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.

In early December, the true test took place. I ran in Charlotte’s Thunder Road Marathon hoping to better the previous year’s performance and break the PR. The run commuting training plan worked like a charm. I crossed the finish line of this challenging course in 3:01 breaking through my PR previously set on a flat course by over 4 minutes. Everything happening seemed euphoric.

The arrival of 2010 was the dawn of setbacks. Was the euphoria ending?

Life was changing. Working through the free fall of the recession the entire time was taking its toll. As a business owner, I was posed with navigating the unknown waters of reshaping the business to sustain the impact of economic silence. In the mix of this reshaping was the decision to move my studio into the guest suite above our garage. Now what? Most joked about my now non-existent commute. No joking about it, I wasn’t ready to put the breaks on run commuting. It seemed like I was just getting started.

One day I decided to run to a client meeting. Of course I made sure they’d be good with it first (the client is a running specialty store – it was an easy sell). On the run back to the studio/home, I realized that run commuting had more than one dimension. The commute was bigger than travel to and from work. What a breakthrough!

With the studio move complete and stress dissipating, the run commuting journey was getting back on track. Then out of left field came the call from Endurance Magazine about featuring my run commuting journey as the cover story for their “Green” issue. Alongside the main article they also worked out a plan for me review four different sustainable endurance sport products. These reviews would be featured in both the printed magazine and here on the site. What a great opportunity! In the April, the story hit the streets. Big thanks again to the team at Endurance!

In the midst of a renewed euphoria, another level of setbacks began. It was a like a plague of injuries started looming and the run commuting began to morph again. I was off the roads and unable to run for the last couple months. The first year of run commuting was posed to close with a freeze on all running. Then came the revelation and movement into cycling  and swimming. Run commuting was traded out for Bike Commuting and swimming helped maintain endurance. When you move away from depending on your car for a long period of time, you get creative when one mode of transportation needs a rest. Instead of running to meetings, I dusted off the mountain bike and hit the roads. It’s not the most glorious transition to cycling, but I needed an immediate solution. Honestly it’s been great and thankfully along the way I met a great doctor who has helped me recover from the injuries.

Chapter One of this novel story is now complete. The next page has already turned and Chapter Two is starting to develop. While most storytellers set out with a well conceived plot, character outlines and rough story line, this storybook journey is crafted each day as the experiences unfold.