Stories from the run commute: “I run every day since returning from maternity leave.”
When Emma Jenkin treads along city streets looking over the bridge at the valley below, her baby sleeps at home. Coming back after her maternity leave, she runs to work every single morning.
Tops of trees peek up above the bridge, their roots are planted on the edge of the road below. As Emma Jenkin runs to work, it feel like she’s running through the tops of a forest. While she runs on this bridge extending along Toronto’s Bloor Street, she thinks of a memory of being here as a child on a school trip. This moment lasts for a short time before hitting the downtown core. Jenkin’s own child is fast asleep. Since returning from her maternity leave, every day she runs the five kilometres from her home in Toronto’s beaches to her job in philanthropic services at Toronto Foundation in the busy hub of the metropolis.Â
“It’s been a very slow return to my pre-baby pace, and I’m still way off on my mileage, but it really doesn’t matter. Just getting out is enough for me,” says Jenkin. She is used to starting her mornings now by heading out the door and starting the run on beach boardwalks. When she wants to extend the distance, she’ll weave south before hitting the office through the quaint neighbourhood known as “Cabbagetown” or possibly through the city’s east end China town. “I love how I get to start in a quieter part of town, and finish in the middle of these massive skyscrapers.”
Jenkin hasn’t always been a runner. “I used to hate running,” she says. It started when a friend encouraged her to train for a Terry Fox run. She was surprised by how much she liked it. From there, she worked her distance up to comfortably running 10K. The next year, she ran her first marathon and continued to run baby bump and all. “I kept running while I was pregnant, even completing a (slow and steady) 5K at six and a half months,” she says. “That was it until my son was three months old, at which point I’d get out for very easy, very short runs every day.”
RELATED: Stories from the run commute: “I started running to work in 1979.”
RELATED:Â Stories from the run commute: “Running to the Dartmouth ferry.”
Upon arrival at work, she goes through quite the transformation arriving as a runner and changing to make herself ready for the work day. “I go in the bathroom stall in spandex, and come out in a business suit,” she says. Sadly, there are no showers at the office but that’s not a major concern since her route isn’t extra long. All of her essentials she either brings in her backpack or keeps handily at her desk. Open up the bag and neatly packed away is her lunch (leftovers from last night’s dinner), her outfit for the day and a folded travel towel for drying off. Walk to Jenkin’s desk and there’s dry shampoo, makeup and a pair of heels waiting for her.
Linger at her desk, and one will notice a calendar. After every run, she marks it. Her goal: run 100 days before 2016. So she arrives to the office early before her coworkers and prepares for the 9:00 a.m. start. It takes organization and an earlier than usual start, but she says it has helped her stay energized throughout the day. Having more energy is one good reason.
Other reasons why she has started run commuting is that she saves time and money. No gym membership fees, no transit fees and no having to carve out time to work out later. Having a baby at home, time is more sparse than ever before.
It goes to show how runners all have such different goals. Some want to race, some aim for a new PB. Jenkin just wants to keep it in her life by creating this habit at the start of her morning. Coming back after a year off with a baby, naturally, lots of adjustments have to be made in the process of getting back into the swing of things.Â
“I’m proud to say I’ve run in every single morning since getting back to work,” she says. Â
Do you run commute? Share your story: sinead@runningmagazine.ca.Â
This running-in-to-work thing is going pretty great! #runcommute A photo posted by indeedemma (@indeedemma) on
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
