The past couple weeks has been a flurry of activity and training. Most of the work related activity has kept me at bay from writing on a normal schedule. The training and racing over the past couple months has provide a handful of stories, but nothing overwhelmingly compelling enough to break through the busyness of my workload. This past weekend presented a story well worth sharing and so the silence is now broken.

For the first time in quite a while my wife and I both signed up for the same race. Our intention was to share a fun family race together – the two of us and both of our kids in the double jogger. Since my last two races involved one of our children in the jog stroller, it was great to get the opportunity for all of us to be out racing together. We took our place in the starting line and off we went for 5k. Read more…

On June 22 last year, my journey began as a run commuter. The plan was simple. Drive to work on Monday loaded up with a week’s worth of necessities and stow the car in the studio parking garage. Run home from the studio on Monday evening. Tackle two days of round-trip commutes to and from the studio on Tuesday and Wednesday. Finish up on Thursday with a run to the studio and then drive the car home at then end of the day. Let the car do the work on Friday to rest my legs. As life goes, nothing is as simple as it seems on the surface.

Next thing you know I’m setting goals to complete 100 days and 1000 miles by the end of the year and using my new run commuting lifestyle as marathon training. Though I’ve never really seen myself as a “writer”, each week I attempted to share the ups and downs of the journey. Would anyone out there care or read a single word about this journey? I still don’t know the answer to this question, but deep down my hopes were high to inspire other runners. Realistically I had no remote idea though.

The highs were so incredible and surpassed anything I could have dreamt up. In the first six months I ran quite a bit and fended off early pains of transitioning into high volume. A couple targeted races showed up on the radar screen. The peak target race was Charlotte’s Thunder Road Marathon and my goal was to finally break through a 5-year-old standing PR. In the process the “Hybrid Human – Run Commuter” performance t-shirts were created with the gracious and generous help of our friends at Sport Science. Crafting a t-shirt made perfect sense. I was a brand specialist and designer who was also now a moving billboard. Shortly after the t-shirts came to life I was visiting trade shows and meeting more people in the endurance sports industry – including elite marathoners and legends of the sport. All of this action was packed into the first five months of the journey. Read more…

Setting goals and falling short due to unplanned interruptions makes for tough waters to navigate. As a runner who’s thrived on determination and pushing through adversity for years,  it’s hard when an injury draws my training to a screeching halt. Ironically there’s always something of beauty and appreciation waiting on the other side of injuries.

Years ago I left my hometown. Perhaps I had a chip on my shoulder. Running gradually became a way to “prove” to myself that I could be something greater than what my childhood depicted. Transcending the many days being picked last in gym class and hiding in the shadows of a big brother is a tough road to travel. What all those experiences created is an older driven person constantly, quietly striving to be the best. Why such deep thoughts? Earlier this year, I signed up for the Boilermaker 15k which is just outside of my hometown in Utica, NY. It’s significant since this was the first road race I ever ran.  After 17 years, I’m now going back home to race the Boilermaker. Read more…

Years have passed with a simple awareness of Earth Day. Until recently doing my part covered the basics – reuse, recycle, etc. In the wake of the economic recession sustainability became cemented as a permanent fixture both within social acceptability and my everyday life. The arrival of Earth Day this year is much different than the past. My plan was near perfect. Spending the day navigating life without the common convenience of my car. Little did I realize my plan would be altered and turned upside down. Read more…

Months ago when my run commuting journey was merely in its infancy there was only distant thoughts about the potential of this venture making media waves. Everything changed though on April 1 with the release of Endurance Magazine’s monthly edition. The cover and feature article showcases the EnduroBrand run commuting project.

There are few words to use in describing this experience. Honestly while this is an incredible honor it’s still a little strange personally. My personality typically shies away from the lime light or anything related to being the center of attention. In this case though I’ve really enjoyed the fruits of hard labor, literally. Over the past nine months, I’ve poured on the miles en-route to many different locations on foot instead of driving. Read more…

The winter season seems to wear on my inspiration to log the mileage more and more each year. This year was no exception especially being so unseasonably cold. With spring officially kicked off the race calendar literally seems to have a 5k on the docket every weekend somewhere in the immediate region. At first blush the volume of races is overwhelming since spring has magnetism drawing runners into the race scene fast and furiously. As you can guess, my race calendar is getting decorated with more races than years past all in stride with run commute mileage bulking up a nice training base every week. We’ll find out how well integrating run commuting into a training plan fits in the journey to break some long standing PRs this year. Read more…

When this whole adventure began the vision was to run commute for one-hundred days and cover the distance of one-thousand miles. Setting this goal seemed so far from attainable that few even heard about it until now. This week achieving the goal started becoming more real then I ever imagined when hitting the road on day one. While I’m still quite focused on this initial goal, recent the realization of the holistic nature of blending running into everyday lifestyle activities has sparked a new vision spinning a host of new goals in the distance horizon. Read more…

Over the past three months many changes have been in the mix. If you’ve visited EnduroBrand in the past you might have gotten used to weekly updates and a steady stream of product reviews. With the bulk of changes now drifting off into the past, a new pace of life is settling in to redefine “run commuting” and my running lifestyle. Read more…

The close of the decade is hard to imagine. Seems like only a short blink of an eye ago everyone was preparing for the Y2K unknown. Today we are now 10 years into the unknown and although the world has changed it didn’t all happen with the unwinding of one large computer glitch. Is that a relief and kind of humorous all at the same time. In the past ten years many incredible events graced my life. Dispelling the myth that your running career peaks out by age 28 was one of the best discoveries. At the dawn of the decade, my post-college running career finally crossed the starting line. A couple friends invited me to run a half marathon which then slowly led to many miles of training, multiple marathons and most recently the run-commute project. While it seemed the end of my young running career was quickly approaching, it’s now quite clear that the dawn of the new decade in more like the beginning. Read more…

Sometimes I wonder how most runners keep it together weaving training into everyday living. This week was a perfect example of hitting a training wall while navigating a stressful work schedule. Walking out the door on Monday morning the week seemed perfectly laid out. I’d continue to click off the miles charging toward the 1000 mile mark. Guess again. The deadlines mounted. Multiple late nights of work climaxed with an all-nighter. Literally it was like going back to college prepping for finals week. Read more…