So I have my new car, and since I’m saddled with a teeny car payment (it’s big for me!), I’ve been budgeting a looot more tightly. Brown-bagging the lunch, seeking out more free/less expensive group x options, and running (which is free) a ton! Which I must say, it’s kind of a nice feeling to actually have a sense of awareness about where my money is going. But I digress.
I live about 2-3 miles from my job. And I’ve started to become a little tired of watching my gas dwindle away from these little back and forth trips I’m making to my job. It’s unnecessary. And I’m not helping the earth. So while I save up a little cash for a bike (and lord help, this means I’m going to need to learn to put a helmet over my huge hair), I decided to try running to work. Get a little exercise in, run to work, and run home. So how’d it go.
So Raleigh is hilly. I had to plan a route that was a little more roundabout in order to avoid a gnarly hill. It was pretty unavoidable. 3/4ths of the way in and I was cursing my decision, and running about 6 minutes late for work. Dang. I should’ve left a little earlier.
I’m going to challenge myself to run to work a few more times, see how much gas I can save, and build a few more miles into my day.
Challenges with this plan.
- Packing. I had to stow my keys, $5, and a few chews for my low blood sugar in a belt. On days when I need a little more, this may become challenging.
- Time. I didn’t build enough time. But for incidentals, I need to block off at least 30 minutes for me to get to work with enough time.
- Clothing. I need to waterproof some makeup or something. I looked heinous at work yesterday. I could feel judgment piercing me from people’s eyes. I felt the need to caveat each time someone looked at me with “It’s not my fault, I ran to work today”.
- Stench. Oh my god. Like. I cannot with the way I was smelling yesterday. To be fair to myself, the funk was two-pronged. I’d taught a Zumba class earlier, so the Zumba sweat, layered with the budget sweat, added to me smelling like a horse. I smelled like a horse. I really sincerely apologize to all my co-workers, and I commend them for not making any comments to me. Any comments would have been deserved though. I need to figure out a way to leave some wet ones, some baby wipes, and some touch-up makeup at work.

So I challenge you, if you can do this safely at any point this week, to build a few extra miles into your week by running to work. Oh, and Happy Memorial Day, guys! Werk!