I made it to work - and back!

Today was a big day for me, really big...


Up until May last year, I'd only ever driven to work, Once, probably about 5 years ago, I was having one of my many "I must lose weight" drives, and decided to have a practice ride to work on a Sunday, before, I thought, riding to work the next day. It was far more of a struggle to get to the office than I expected, and I very nearly didn't make it all the way home. After that, I never tried to get to work under my own steam again, until last May, when I rode to work for the first time. 


I made it that day and commuted on my bike several other times last year, and really enjoyed doing it. It took me a similar amount of time to driving in, and the only reason I didn't do it more often, was that most days I pick the boys up after work, and that's pretty tough to do on a bike :). 


I've been thinking about running to work for a while now, but have always ruled it out for several reasons - the aforementioned need to pick the boys up being the main one, but also because there are no showers at work! 


I decided that today, as I didn't need to pick the boys up, it could be a good day to try - and I packed a load of wet wipes, a towel and a big can of deodorant in my bag to try to offset the lack of changing facilities! 


I was a bit nervous as I set off at 7am (after having done my plank and press ups of course!), and was determined not to push it too much, as I didn't want to get too sweaty. I was also quite keen to make it to work in under an hour though, as I thought it was about 6.6 miles. It turned out that it was just over 7 miles, and with the traffic / lights in town, making it under an hour, without getting tired out / sweaty was quite a challenge!


The run itself was fairly uneventful, apart from one big highlight - as I was running through the centre of town, who should I see standing at the bus stop, talking to his friends, but #2 son : Kieran! We exchanged a quick high five, but I didn't stop (I was in the zone and had headphones in).


I was quite sweaty once I got to work - the rucksack on my back saw to that, but after a quick wet wipe / towel down session in the very non-swanky toilets at work, and a liberal application of deodorant, I felt I wasn't too stinky to work. 


At lunchtime I had another great experience - I decided to go for a walk and found the entrance to the nature reserve that backs onto the far side of the estate where I've worked for 15 years. 


I had a lovely 1.25 mile wander and took some pictures that show what it's like - I can't believe I've been so close to it, 5 days a week for 15 years and have never been there before! I don't think many colleagues have been there either, everyone I talked to when I got back and was raving about it, had no idea it was there! 

Reed pond at Wilford Claypit Nature Reserve

It was a lovely day and place for photos

After work I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how I could get home without having the rucksack on my back - as I needed to take my wallet, phone, keys etc. Eventually I decided to leave most of things and tied my keys into my shorts using the laces that are usually used to tighten them :). 


The run home was great - I took it fairly steady to start with, as I knew that there were some big hills to climb, and as I got to town and the climb started, I was feeling pretty tired. I slowed my pace as I got to the mile+ drag up Woodborough Rd, and eased up the 300ft of non-stop climbing. As I reached the top, I got my second wind - realising that I was just over 2 miles from home, and it would be flat all the way, I pushed on. I felt great for the rest of the run and decided to aim to get home in under an hour - and just managed it! 


I was on a real high when I got home - not just about the achievement of running a total of over 14 miles to work and back, but feeling as though I could run further. So I did! 


I needed to go to Mum and Dad's, just over a mile a way, to check if they had any post - and had no intention of driving there, and couldn't be bothered to change into warmer clothes to walk there - so I ran. 


As it turned out, there was no post there anyway, and by the time I got home, despite having taken it very gently, I was really, really tired, but also incredibly happy. Today I've run over 16 miles, that's 50% further than any day, ever before, I've run to work for the first time, been for a lovely walk and enjoyed it so much. 


In fact, I enjoyed running to work so much, I'm thinking about doing it again on Friday!


Here's the summary of the year so far: 



Running: 64.3 miles (103.5K)
Walking: 7.5 miles
Cycling: 40.95 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 112.7 miles (181.33K)
Running streak: 49 days (started 23/11/2011)


Mike