2024 Travel Gear Review

Like many New Yorkers, I often take the subway to work, which is three stops from my apartment. I also bike to work and sometimes run home from the office. But I wanted to go even further: launch To and from work. This summer, everything seemed a lot easier in theory when I learned that some of my running teammates were running straight to the office after their morning workout in Central Park. Fall marathon training started and running to work seemed like an easy way to get more miles in, so I decided to try it for a week straight.

But there were a few obstacles to consider: Unlike my friends’ offices, the company’s offices don’t have showers. New Yorkwhich for someone who sweats profusely during exercise is unfortunate. I also needed to take my laptop and a fresh change of clothes with me and I also needed to take other things with me e.g. energy gelsmy phone and wallet while running. Fortunately, there is a lot of good equipment for this. It’s about four miles from my apartment in Brooklyn to my office in the Financial District, so I planned to add those extra eight miles to the workout I already had planned for the day. And it fit well with my training plan (it was the same week as my peak mileage training week for the New York City Marathon).

I feel like I’m packing for a weekend trip, but it’s Monday morning. The strategy is to keep two clean sets of clothes in the office so I don’t have to carry them with me on every run. I’m packing duffel bag with my laptop, charger, two towels (face and body towel), two changes of office clothes, work shoes, a change of running clothes, extra socks and travel toiletries. I’m packing mine Janji sling bag and mine Spibelt in case I need to take extra things with me on a run. I also add a small packet protein powderblender bottle and some caffeine energy bars.

I finish my morning run in the park, but shower at home and take the train to the office with my gym bag. I realize I’ve already failed this test of a week of clean commuting. But I am happy with this profession – having clean clothes for a week is simply necessary.

At the end of the workday, I change into my running clothes in the bathroom and head out for an evening workout with my running club. It’s an easy run, so I don’t have to carry much—I carry my ID, credit card, and keys in a plastic bag, then roll it up and put it in the back pocket of my shorts. I leave my laptop and notepad on the table.

Coming home with nothing but workout clothes seems strange, but it’s nice to not have to carry any bags with you.

Daily mileage: 13.5 miles.
Weekly mileage: 13.5 miles.

I wake up excited to finally have a real, double-mileage commute. I run across the Brooklyn Bridge and dodge tourists with selfie sticks, but make it into Manhattan unscathed. Our offices are close to Wall Street, and from the looks I get, it’s clear that no one here commutes to the office anymore.

Before I enter the office, I stop at CVS to grab some body wipes because I’m running low. (I used these full body wipes from Dr. Squatch, who was on a hike this summer but only had one left.) One of the staff referred me to these Cotton wipes. I’m buying a pack Cetaphil facial wipes too much.

I get to the office, “shower” with tissues, wash my face, and do my best to rinse my hair in the sink. i use this deodorant from Humble and apply a little more than usual. I dry off, change into work clothes, and head to the team meeting. After the meeting, I do a quick survey of the colleagues present to see if I smell. They tell me they didn’t notice anything, and although I worry they’re just being polite, I decide to take the answer at face value.

I’m running home across the Brooklyn Bridge. This is a mistake. At 18:00 there are a lot of tourists on the bridge, presumably to catch the sunset or film something for TikTok, and I can barely make it to my run. I bump shoulders with a few tourists and they get a little angry, which in turn makes me irritated, so when I cross Brooklyn I break into a very fast pace – that’s also a mistake. This is much faster than 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 miles.
Weekly mileage: 27.8 miles.

I have a workout in Central Park at 7am, which is too far away, so I run to the subway station and take the train to the Upper East Side. Then I take the train to the office and change for the day.

I’m surprised at how quickly my Onsen bath towels Dry after towel drying your head after washing in the sink. I’ve had a few of these for years and love the waffle texture. They are thinner than they appear in the photos, but they still feel very soft to me.

I’m getting ready to run home.

This time I’m driving across the Manhattan Bridge on my way home. It’s a much more enjoyable experience. I photograph lower Manhattan with the sun setting behind it.

As I walk up the bridge, a guy with a backpack rushes past me. I catch up with him, tell him I’m working on a story about commuting, and ask him about the bag. He tells me what it is Tracksmith Olmstead Set and says that with a lot of things it fits his back better than with nothing. Interesting.

Daily mileage: 13.5 miles.
Weekly mileage: 41.3 miles.

I have to visit the showroom late in the morning, so I usually run around the park, shower and take the train to a meeting, and then train to the office. I hear commuter purists berate me for not sticking to a plan. I’ll still run home from the office.

I’m working a little late and realize I brought an extra set of clothes with me (from today). To reduce the amount of stuff I have on my desk, I take a shirt home with me. Janji sling bagwhich I like because it hugs my lower back and doesn’t pinch when tightened. It can also be converted into a sling bag with a shoulder buckle that can be hidden away.

I run home across the Manhattan Bridge and wave to passengers on the N train as they pass me. My legs are starting to get tired.

Daily mileage: 11.9 miles.
Weekly mileage: 53.2 miles.

Today is a day off, so it’s easy for me to run to the office. The Manhattan Bridge becomes very familiar. Now I know all the best places for skyline photos. This week I used these Janji half tightswhich have two deep pockets on each hip. They are great for carrying gels and my phone. But after frequent use, these tights may chafe slightly. I still haven’t found a pair of half tights that don’t irritate me, but the ones I’m closest to are these Bandit Cadence And Crawler Master Alston.

This week I was lucky with the weather. It was about 50 degrees and the humidity was low, so by the time I get to the office I’m not as sweaty as I thought I would be. There were plenty of wet wipes for my body and face without anyone yelling at me for being sweaty and/or smelly.

It’s the end of the work week, so I pack all my things into a sports bag and take the train home. I still haven’t been able to see what it’s like to work on a laptop, but I plan to try it in a couple of days.

Daily mileage: 4.4 miles.
Weekly mileage: 57.6 miles.

While this isn’t a day to run to the office, I still have a long run ahead of me today with a lot of the gear I’ve been using this week. I carry a Spibelt to store extra gels and run with mine portable bottle filled electrolyte drink the mixture. I start with my usual circles in Prospect Park and ride across the Manhattan Bridge into the city, to Central Park. I’ve been running in my Saucony Endorphin Speeds, but I want to get my feet used to running. shoes I’ll be using them on race day, so I run in the Endorphin Elite, which is very light but has a responsive carbon plate that pushes me forward. I realize I’m going to run 80 miles in a week, which I probably wouldn’t normally do if it weren’t for the extra miles of running and commuting.

Daily mileage: 23.3 miles.
Weekly mileage: 81.1 miles.

I’m heading to the Tracksmith store to pick this up. running backpack I learned about this from a guy who passed me on the bridge. It’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but it has a lot of zippered pockets, as well as a zippered shoe compartment at the bottom of the bag.

I take it home, grab my laptop, and go for a test drive to the office—another trip across the bridge. The laptop is held securely in the compartment, and that extra weight feels surprisingly solid as I rock up and down. It has two adjustable waist belts with two retractable flaps that fit lightly around the hips. I think this guy was right when he said that it’s easier to run with things inside – it makes the straps heavier and allows the pack to sit more comfortably on my lower back. (This is similar to why I like to run with a Janja backpack, using a wide, soft webbing that hugs my body.)

While running with a backpack is totally doable, I still prefer my previous method of packing at the beginning of the week to keep things organized in the office. But for people who don’t have the space or who simply can’t keep extra clothes in the office, PSA: know that you can run to work without dripping sweat at your desk. You just need the right products. I bet some of your colleagues won’t even notice.

Daily mileage: 11.09
Total mileage: 92.19

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