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Crowd starts to arrive for Giants' day game.

For most of the year, I’ve found that logging my miles for the week has become more and more of a challenge. With a newborn infant at home, mornings can become hectic at the drop of a baby beanie. I still get out in the mornings… yesterday, I ran 8 miles with a 4:30 a.m. wake up. They used to be 6 a.m.

Instead, I’ve found a new way to get in my runs and maintain my precious sleep cycle: RUNch. Credit to @BlondePonyTail for introducing me to the term.  I’ve been doing these since last year and am thrilled to have an official title for it. It’s a run during your lunch hour. I wrote a post about some tips if you are interested in giving it a try.

It started with helping a co-worker train for her first 10k, but I’ve embraced the routine and it has worked really well for me. I started off with only being able to do 3-4 miles and now I’m able to easily get 5 and if I push it, 6. Speed work anyone?

Also, I’ve been able to meet up with some great folks for RUNch dates. You never really know someone until you run with them. Well, that’s not true, but there should be a saying like that or something. I have a RUNch set up for today with a couple friends (here and here) and am looking forward to some warm miles along the SF Embarcadero. Above are some photos I’ve snapped on my runs during mid-day escapes. Enjoy.

Have you ever tried to run during your lunch hour? If yes, what did you think? If no, why not?