How do you run when you have a 9-5?

How do you fit in a weekday run when you work 9-5, aren’t a morning person and have a busy 5-9? Welcome to my life. Here is my plan on how to successfully have a 30-minute lunchtime run midweek and be back in time for those afternoon work calls.

If you get an hour’s lunch and that’s when you want to go, there are a few things that I’d suggest to do. You need to be super prepared so things run as smoothly as possible and things are organised beforehand. You don’t want to be late back, especially if you have a call to get back for.

I don’t like running after work. I’m tired, it’s dark and I just don’t have the motivation. I prefer to run just before lunchtime around 12pm Mon-Fri when I’m working, or around 11am on days off.

I’ve now gotten the hang of going for a lunchtime run and being back at my desk within 60 mins (give or take). This includes a 30min run, 2x lots of stretches, prep time and shower time. The key to this is getting as much prepared including your lunch and clothing. You don’t want to come back and have to start cooking your lunch, or start getting ready and wondering what to wear. This can all take place the morning or evening before.

You need to prep a few things the night before:

• sort out your lunch so you don’t need to cook on the day. Either get it ready with no cooking time the night before (salad & tuna?) or know when you need to start cooking. If you know it takes 30 minutes to cook something and you’re going on a run at lunchtime, have it cooked before you go so you only need to warm it when you get in. The last thing you need to happen is to get in, be in a rush and have to start cooking food – you might leave eating for ages which is no good for your body.
• check the weather so you know what running clothes to wear – and leave it all out
• know what route you’re taking and let someone know the plan (for your safety) and ensure tracking is turned on (more on security in my tips for staying safe blog)

Quick tips to make this work

• After my run, I eat lunch at my desk with a big coffee and water full of electrolytes. I don’t see a problem with eating at my desk because I’ve had a break. If you’ve got a meeting straight away when you’re due to be back online, try to leave your desk at 11.45 am to ensure you are back and have time to eat beforehand. I do this because I’m usually red after a run, so I like some time to go back to my normal colour!
• If you can’t eat your lunch after your run but before your meeting, I’d recommend quickly scoffing a cereal bar. You never know how long the meeting will last, so it’s worth being prepared.
• don’t scrimp on pre or post-stretching. If you need to cut time out of anything, make sure it’s from the run. Stretching is the top priority.

Let’s go for a run in your lunch break, starting at 12 pm:

12.00 – 12.05 (5mins)
Get ready (pee, change clothes, hair up, get bag)

12.05 – 12.15 (10mins)
Warm-up stretching

12.15 – 12.45 (30mins)
Run!

12.45 – 12.55 (10mins)
Warm down stretching

12.55 – 13.00 (5 mins)
Shower time (leave hair wet if necessary – see below).
You could skip this if you have a call at 13.00 and pretend your hair is wet because you’ve just returned from a walk in the rain… I did this last week (gross I know but needs must). I grabbed a shower a little while later.

Yes, you read that right – the shower is 5 minutes. More than enough time to wash what’s important and your hair! (think of the planet and hurry up). I have long hair and I manage this fine, so you will too (even better if you don’t wash all of it – see below!).

13:00 – 13:10 (10mins)
Lunch and back to work

I’ll foam-roll several times throughout the afternoon just to help my muscles calm down. I find this helps me to get out of my chair and move for a few minutes instead of sitting for 3-4 hours.

You could probably shave 1 or 2 minutes off your pre and post-stretches but only if you’re doing it properly without any pauses.

Finding the motivation

Motivation doesn’t just come to you. It takes action. More specifically, you need to take action.

If I’m having a stressful day, it’s easy to say ‘ok I won’t go today, I’ll go tomorrow’ but I could easily do the same tomorrow.

I'm trying not to let my emotions rule my day. If they do, I can quite easily miss a run when if I went, it would make me feel so much better.

I find that if I don’t think about it – just do it – it happens really easily. If I’ve left out my running clothes, I’m a million times more likely to change and go. If I have to get all of this ready, it’s easier to say ‘sod it’ and miss the run.

How to wash your hair quickly after a run (and tips for a half-arsed-job)

The way I see it, I have a few different scenarios for how much of a rush I’m in. Do I have enough time to wash and dry my hair? Unlikely so I’ve come up with some tips I’m happy to share.

• no time for a shower: dry my hair with a hair dryer then use dry shampoo. Wash later when I have time.
• time for a very quick shower: wash the front section of my hair only (think fringe/bangs) so at least it looks good after blow-drying. The rest can be dried and freshened with dry shampoo.

Once I pretended I got rained on as I didn’t have time for anything before a lunchtime meeting. My hair was sweaty, so I fibbed and said I’d got caught in the rain. Once the meeting was over, I then showered. Needs must.