and slam repeatedly into the small of your back.

2. Speaking of backpacks, you are going to have to cinch that sucker tight. Get it so most of the weight is supported by the waist-strap and try not to wonder if you look more like a bunch of sausages or a trussed chicken.

3. Despite its name, the MacBook Air does, in fact, have noticeable mass.

4. People are going to look at you like you're doing something weird. They are right.

5. Running outdoors with a pack engages certain sets of muscles that had thought they had retired to a life of leisure, and they will wake up cranky and confused. Calm them with regular offerings of ibuprofen.

6. When you get home, you can totally have a piece of chocolate. Maybe two.


*Motto: "Anything you can think of has already been done, and there is an official organization with fifteen pages of bylaws and a splinter group."

#ProduceTip

Your vegetables will look approximately 372% more glamorous if you put them in a fancy gardening basket.

Wheelbarrow optional.

On a related note, does anyone know what I can do with three habaneros? That won't kill me?