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.

In early March, I ran a half marathon in Charlotte. Somewhere between miles 8 and 9 a pain radiated out of knee bringing me to a complete stop on the side of the road. After giving up a minute and half attempting to stretch out the issue, I rejoined the race. The rest of the race was challenging to say the least. My number one goal shifted away from running a strong time to simply finishing. At the finish line I quickly made my way to the a source for an ice pack. Later in the day, it was tough to walk a flight of stairs and the pain was pretty constant. Resting for a week iced my training plans. One week turned into two and on the third week I broke back into full stride with a dense commute week. Luckily everything was great at the end of the week. The next week proved quickly that the injury was still present and every attempt to run since hasn’t ended well.

Today was still on though. My determination to curb the car hadn’t faltered. Now did I have a plan. Not really. I’d tried bike commuting a couple months back and honestly wasn’t a big fan. The cars in Charlotte ride really close and the absence of bike lanes pose a much higher risk than the traditional sidewalk jaunts of a runner. Since running was out of the picture, saddling up on the bike was the only way to make the plan work.

This morning I hit the garage to dust off the bike and gear up for the venture. My day centered around a morning meeting followed by rounding out the loop with a mail pick up. After shifting the bike into gear the trip was seamless and notably fun. I covered about 10 miles on this outing and was able to log the workout pain-free. Today I can say I did my part for the planet with some personal originality. While it would have made for a better story to have run all over the city today, the real story for me was in finding a way to stick to my plans despite dealing with an injury. This proves to be another step toward run commuting becoming more like lifestyle running. Running (or biking) is weaving deeper into my everyday life and I love it.

Happy Earthday! That’s my story… care to share yours?