Mostly just recording this momentous event for my own sake, but I thought it was cool. Yesterday was Wednesday and both our cars sat in the garage at home all day. And we both worked! At our workplaces!
Hubby took public transit to and from work, and I ran.
Woot! (See, finally made my resolutions and I'm getting to work on the commuting one already!)
I don't think it's sustainable for either of us, but it's cool to do occasionally, and nice to have the option if we ever decided to become a one-car couple or a car was in the shop or something -- or I guess if we became a zero-car couple (which would not be by choice, and we would have been screwed since we drove to and from boot camp together before work, but at least we could still get to our jobs if we sold or lost our cars).
It took him 1 hour and 27 minutes to get from the door of our house to his desk -- total distance of 11 miles. That strikes me as a collossal waste of time.
It took me about 40 minutes to get from the door of our house to my desk -- a total distance of less than 4 miles (including all my "building" time -- walking from the door through the lobby, elevators, hallways on my floor, etc.). That strikes me as a perfectly appropriate commute that I should do more often since I was also getting in a work out at the same time.
We've been toying with the idea of getting bikes. I think my husband could be at the office in less than an hour if he biked (I'm sure the distance would be longer than 11 miles since he'd be taking smaller streets). I could probably be at the office in about 15 minutes? I don't really have a good guage of how long it takes to bike places. I usually guess a speed of 15 mph but I don't know if that's a good estimate or not.
Anyway, I was proud of us for doing it. My husband said he liked it because he ended up watching a show on Netflix on his phone (The Fall, which I haven't watched). I was happy to have the extra 7.5 to 8 miles under my belt.
The bonus to hubby taking public transit was that I HAD to run home -- there was no possibility of him picking me up on his way home. That's definitely good for me. No excuses!
But actually, yesterday was about the worst possible day to do this. It rained last night. By 6:30, it was steady. Not pouring, but raining. Hubby didn't have a jacket since it wasn't very cold, so he got wet in his work clothes since he had to wait a few minutes for a bus to go the final mile to our house. And even with all the spare running gear I stash in my desk, somehow a running hat wasn't in the pile, so I also got very wet. Ugh.
Oh well, it was a good day not to have an excuse.
Now to make this happen every week, at least for me...
Nice experiment! My husband bikes to work every day, in rain, ice, or sub-zero temps, but it only takes him 10 minutes since we live so close to downtown. Before we had a dog & I needed to get home quickly after work to let him out, I took the bus into work & brought my bike on the bus' bike rack. Then I biked home from work. I am afraid of biking on roads, so it wasn't a good experience for me. Every day leaving work I'd think, "This could be the day I get hit by a car & die"--not something you want to think on a daily basis! Finally, one day when I saw a car hit a cyclist just steps from my office, I threw in the towel & stopped biking. It was too stressful for me. BUT my husband does it every day with no issues, so I think it depends on your comfort level on a bike.
ReplyDeleteLast night was probably the closest I've ever come on my commute to being hit. Someone pulled out of an alley and nearly hit me. Fortunately, I was slowing down since I'd seen her headlights and was worried it might happen. She locked up her brakes and let me go, but it was my closest call in years. I think I'd be okay biking because they're pretty safe streets that I currently run on. I figure I'm probably equally (un)safe on foot v. 2 wheels.
DeleteGreat experiment! :) I agree about the commute for your husband seeming like a waste of time ... but I still envy you guys!
ReplyDeleteSeveral of us have talked about how we wish our Corning facility had showers like pretty much every other one in the Corning Valley. But it is also one of the oldest, used to make lab glassware way back when, and while much of it has been modernized, there is still no path to having showers. Ugh :( Oh well!
Our weather has been variable but not bad - I had on IG this morning a picture of the snow-covered hills near us as I ran with just a single set of covered-up tracks (paper delivery) ... so wonderful and peaceful running in that ... :)
Sounds so beautiful! We had snow here one time and I remember going to the track and mine were the only set of footprints and I could see it falling in the streetlights. Spectacular, but also slick!
DeleteI'm impressed. If I had showers at work, I'd consider it, but unfortunately we don't. Maybe I should run home some day?
ReplyDeleteI actually like running home more than in the morning. It's more downhill at night, but there's also something good about going HOME. You should try it if you can manage the logistics of getting dropped off in the morning and having all your stuff with you.
DeleteThe husband and I once took public transit in Orlando to meet friends for dinner when we didn't have a car available. We had to change buses three times and it took us over 3 hours to get a whopping 5 miles as the crow flies. And then our friends stood us up and we missed the last bus home!!
ReplyDeleteWe live less than 5 minutes from the husband's work place (and mine before I decided to stay home with the little one). During the summer he rides his bike nearly every day. It actually saves him time by not sitting in the line of cars at the 4 way stop and he gets to "park" right next to the building.