(Guest post from Dave again – here’s my previous one on running in the cold.)
This is one of my favorite benefits of running and it’s so simple – you CAN run from point A to point B instead of driving! I realized very early on when running in high school that you actually cover a LOT of area when you run. It dawned on me when I would tell my friends where I ran that day and they would be shocked and say something like: “Wait, you ran all they way THERE from the high school?”
We usually run in big circles but there’s no reason you can’t run TO some place or stop and do a chore in the middle of your run. The perfect routine example of this is having to drop a car off at the mechanic to have work done. There is absolutely no need to schedule time with someone else to pick you up as you drop off the car – just start your run there and run home! I guarantee it’s less distance than you think it is. In fact, halfway through you’ll probably start planning an extra add-on loop because it was shorter than you thought it was going to be.
It’s easy to come up with excuses of why you need to drive but a lot people live close enough to run to work. Pick one trip a week that you make with a car and replace it with a run. You’ll soon realize that you could probably ditch one (or all) of your cars.
P.S. Fun fact about the above photo – notice the man is posing for a running shot with the wrong arm forward. You’ll be surprised at how often you see this in photos and drawings of people running – look for it.