Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Taking Pointers from Dean Karnazes

Either Dean Karnazes is having more of an effect on me than I expected or gas prices are really getting to me.  Eh, ok.  Most likely both.  Dean just gave me a way to avoid gas and I jumped at it.

Last night I got home from work and knew I had to do two things.  I had to run because smart me washed all my running clothes earlier and they had to dry during the day and I had to go to the grocery store before dinner.  It was about 6:30pm.  Do I go run now?  I'd have to wait until after I got back, showered, and drove to the grocery store to eat though - that'd probably be after 8pm.  Or do I go to the grocery store now and sacrifice the run?  Oh, HELL no!  I grabbed my gear and got dressed.

Then it hit me - why not run to the store?  I checked the distance and wouldn't you know, one store is 0.8 miles away, the other is 1.82 miles away.  I grabbed my hydration pack backpack and was off. 

I ran 1.82 miles to the new Stop & Shop and made it there in 11:36 (6:22 pace).  I looked around at food and ironically decided I was going to eat some scallops I had at home.  But I did pick up some shredded cheese for my roommate, so the trip wasn't a complete loss.  I paid, put the cheese in my backpack, and headed back.  I was so happy with my time out to the store that I let myself take it slow on the way back and made it in 13:34 (7:27 pace).

In reading Dean's book 50/50, he talks about picking a distance.  Anywhere within that distance from the house, he runs to instead of drives.  He has multiple backpacks to accomodate different trips (the bank, the grocery store, etc.).  With gas jumping 5-10 cents almost every other day over here, I'm starting to think Dean has a pretty good system going!


P.S.  I'm getting more and more used to running with the hydration pack.  However, I haven't run with water in it yet (I'll try that on Sunday's long run).  I'm optimistic that the backpack will be a great way to keep hydrated on long runs since I need to drink so much every hour. 


Questions
1.  Do you walk, run, or bike to do any of your errands on a regular basis?
I'll start with the grocery store (0.8 or 1.76 miles away) and work my way up to general stores and the gym (~6 miles away).  Once the weather gets better I can bike too.

2.  What are your gas prices up to?  
The cheapest gas in CT is $3.45 (30 miles away).  Around me, it's $3.60+.

3.  Have you made any changes to your daily life to try and cut down on driving?
I carpool to work and schedule my general shopping for days I plan on going to the gym because the shops are all near the gym.


Stay fit.  Stay healthy. 

7 comments:

Samantha said...

I run/bike to complete errands all the time. Also, combining your commute home with your workout is an awesome time saver. I don't own a car so I guess that's a pretty good example of cutting down on driving! :)


By the way, the Nathan belt wasn't too hard to get used to, but I do have to make the strap REALLY tight so that it doesn't bounce up and down and drive me crazy.

Tri-James said...

I live on a 41 mile rails to trails and my work place (a university) is 6 miles from home. I run or bike almost everyday.

I hate running with a backpack. It is not the weight it is the jostling ...

Towns get small when you start to run and ride.

Katie said...

I can't drive (oops : ) So I do lots of walking/running and possibly a lot of biking soon. Though I do plan to get back on the horse with learning to drive :D

Anonymous said...

Where I live/work is predicated on where I work/live. (Though this does not always apply to basic errands)

$4.10 - wanna ship me some of your fuel? I think I'm gonna invest a little money into the electrical system of my motorbike....

Its fun riding with another runner to races...

Richelle said...

I have run to the post office before to mail off packages. I'd like to literally run more of my errands this summer.

Gas is about $3.54 in my area of MN.

I try to group errands together, or run errands on my way home from work. Mark and I sometimes run errands together.

Unknown said...

I enjoy walking place and riding my bike, but definitely need to do it more. Gas prices here in WA are averaging $3.75. and I drive 40+ miles a day so that quickly adds up. Need to start bike commuting!

5 Miles Past Empty said...

I can't run anywhere. Everything it way too far plus I would get killed if I tried running on these roads with all the jerk country drivers. When I lived in WA I would run places all the time. I used to jog my son to preschool and then leave his stroller and run home, about a 3.5 mile round trip. I would occasionally jog to the grocery stroe but we eat WAY too much for that.

Gas here is about $3.60 too. I had a dream last night it was up to $5. I pretty much stayed home...forever. in my dream. I hope it doesn't get to that. Ugh.