My Week of Run Commuting to an Office With No Showers

Like many New Yorkers, I often take the subway to work, which is three stops away from my apartment. I also commute by bike and sometimes run home from the office. But I wanted to take it a step further: run to and from work. It seemed much easier in theory this summer, when I learned that some of my running teammates would run straight to the office after our morning practices in Central Park. Fall marathon training had begun, and run commuting seemed like an easy way to log more miles, so I decided to try it out for a week straight.

But there were a few hurdles to consider: Unlike my friends' offices, there are no showers at the offices of New York, which, for someone who sweats a lot when they work out, is unfortunate. I also needed to bring my laptop and a fresh change of clothes, plus I needed to carry other things, like energy gels , my phone, and a wallet, while running. Thankfully there's a lot of good gear for that. It's approximately four miles from my apartment in Brooklyn to the office in the Financial District, so I planned to add those extra eight miles on top of the workouts I'd already had planned for the day. And it was timed well with my training plan (this happened to be the same week as my peak mileage training week for the New York City Marathon).

It feels like I'm packing for a weekend trip, but it's Monday morning. The strategy is to keep two clean outfits at the office so I don't have to lug them with me on every run. I pack a duffel bag with my laptop, charger, two towels (a face and body towel), two changes of office clothes, work shoes, a change of running clothes, extra socks, and travel toiletries. I pack my Janji sling bag and my Spibelt in case I need to carry extra things on my runs. I also throw in a small bag of protein powder , a blender bottle, and some caffeinated energy bars .

I finish my morning run around the park, but I shower at home and take the train to the office with my duffel bag. I realize that I've already failed this challenge of a week of pure run commuting. But I'm content with this trade — having clean clothes for the week is a must.

At the end of the work day, I change into running clothes in the bathroom and head to an evening practice with my run club. It's an easy run, so I don't have to bring much — I carry my ID, a credit card, and my keys in a plastic bag, then roll it up and stick it in the back pocket of my shorts. I leave my laptop and notebook at my desk.

Arriving at home with nothing but my running clothes feels strange, but it's nice not having to carry any bags with me.

Daily mileage: 13.5 mi. Weekly mileage: 13.5 mi.

I wake up excited to finally complete a true double-run commute. I run across the Brooklyn Bridge and dodge tourists with selfie sticks but cross into Manhattan unscathed. Our offices are near Wall Street, and based on the looks I'm getting, it's clear that no one else really run commutes to the office around here.

Before I enter the office, I stop at CVS to get body wipes, because I'm already running low. (I used these full-body wipes from Dr. Squatch on a camping trip this summer, but I'm down to just one.) One of the employees directs me to these Cottonelle wipes . I buy a pack of Cetaphil face wipes too.

I get into the office, "shower" with the wipes, wash my face, and do my best to rinse out my hair in the sink. I use this deodorant from Humble and apply a little more than usual. I dry off and change into my work clothes and then head to a team meeting. After the meeting, I conduct a tiny poll of my coworkers in attendance to find out if I smell. They tell me they didn't notice anything, and while I worry they're just being polite, I decide to take the response at face value.

I run home across the Brooklyn Bridge. This is a mistake. There are a lot of tourists on the bridge at 6 p.m., presumably there to catch the sunset or film something for TikTok, and I can barely get to a jog. I bump shoulders with a few tourists, and they get a little angry, which in turn makes me irritated, so when I cross into Brooklyn I break into a very fast tempo pace — this is also a mistake. It's much faster than what I had planned for the day, and I don't want to overcook my legs. I run to Prospect Park to finish my workout and then head home.

Daily mileage: 14.3 mi. Weekly mileage: 27.8 mi.

I have a 7 a.m. practice in Central Park, which is too far to run to, so I run to the subway station and take the train to the Upper East side. Then afterward I take the train to the office and get changed for the day.

I'm surprised by how fast my Onsen bath towels dry after toweling off my sink-rinsed head. I've had a few of them for years and I like their waffle texture. They're thinner than they appear in photos, but I still find them very soft.

