It was an early April morning and I was idling in traffic on Tillicum Road on my way to work. I have never seen that much traffic on Tillicum Road in the morning before. I totally forgot about the Craigflower Bridge closing for the next several months, which means that everyone who used to drive across that bridge had to find alternative routes-Tillicum Road being one of them.
As I sit there for a few minutes and watch the light change to green, I thought, “Allright, I’m going to get to go through this time.” With just two cars in front of me, the light turned yellow and then red. I didn’t get to go.
I was sitting at the light and realized that I will probably need to get gas on the way home. There goes another $40. That’s the same price as some race entry fees. However, it wasn’t the $40 that I was worried about. I knew that I was more concerned with the length of time it took me to drive 5k in this unavoidable traffic.
When I have a 5k PR of 19:25 and when I take it easy, I still do 5k under 25 minutes, it’s no wonder that I can’t comprehend taking 28-30 minutes to drive the same distance. Isn’t getting from point A to point B faster the reason for driving? Sure, the traffic in Victoria is not as bad as it gets in Vancouver or Los Angeles at rush hour, I still think that idling, even for a few minutes, is a waste of time and money.
The next day, I decided to do the only thing that makes sense-I ran to work. Man, did it feel good! I was passing some vehicles up the hill heading towards the Tillicum-Craigflower intersection as they began slowing down for the changing light.
Before I bought my car, I ran to work every day because if I didn’t run, then I would be stuck bussing for 2 hours each way, since not very many buses go to that part of the city that often. I stored clean clothing in my cubicle and food in the office fridge-enough to last me for a week.
Above: Running. I do it on the track, on the road, the treadmill and anywhere I can. Photo by IMS FotoGrafix and clothing by Public Myth.
So what if they closed the Craigflower bridge? I’m just going to run to work because 5k there and 5k back makes it a 10k day, while all I’m doing is using running for transportation (in addition to the additional training runs that I do). I’m finding that the time it takes me to drive to and from work is longer than it takes me to run.
When I’m not driving or idling, I’m not burning gas. Of course, when I’m not burning gas, I don’t have to spend money to buy more gas. Therefore, yes, I save money. Although I enjoy driving, I definitely like running more. Running (or biking) to work can add up to savings of hundreds of dollars per year.
Therefore, if it is feasible to run or bike to work, I highly recommend it. Not only will you save money, but you will also get fitter and healthier in the process.
Happy Training!
If you have any questions about running or fitness, please email me yhempler(at)gmail(dot)com and I will answer them most likely on this blog.