Teacher wants to run to school.

theruncommuter.com

Lots of reviews and practical advice.

Can't you keep work clothes in a locker at school?

You should drive one day a week with a week's worth of clothing and leave it there to change in and out of for the rest of the week.

I don't know how many times I have answered this question in detail, but if you do a quick search you will find some answers...

FWIW, I did this for years, 7 miles each way. Fittest I have ever been and easiest training in the world. I even saved time on what would otherwise be an hour+commute in a car/bus.

If you're a teacher it should be easy as you will have access to showers and can keep a lockable file cabinet in your classroom for clothes, etc. Hell, you might even have laundry capabilities.

Get creative. Creativity is what makes this kind of thing doable and lasting. After doing it for a few weeks, I realized there was a wash/dry/fold place near my office and I took my laundry to them every Friday. 5 dress shirts, 5 pairs of pants, boxers and socks. I kept a blazer on my chair and shoes at my desk. I never carried anything by my phone wallet and other sundries that I held in a small Patagonia waterproof running pack.

For you, the best option is to head into school one day and take a collection of clothing and shoes/belts. Keep them in a secure file cabinet. Maybe keep a sport coat or navy blazer at school if you wear one. Buy a camelbak or something for whatever you need to carry, and to be safe you might want to buy a small drybag to put everything in before you pack it up. You'll get used to the pack in no time and if you have no laundry capabilities you can just head over on Sunday afternoons and switch out the clothing for the next week. Ask about using the school's laundry though, you'll be surprised at how accepting of this some people can be... I mean, it would basically be one load a week and you can do that during class one day when no one even knows you're doing it (you obviously want permission, though).

Buddy Edelen did everyday.

Had a locker at school with his suit hanging there when he arrived.

It will be no problem and may help in recruiting young school XC runners.

You need to put your clothes in a plastic bag inside your pack to keep them dry. Every pack will get soaked through on a hot run. You should be sure to wash the pack regularly or it will smell truly foul. In cooler weather you'll be okay.

I'd recommend the Deuter Speed Lite 10 or the Deuter Compact Lite 8. Deuter makes quality stuff that isn't too expensive, and anything more than 10L is too big. Just take a change of clothes and leave the dress shoes at the office.

Spotter wrote:

You should drive one day a week with a week's worth of clothing and leave it there to change in and out of for the rest of the week.

Just want to add - if you don't have a car then you can also try biking to commute; it's pretty easy to bring bags on a bike with a rack

consistency wrote:

theruncommuter.com

Lots of reviews and practical advice.

Thanks so much for that link. I agree, lots of good information.

If you don't live in North Carolina, I recommend you declare yourself transgender and shower in the girls locker room every morning.

800 dude wrote:

You need to put your clothes in a plastic bag inside your pack to keep them dry. Every pack will get soaked through on a hot run. You should be sure to wash the pack regularly or it will smell truly foul. In cooler weather you'll be okay.

+1

PE teachers probably have a private shower in their locker room office. Talk to them to get access and get a locker for your clothes and stuff.

You had a great response from somebody above who has done this.

If you can't find a nearby laundry, or it is inconvenient, there are very small countertop washer/dryers. Once a week or so, you could stay late at work grading papers while you do a mini load of laundry, as long as you have access to a sink.

Do a search for "mini" or "portable" or "countertop" washers and dryers and you will find them. They're pretty cheap.

Also, I think that what you're doing is a great idea, I've been out of college for 8 years. I found the first few years I couldn't get any sort of consistent training together. Then I realized the solution for me was to never go home without running after work. As soon as I got home, all motivation would disappear. What you are doing accomplishes my solution, plus has the upgrade of eliminating your commute.

Do bring a cell phone though and have a coworker you can call to pick you up, for that very small chance that you roll your ankle, strain your hamstring, get horrible diarrhea midrun, etc.

It sounds like you're a first year teacher. If so, I HIGHLY recommend focusing on your job. I know you don't want to hear this. I'm all for exercising, but I have NEVER met a first year teacher who did NOT drown their first couple of months of teaching. Unfortunately, you'll eat, sleep, breathe your job. Don't worry, that terrible feeling does go away. But, not for a couple of months though. Allow your running to be an escape from your job. Your administrators, department chair, & students will all be testing you to various degrees.

So, my suggestion is to drive to work, run right after school, go home & prep for your job. Rest assured, everything will come together...eventually. But, focus on what you're supposed to be doing: teaching.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Veteran Teacher Speaking wrote:

It sounds like you're a first year teacher. If so, I HIGHLY recommend focusing on your job. I know you don't want to hear this. I'm all for exercising, but I have NEVER met a first year teacher who did NOT drown their first couple of months of teaching. Unfortunately, you'll eat, sleep, breathe your job. Don't worry, that terrible feeling does go away. But, not for a couple of months though. Allow your running to be an escape from your job. Your administrators, department chair, & students will all be testing you to various degrees.

So, my suggestion is to drive to work, run right after school, go home & prep for your job. Rest assured, everything will come together...eventually. But, focus on what you're supposed to be doing: teaching.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Depends on the subject. I know a few math teachers who were lucky to be hired by a school with a well run math program. They spent only minimal time following the existing outline and grading. They required very little prep to do their job since the program was established and well laid out.

Are you seriously thinking of running 2 hours each day?

I taught and ran to school. Buy dressy polyester tech clothes. Store deodorant and dress shoes at work.

Well yeah. That's kind of the point of the thread.

In theory, this is easy to do, just wake up early and use the shower in the gym. The problem is that using the students' locker room for changing and showering is strongly frowned upon for faculty. Some schools will have no problem, others will strongly frown upon it. Check with an administrator, less you get accused of being a pedo. You also run into issues with running back home, what if its real hot or storming, or the roads have been covered with snow, but not plowed.

Next, what if you have to take home stuff to grade? You're not going to run home with a big stack of 150 papers. Lets say you have two, one page assignments you collect, thats 300 pages to take home that night. I suppose you could drive back to school and grab them after running home, but that defeats the purpose. Sometimes you'll be having 600+ pages to lug around. Try as hard as you like, you won't get through all that in your planning periods.

How much time do you really save over starting and stopping your commute at home, showering there, and then driving to school. Only the time of your drive. I could see it being worth it if say school is over an hour commute away due to traffic, but not any further by run, but then you live in an urban area and probably have better options.

As a young teacher, you do not want to buck the trend. Even if all the above seems positive in terms of running to work (supportive administration, ease of commute, a way of getting stuff and supplies to and from, ability to shower at work) you're still the weird guy who runs to school. Bobby and fattty Sally run too. Fatty sally ran 3 half marathons last year and she even broke 3 hours. You haven't run further than 10k right? (rhetorical, and likely technically true if you only count race distances and you're right out of college). If your commute is under half an hour, I just think its more worth it to get up earlier and finish runs at home, then drive to school.

Leave a bunch of clean clothes at work, run to work , shower/change, repeat. I also leave a bunch of food/bottles of water in my room so I don't have to carry food etc... this makes it WAY easier.

if you haven't taught before, be ready to be extremely tired on your run home... especially if you are teaching elementary school. This will be my 7th year teaching and I'm almost always dead-tired on my second run after working with the kids all day. I'm talking real tired. You can't comprehend the feeling of exhaustion running-teaching-running leaves you with.