Tips for lunchtime office running

August 3, 2024 2:14 PM

My employer is imposing mandatory return-to-office in September. I'm a runner and I am thinking about whether I will need to start running out of the office on my lunch breaks. Any tips to make this bearable or even successful?

I'm not very happy about mandatory RTO, not the least of which because I will lose a lot of time that over the past few years I've devoted to exercise. I enjoy running 4-5 days a week, as the days grow shorter and colder (I'm in Canada) I'm not crazy about the idea of getting up incredibly early and so was thinking about whether I could feasibly get out on my lunch breaks.

There is a gym in the building with showers that I can use. But, I'm wondering about the logistics of managing smelly clothing and a towel, as well as any other tips that will make this tolerable / easy / even successful.

posted by synecdoche to Health & Fitness (18 answers total)

I realize this is kinda obvious and so there is a good chance you've already thought of it, but why not use your workplace gym as a place to run afterwork? Seems like it would provide the added bonus of avoiding leaving work during rush hour traffic.
posted by coffeecat at 2:54 PM on August 3

Response by poster: why not use your workplace gym as a place to run afterwork

I very very much prefer running outside, even in pouring rain and snow, to a treadmill. As long as it's not icy I'm good. And I'd also rather get home as soon as possible so I can make dinner for my family.

(Honestly, I'd enjoy running home, but in spite of mandated RTO we're not being offered places to store things like laptops overnight.)
posted by synecdoche at 3:04 PM on August 3 [2 favorites]

Can you help yourself feel a wee bit more entitled and take a longer than usual lunch break in order to get both your run + a quick shower at the gym? Block the extra time on your calendar. This is the least they can do after they mandated RTO.

It helps to cultivate a very confident and congenial attitude about your longer lunch break. Of course nobody's going to have a problem with this. It's completely normal for you to take the extra time, because you're getting your run in during your workday. Like, what are you supposed to do, skip your shower and stink up the office? LOL. Cheers, mate, time's a tickin, gotta run. See you at the 2 pm meeting!
posted by MiraK at 3:05 PM on August 3 [10 favorites]

I don't have personal recommendations but I have running friends who have successfully figured out a good backpack that lets them run-commute with a laptop and change of clothes. A combo of the right backpack + just getting used to it, I believe. Maybe keep a plastic bag in there for the laptop in case of rain :)
posted by jeweled accumulation at 3:09 PM on August 3 [2 favorites]

I'm a swimmer, and where I used to work there was a swimming pool directly across the street. I received permission from my manager to arrive at work 1/2 hour early to compensate for taking a 1.5 hour lunch break vs a 1 hour lunch break. This gave me time to swim for an hour at lunchtime, shower, dry my hair, fix my makeup, and get dressed. It did mean that my wet swimsuit and towel had to sit in my gym bag all afternoon until I could bring them home, but it never caused a problem.
posted by SageTrail at 3:18 PM on August 3 [6 favorites]

I used to partially run commute. You have it a bit easier since it sounds like you’ll not be hauling your gear with you while running, but if run commuting is an option, it’s really pretty wonderful.

For you, I would recommend you get two sets of running kit — one you keep at the office until you use it, the other at home. Bring the one at the office home if you get the run in. A gym bag will contain the smell just fine. I exclusively did easy miles on days where I ended at the office, both to reduce the risk of injury and to minimize sweat.

I found showering after I’d been at the office for 30 minutes to be more effective than showering right at the end of my run, which would make me sweat all day. So if I got in at 8, I’d do light emails until 8:30, then go down and shower. Something you may want to consider—if you can do a run at lunch, followed by 30 minutes of admin and then a shower, that may be better for you.
posted by moosetracks at 3:32 PM on August 3

Oh, I see your comment about wanting to run home but no place to store laptops. If it’s a work-provided laptop, then I would think work would be responsible if it is stolen from their office (same with their printer, etc.). I’d push back on this; allowing you access to a locked drawer or space if there’s a special security concern is a very basic request.
posted by moosetracks at 3:39 PM on August 3 [14 favorites]

The alternative to gently pushing back against this nonsense is billing them for storage and transportation of their crap. Use FedEX or similar for a quote on reasonable fair market price :)
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:09 PM on August 3

I mean, work might not give you an option to store your laptop, but there is a place to store your laptop. Stack it next to the printer, put it in a kitchen cupboard, put it at the front desk, etc. Perhaps cubbies will be installed if enough objects are lying around.

Have you checked out the towel situation at the showers? Some office showers have towel service, which leaves you managing only the running clothes and shoes.
posted by shock muppet at 6:24 PM on August 3

Short hair.

