Race Schedule

2018 Races…TBD!


Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Commuting on the Run

This evening, I embarked on a new journey. It wasn't that well planned, nor did I put much thought into it beyond making sure I could carry everything I needed in a pouch the size of my palm. Thanks to the blogging efforts of Trail Goat piquing my interest in the topic, I decided to take a shot at the run commute. What better excuse to try out an Atayne performance top, and in perfect weather?

I plotted out my route before I left the office, which basically consisted of the lakefront path all the way home. Pretty simple, very straightforward. The route came to about 6.5 miles...but who goes halfway and stops? so I added on enough to round out a nice 7-miler. The sun was still out, it was cool and there was a pretty hefty headwind (hurricane-force winds more like it) once I made it to the path. I actually considered running backwards for a moment, it was really darn windy!

I brought along my water bottle that has one of those nifty pouches on it that straps to your hand. I was able to shove my phone, ID, bus pass, a credit card, and a hunk of keys into it. I also had a layer shirt around my waist, which I quickly found out was totally unnecessary and immediately regretted bringing it. It got so annoying bouncing around on my hips that I finally tied it around one shoulder, across my chest. I probably looked like a putz, but at least it wasn't bouncing around anymore :) iPod, check. GPS, check. Bright green shoe laces, check.

I felt a little uncomfortable leaving my other stuff at the office, and will probably consider investing in a nifty pack to run in if I make a habit of this. I found one online that just might fit the bill. Now if only I could sew some pearls onto it...

The Atayne shirt kicked butt, as usual. Best part, it still smelled like my awesome detergent afterwards. Seriously, I think that may be one of the greatest things ever...finishing a run and smelling like roses still. I'm just sayin'.

The path wasn't nearly as packed as I thought it might be on a gorgeous Tuesday evening, and even though I had my tunes I found myself getting really distracted at times. It's weird not running with Mike, and not having someone to talk to the whole time! Clearly, I've been spoiled.

All in all, the run went very well, better than expected. It was fun to see the traffic on Lake Shore Drive at a complete standstill; I was moving faster than them! There are a few things I'll tweak for my next run commute...i.e. a pack, no shirt tied around my waist, vigorous headwind training, a more updated playlist...but nothing major.

In other news:

Mike's on the road, but hopefully I can convince him to hop on and post something for your viewing pleasure soon.

Keep on the lookout for a recap of our trip to Hell (Michigan, that is), coming up verrrry soon. Mike will be conquering his first ultra-marathon (50k) and I will be participating in the 100k relay. Both races involve a great deal of mud, muck, river-crossings, poison ivy, mosquito's, and courses routinely tampered with by the locals in which routes are "re-routed"...this should be interesting. I'm pretty sure one of us (myself, actually) will end up lost and be "that guy" who has to be extracted from the woods of Hell, Michigan by park rangers. At least it'll make for good blogging! This adventure will also involve camping, something else I've never done before. Mike has no idea what he's getting himself into :) Can you wear pearls camping?

Paige, out.

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