Lunch runs during the work day?

I'm fortunate that our office facilities have showers. I can squeeze in a solid hour at lunch, quick shower and eat at desk. Easy way to add 20-30 more miles to the week.

Do it everyday, so people expect you to be gone and know you won't skip it. Don't let them know you run at other times and say this is your only chance to be healthy.

Start with 20 minutes and be back within the hour for the first week.

Then slowly get back to work a little later each week.

Then work at night so you don't fall behind on anything.

I've got a gym within walking distance of my office, so even with a shower I can get a good 40-45 minutes on the treadmill in. I usually do a warmup of a mile or so, then timed intervals at 10K or 10 mile pace for as long as I feel. Usually 4-5 sets. Then a cooldown and a quick shower. It's not a workout but it's fine in a pinch or if I'm crunched for time.

Can you send out a friendly memo that you are starting a lunchtime " running/fitness club"? Invite co-workers to join you in this healthy initiative. You'll be seen as a team player who cares about your colleagues. Even throw in some info about how you can save the company on health insurance with healthy employees etc. A few people will show up at first and then gradually fade away. Keep up the guise of the Club and then you'll get to be a selfish runner once again!

PatrickSebast wrote:

There aren't any showers available where I work, but there is a gym down the road.

Between still needing to eat something, showering, a few minutes travel, it seems like getting more than 30 guaranteed minutes of running during a lunch hour would be a squeeze.

Still 30 minutes added a couple days a week is something. What does everyone else do for lunch runs? Thinking about starting a routine to get my mileage up a bit, but I am having trouble planning how to best use those 30 minutes.

I only had one hour for lunch, I was able to do a six miler- 40 minutes, stretch, sponge off in the bathroom and be back to work in that time.

Paxman wrote:

How flexible are your hours? Can you arrange with your employer a longer lunch break an finish later in the day/start earlier?

Flexible enough but we are international and I have a lot of meetings and customer demands so even my normal lunch can find itself shifted to accommodate for others. I could work it in some days, but the point of this was just to add in a few extra miles with time I already had. I would rather get out on time and run more in the evening than stretch my lunch.

sleeeper wrote:

bill lumberg wrote:

You’re not doing your career any favors by adhering to a 1 hour schedule. Take the time you need and people will respect you more. Take charge of your schedule.

This. Based on your engineering job description, I'd be surprised if there really was a strict 1 hour limit and the boundaries you are placing on yourself are due to your own ideals / insecurities. Take the time you need. Be fully there for the manufacturing team you support when you are back in the office.

No one is really going to make huge deal out of it, but it will make my job slightly harder to not operate during 'core hours'. I enforce my schedule by insisting that I only work extra time for personal projects (or direct support for my own employees). That is enough for me. And as mentioned above I would rather be out on time anyway.

Club Sandwhich wrote:

Can you send out a friendly memo that you are starting a lunchtime " running/fitness club"? Invite co-workers to join you in this healthy initiative. You'll be seen as a team player who cares about your colleagues. Even throw in some info about how you can save the company on health insurance with healthy employees etc. A few people will show up at first and then gradually fade away. Keep up the guise of the Club and then you'll get to be a selfish runner once again!

Haha, could be fun. There are two really slow marathon runners in the office who might stick with it though. Don't know if it is worth the risk!

I tried the lunch run routine two years ago, since it gets so cold and dark where I live.

My ultimate takeaway is that it just sucks up too much time, as many have already said here. I'd have to change twice, take a short shower and then eat at my desk, which I really don't like to do. I'd much rather just run in the dark with a headlamp and be able to take my time eating at the office.

For many years I would leave work at 12, drive 3 minutes to the YMCA, change clothes and put in a 30-minute run or a weight workout. Maybe I’d have time for 40 minutes some days. I’d clean up with a damp, soapy paper towel instead of showering and have lunch at my desk when I got back to the office. There were many days where I didn’t need to be back at my desk by 1, but often there were 1 o’clock meetings. So you adjust to the circumstances of each day, but the biggest key is not wasting time on your lunch hour by eating lunch. (I actually eat throughout the day, so I always have a snack before 11.)

Looks like getting up at 4:00 am may be your best option to add extra miles.

PatrickSebast wrote:

There aren't any showers available where I work, but there is a gym down the road.

Between still needing to eat something, showering, a few minutes travel, it seems like getting more than 30 guaranteed minutes of running during a lunch hour would be a squeeze.

Still 30 minutes added a couple days a week is something. What does everyone else do for lunch runs? Thinking about starting a routine to get my mileage up a bit, but I am having trouble planning how to best use those 30 minutes.

