Another day, another experimental commute, this time running on the way in*. The advantage of this over running on the way home is that I get to see daylight** and I don’t have to wait (and wait and wait and wait) for the bus to Morden, but the price I pay is joining the tube after it has turned into a sardine can*** and having a deadline for arriving. I did consider sticking the run at the far end of the journey in, but couldn’t face the hill**** again quite so soon.
* Translation: running in the morning. [shudders]
** Or more accurately, dull, grey, overcast not-darkness
*** And the price the other sardines pay is being that tightly squished in with a run-fresh commuter.
**** It’s wholly runnable, but looooong. On the plus side, once you’re over the top of it, you have a looooong, running-goddess down.
So which is your favourite so far?
They’ve all had good and bad points. I prefer running from the tube to home as it means I can get warm straight away, but the route is definitely more challenging at the other end. I think Mercy will be right, that the key will be in the variety.
After early experimentation I found that on runs *in* to work, tube then run works well (for avoiding said sardine issue). And runs home are the opposite, run then get on a tube/bus/train for any remaining distance (you’ll get space if you’re a sweaty mess and the run’s done :o)).
I think it will probably come down to the session and how tight I am on time. If I run at this end, it’s flat. If I run at that end it isn’t. If I run at this end, I cut out a bus ride and the first two miles are time neutral, if I run at that end, I cut out a short walk and add time to the journey almost immediately. Lots of pros and cons for each option.