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.

Redefining the Commute
It’s safe to say the economic turmoil of the past year has caused many changes which have impacted about every business sector and company in the market. My design firm was no exception. Most of last year was spent furthering direction shifts in the core vision of the studio and refining the business all together to weather the storm long term. The greatest shift in relation to run commuting was moving my studio into our home studio suite. While on the surface this might sound crazy, but having a studio detached from the house pretty much keeps a traditional work environment intact. One of the key bonuses is new studio design boasts an instant workout facility – a treadmill and free weights.

Wait stop the press. You’re reading correctly. My work commute no longer exists. The reason it took so long to begin posting updates is that it took time to redefine the future of run commuting in my life. At first it seemed the project would gracefully end. Then it hit me. Destination running or run commuting could involve a variety of locations and doesn’t necessarily tie to a typical home to work pattern. Run commuting is a lifestyle that trades out driving your vehicle to a destination in exchange for trekking the mileage on foot. So the dawn of a new day brings the vision for the future. Many more miles on the commute are coming.

Messed Up Meeting
The best client to work with as a run commuter is run specialty retailer. EnduroBrand was recently engaged to rebrand a Charlotte-based running store which naturally leads to a lot of meeting time. Since they are all runners, I have the green light to run to our meetings. This week was the first run commute to one of our meetings which was really exciting. The store is about 6 miles away and during the run a call came in. The meeting time was moving and it sounded like the location was as well. I was about 4 miles into the commute when the shift happened. The other store location mentioned in the call was another 8 miles away and running there was the only way I could navigate the schedule for an on-time arrival. So off I went.

Luckily after commuting for so many months and knowing the distance, I’ve become a decent predictor of arrival times. I landed at the new store location with 10 minutes to spare. This afforded me the time to grab a water and stretch out a little before we met. So then the owner motioned to me to join them in the store – which is a new location in the throws of a build-out. He said, “What are you doing down here? I meant an hour delay to our meeting in the original location.” Ah, a great detail lost in translation due to my assumption over a quick phone conversation. Good thing I met the owner there. The marketing director had already left and he was close behind.

We rode to the original location. The meeting went great. I refueled more and post meeting was back on the road for the 6 miler back to the studio. What a crazy 18 mile morning. Honestly it was one of the best ways to spend it – a long commute and great meeting. Doing what you love with a client you really enjoy working for really makes life sing.

Day 71 – Monday
Stationary Commute (Treadmill): 3 miles
Recovering from Half Marathon

Day 72 – Tuesday
Run from Studio to Meeting: 12 miles (extra 8 miles for location change)
Run from Meeting to Studio: 6 miles

Day 73 – Thursday
Run from Studio to School: 5 miles (with single jogger to donuts for Dads morning event)
Run from School to Mailbox to Studio: 6 miles

Weekly Commute Mileage: 32 miles
Total Commute Mileage to Date: 699 miles

Tip of the Week
Ask twice. Run once. Make sure to double check your thoughts derived from a phone conversation before jumping to a conclusion…. unless you have time for the bulk of extra miles that could result.