On weekdays, lunchtime is the only time I can run. I work in the legal field, get an hour for lunch. We have showers on site which helps a lot.

I get 6-7 miles in during lunchtime and am back at my desk in around 60-65 mins. I eat lunch at my desk.

One of the nice things about running at lunchtime is I feel a lot more alert than I do first thing in the morning. I'm more hydrated and just generally feel a bit better when running. I'm in SoCal, so the weather is good for outdoor running pretty much every day.

Even if you can only get 30 minutes in, it's still going to help. Given the short time, easy runs are probably your best bet. But for a short workout you could do something like 5 minute warm up, 20 mins of 1 min on/off and 5 minute cool down.

What for? Do you have any Olympic or WC prospects? Why don't you realise, that your running career is going nowhere and then just focus on your job instead.

artojas wrote:

What for? Do you have any Olympic or WC prospects? Why don't you realise, that your running career is going nowhere and then just focus on your job instead.

I am presuming I will enjoy it. If I end up not liking it I will just continue to use my lunch to unwind by eating and looking at memes on my phone.

PatrickSebast wrote:

artojas wrote:

What for? Do you have any Olympic or WC prospects? Why don't you realise, that your running career is going nowhere and then just focus on your job instead.

I am presuming I will enjoy it. If I end up not liking it I will just continue to use my lunch to unwind by eating and looking at memes on my phone.

Fair enough. I assumed you are one of those guys with 33:00 PB over 10k that think it matters.

Alternately, one could argue that your career is going nowhere, so then just focus on enjoying your lunch break run instead.

I usually get in a 30 minute run in 40 minutes around lunch time. I wear a white dri-fit shirt under my dress shirt, and running shorts under my dress pants. That way I can pull my shirt and pants off and put on my running shoes in about 2 minutes.

I immediately run from the front door of the office to not waste time traveling anywhere. I do a slow 3-mile run that takes me 30 minutes.

When I get back, I go to a 1-person bathroom, remove all of my running clothes and store them in a plastic kitchen garbage bag, which I place in a janitor's closet in the bathroom (so it doesn't stink up my office). I then add liquid soap to a wet washcloth and wipe down my entire body, while keeping the sink running so I can wring out and rewet the wash cloth several times. I then dry off with a dry hand towel. I then put my work clothes back on (with fresh underwear), and use some body spray or spray deoderant. I then use the wet and dry wash cloth to clean my feet, before putting on my dress socks and shoes. This "hobo shower" takes me about 8 minutes.

I then return to my desk and begin work where I turn on 2 fans: one blows on my face and the other blows on my back. I usually work for an hour before I eat a sandwich at my desk, so it doesn't seem that I'm taking extra time at lunch.

Also, I usually try to leave for lunch at noon, but I'll go a little earlier if I have a meeting after lunch, or a little later if I get stuck in a meeting that goes beyond noon. I thought that my co-workers would think that it was "inappropriate" to jog during lunch, but as long as I smell only like body spray, they seem to admire my dedication.

So, just ignore the excuses and go for it

PatrickSebast wrote:

I need to at least put 8 hours in so arranging to take more than an hour is pointless as it just means I go in earlier or stay later, at which point I would have rather just run extra in the morning/evening. Besides that meetings would frequently get in the way of my plans. Everyone respects the standard lunch hour, but not weird extended lunches.

Sure running 30 minutes extra a few days a week would have a training benefit (all else being equal). Would it help that much, or be that enjoyable to rush and cram this in?

The question I had, is whether you could take a very brief lunch break then leave earlier for a more quality run?

Boss isn't strictly watching the clock so I usually take about 65 minutes for my break. The Y is less than a 5 minute drive from my office so I'll go there (run outside in warm weather, treadmill in winter) for 3-4 miles, quickly shower, then head back to work.

Efficiency with time is key. I wear a running shirt to work in the morning as an undershirt (tip - plain light gray t-shirt is best and actually looks better under a white dress shirt than a white t-shirt) and have running socks on under dress socks so really all i have to throw on is a pair of shorts at the y once I take off my work clothes.

I eat lunch quickly on the drive back and as I walk back into the office. Usually a banana and a sandwich or something else that isn't messy and is quick to eat.

An hour is a lot of time to get extra miles in but time is lost quickly if you aren't careful. I look forward to my lunch runs as they break up the day and give me an energy boost for the afternoon hours. Plus, if life gets in the way and I can't get my main run in during evening hours, at least I logged some easy miles for the day