Microfiber towel.

Wear running gear under work clothes so you can strip quickly like Superman.
posted by bq at 8:49 PM on August 3 [1 favorite]

No they had to renegotiate the policy with cleaning and didn’t want to pay liability costs for stolen equipment. If I were you I’d just give it a week and put it in your desk and keep quiet.
posted by geoff. at 9:10 PM on August 3

also a dedicated outdoor runner, so i hear you both on avoiding the dreadmill and resentment over having the precious flexibility of remote work taken away. i am sorry!

i really do not love having my coworkers see me in my run clothes. perhaps this will not bother you, but if it does, just know you are not alone.

for smelly clothes: if i need to keep sweaty run gear in my pack, i will often wrap in a dry towel. i have a tesalate towel, which is really large and really thin; I use it for covering my car seat if i’m sweaty or can use as a wrap. the towel absorbs some of the moisture, and i think keeps the smell down. you might try a dry bag if you really want to contain all possible smell?

good luck!
posted by tamarack at 10:27 PM on August 3 [1 favorite]

I'd add as a quick tip - avoid 1pm meetings.
posted by maupuia at 1:25 AM on August 4 [4 favorites]

Not sure how long your hair is or how much this is of concern, but I really love this Bumble & Bumble dry shampoo on damp/sweaty hair. It smells great in a gender-neutral way and helps me feel comfortable being around people after I work out but can't take a full shower.

I had a coworker a while back who would run the stairs in our (quite tall, 16 story) building during her lunch breaks and felt absolutely okay returning to her receptionist post afterward, with no shower. I don't know how she managed the sweat but it never seemed like a problem. I wouldn't worry about this very much.
posted by knotty knots at 1:44 AM on August 4

I’d push back on this; allowing you access to a locked drawer or space if there’s a special security concern is a very basic request.

Based on the language used, almost assuredly the OP works for a large government employer in Canada who have across-the-board moved to an open office, hotdesk, no storage approach since the pandemic. Getting a desk to work is in many locations a chore itself. So this is a policy for 275,000 employees that has been pushed back on at the union level to some degree without success.

I too am a large government employee and especially in the spring, fall, and winter, it's very doable to run for 30 mins at lunch. Leave longer and harder runs for your WFH days. If you're training for something specific (or even if you're not) you should be running at variable speeds anyways and lots of running can be done at slower paces without losing anything fitness-wise. That even in my office without a shower works well enough except for July and August where it's untenable to start sweating at any point as it just won't ever stop.
posted by openhearted at 4:48 AM on August 4

If I was in a unionized position (that is, didn't have to worry about being fired on a whim, if I got caught I'd have to repent and not do it again, but wouldn't have destroyed my career), I would definitely consider self-help options for overnight laptop storage to make this possible. Do they give you day lockers? Do they actually clear them out overnight? (That costs money! This isn't Equinox!) Is it the kind of place where, despite hotdesking, the people who come in tend to use the same desk day after day, so that you could stow your laptop in "your" desk? (Assuming you work in the kind of place where people would ignore a laptop in the bottom drawer if they happened to get "your" desk one day.) Do you have an amiable lawyer colleague? They still usually get offices. Can you ask them if you can leave it there? Is there a disused or lightly used storage space somewhere for other stuff, or even *gasp* paper files? Do you have any kind of physical disability or injury, such that it's not advisable to carry 3-5 lbs of laptop back and forth every day? (Obviously only if you actually do, but most of us from early middle age onwards have some kind of issue; I'm not sure how the Canadian accommodation process works, but I believe there's something that's the equivalent of the U.S. process, and the government usually feels more obligated to honor it.)

Obviously, the more sensitive the data on your laptop, the less advisable this is. Don't leave the nuclear codes in a drawer with the extra HDMI cables. But I feel like this calls for a dose of good ol' Gen X ingenuity, because this kind of arrangement is boomer BS.
posted by praemunire at 9:38 AM on August 4 [2 favorites]

This may be the least of your worries, but when I was the parent of a baby I discovered that they make tons of wet-dry zipper bags in a variety of styles. There are also quick dry micro fiber towels. I think stinky shoes are the other logistics topic worth thinking about - can you stash stuff in the office gym until the end of the day? Also, if you take 10 minutes to get out the door, 35 minutes to run and stretch, and 10-15 minutes to shower and dress, you'll be out of time -- can you then eat at your desk or during the next meeting?
posted by slidell at 5:15 PM on August 4

Waterproof laptop bag & backpack with rain fly? It sounds like you can take transit inbound and then run home, so maybe all you need is better gear.
posted by toodleydoodley at 9:25 AM on August 5