I have full use of the gym at work, and there’s an indoor track in the fieldhouse that overlooks the basketball courts. That’s the track where I first started running in undergrad because I was a NARP—non-athletic real person—and my three roommates and boyfriend at the time were athletes. I started out walking the track and running a few laps, and by graduation, I could run a mile. And I thought that was good. Well, it was for me, but now knowing I can run a 5k makes me feel accomplished.

I went running after work on Tuesday, and it was definitely a trial run in more ways than one. Most of it was figuring out the logistics of changing and what I needed to bring with me. It was a lot easier when I lived on campus because I’d just wear my running stuff under sweatpants and a hoodie and a regular pair of sneakers and carry my running sneakers with me. But since I wear adult clothes at work, it seems to add an extra step.

I got to work ~15 minutes early so I could leave early in the afternoon, and I ended up changing into my running stuff and sweatpants/hoodie in the bathroom in my building. I do have access to the general women’s locker room in the gym, but it would require me to bring two bags with me, and I tried to minimize the amount of things I needed. The second bag I had and brought with me into the fieldhouse had my sneakers, inhaler, water, armband, and headphones.

Logistically, everything worked out. It’ll just require a little more work when it’s really cold out and I have to wear sweatpants, a heavy coat, and boots. The other issue I had was with the running app I use. It uses GPS to track runs, which is great if you’re outside, but it apparently doesn’t work if you’re on an indoor track. I realized it about five minutes in when I was waiting for the voice notification that I had ran a half mile. I ended up closing out of the running app and my Fitbit app and just ran for about 20 minutes. It actually felt pretty good to just run and not worry about distance or time. I’d roughly estimate I ran two miles, which was my goal. (I did re-download the old running app I used when I ran in college, and it has an indoor/outdoor option that I’ll try next time I run.)

I don’t think I’ll get in another run this week, but since the ice cream shop closes on Sunday, I’ll have my afternoons/nights back, so hopefully I can run twice a week. I signed up for a 10k in March—which I think I briefly mentioned thinking about signing up for—so I have about less than five months to train for it. Two of my co-workers normally run it, too, so if they run it next year, I’ll go with them the day before to pick up our bibs. And they’ll have to make sure that I survive.

It feels really good to be back at my old university, and it feels even better to be back on the track. I’ll have to squeeze in a few outdoor runs, though, for my 10k training since the race is in March and is quite hilly. Any advice for late winter/early spring races?