The plan
- Wake up, throw on running clothes
- Pack a backpack with socks, underwear, undershirt, shoes, pants, belt (maybe in one or multiple plastic bags to avoid getting them sweaty)
- Run to work (6 miles)
- Pick up a shirt at the dry-cleaners near the office, or one hanging in my office
- Change, go to work
- Change, drop off dirty shirt at dry-cleaners
- Run home (6 miles)
How to deal with clothing
This has been the hardest piece to think through, mainly because my office won't let people use lockers overnight. I really wanted to find a way to avoid walking into my office in running clothes before showering in the locker room, but I think that may be the only way to do this. In the winter it won't be as bad walking into the office in pants and a jacket, but what about the summer when I'm in short shorts? I think the solution may be to just bring a pair of basketball shorts or running pants with me in my bag as I run up to my office to grab my stashed shirts/pants. And instead of bringing clothes back and forth between the office and home, I can drop them off at the dry-cleaners at my building and use it as a form of locker storage.
I thought about bringing my clothes back and forth instead of attempting to store them at work. I think I could make that happen with pants pretty easily by rolling them, but shirts might get a little more wrinkled. There are websites I've found (mainly for business travelers) about folding/rolling shirts so that they don't get wrinkled, but that's for placing them in a suitcase. When they are bobbing up-and-down in a backpack I just don't see how it's possible to keep them wrinkle-free.
Gear
I have run home from work before using a very small, old CamelBak (not sure what model, but it's sort of like the Rogue, and I actually once ran 111 miles solo with only that pack), but it's barely large enough to fit a pair of shoes in, and it won't fit a full work outfit. I've been looking for a larger capacity bag that won't jump around as I'm running. At the moment, I'm considering these backpacks, and leaning more towards the Daylite based on price and the few reviews I've found that have mentioned running with it on.
I'm sure there will be unexpected surprises as I start this new commuting regiment, so I'll keep this post up-to-date with additional insights and tips.