I gear up for my run home.

On my run home, I take the Manhattan Bridge this time. This is a much more pleasant experience. I snap a picture of lower Manhattan with the sun setting behind it.

As I make my way up the bridge, a guy zooms past me with a backpack on. I catch up to him, tell him I'm working on a run-commuting story, and ask him about the bag. He tells me it's the Tracksmith Olmsted Pack and says it hugs his back better with more things in it rather than empty. Interesting.

Daily mileage: 13.5 mi. Weekly mileage: 41.3 mi.

I have to visit a product showroom in the late morning, so I do my normal run around the park, shower and take the train to the meeting, and then train to the office after that. I can hear the run-commuting purists scolding me for not sticking to the plan. I'll still run home from the office.

I work a bit late and realize I brought an extra set of clothes (from today). To reduce the bulk of items I have at my desk, I take home a shirt in my Janji sling bag , which I like because it hugs my lower back in a way that doesn't pinch when tightened. It can also be turned into a sling pack with a cross-body buckle that you can stash away.

I run home across the Manhattan Bridge and wave at some of the passengers on the N train going past me. My legs are starting to get tired.

Daily mileage: 11.9 mi. Weekly mileage: 53.2 mi.

Today is a rest day, so my run to the office is easy. The Manhattan Bridge is becoming very familiar. I now know all of the best spots for photos of the skyline. This week I've been using these Janji half tights , which have two deep pockets on each thigh. They're great for carrying gels and my phone. But after lots of use, these tights can chafe slightly. I still haven't found a pair of half-tights that don't chafe me, but the ones that come closest are the Bandit Cadence and the Tracksmith Allston .

This week I've gotten lucky with the weather. It's been in the high 50s and humidity has been low — so by the time I show up to the office I'm not as sweaty as I had envisioned. The body and face wipes have been sufficient, and no one has called me out for being sweaty and/or smelly.

It's the end of the work week, so I pack up all my things in my duffel bag and take the train home. I still haven't been able to see what it's like to run with a laptop, but I have plans to try that in a couple days.

Daily mileage: 4.4 mi. Weekly mileage: 57.6 mi.

While it isn't a run-commute-to-the-office day, I still have a long run today with a lot of the gear I used this week. I bring my Spibelt to store extra gels, and I run with my handheld bottle filled with an electrolyte drink mix. I start with my usual loops at Prospect Park and take the Manhattan Bridge into the city, up to Central Park. I've been running in my Saucony Endorphin Speeds but want to get my legs used to the shoes I'll be using on race day, so I run in my Endorphin Elites, which are extremely light but have a responsive carbon plate that propels me forward. I realize I'm about to hit 80 miles for the week — which I probably wouldn't normally do if it weren't for the extra run-commuting miles.

Daily mileage: 23.3 mi. Weekly mileage: 81.1 mi.

I head to the Tracksmith store to pick up that running backpack I learned about from the guy who passed me on the bridge. It's much smaller than I thought, but it's loaded with lots of zippered pockets, plus a zippered shoe-storage compartment in the bottom of the bag.

I take it home and pack my laptop to take it on a test run to the office — one more trip across the bridge. The laptop stays secure in the compartment sleeve, and that extra weight feels surprisingly solid as I bob up and down. It has two adjustable waist straps with two stowable flaps that wrap slightly around my hips. I think the guy was spot on when he said it's a better running experience with things inside — it weighs down the shoulder straps and lets the pack sit more comfortably on my lower back. (It's similar to why I like running with the Janji pack using the wide padded sling that hugs my body.)

While running with the backpack is totally doable, I still prefer my previous method of the beginning-of-the-week haul to keep things at the office. But for folks who don't have the space or just can't keep extra clothes at the office, a PSA: Know that it's possible to run commute without dripping with sweat at your desk. You just need the right products. I bet you that some of your co-workers won't even notice.

Daily mileage: 11.09 Total mileage: 92.19