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.

Surpassing 700 miles
The climb to the surpass the 500 mile mark seemed to take forever. The heat of the summer made every mile feel like it took twice the effort to complete. Little did I know the road between 500 and 700 miles would mentally take even longer. This week run commuting I crossed over the 700 mile threshold during a 15.5 mile day.

The cross over day was nothing short of tiring yet full of energy. The venture started with a run session into uptown Charlotte to meet a photographer for a photo shoot. In most cases I’m the one directing the shoot alongside the photographer with a specific vision in mind. This time I was the model in the shoot and the context was naturally running. The shoot was awkwardly entertaining and fueled my spirit to tackle the rest of the day. From the shoot it was a direct route back to the studio to pick up a couple forgotten items and then off to a meeting with an apparel client. Midstream in the meeting I found myself super tight and dreading the last leg running back to the studio. Here I was clearing the 700 mile mark and literally mixing it up with a run walk shuffle to close the day. I was psyched and wiped out all at the same time. It was beautiful.

Necessary Maintenance
Runners are commonly known to be less flexible than most athletes. Our constant forward motion thrives on flexibility yet the activity itself produces more tightening than promoting looseness. For years I’ve been encouraged to strength train or consider taking yoga classes. This week I found myself walking into my first “real” yoga class. Thankfully the visit was alongside my wife. This was nice since the whole deal was really intimidating to me. Typically I stick to the sports where I can perform well and not expose glaring weaknesses. Yoga was clearly going to expose a quite a bit of weakness in my body. Starting the class I couldn’t even sit in the “resting” pose (in non-yoga terminology – sitting cross legged). My nerves hit an ultimate high when the teacher asked, “Is this anyone’s first yoga class?”. Now not only was I the only guy in the class, but now I was visibly the newbie as well. Whether I raised my hand or not the on-going poses would have exposed the poser for sure.

I survived and even enjoyed the hour long flex factory and let’s just say I was so relaxed feeling after the class. I’m still not sure if the feeling came from the calming peace of the class or the shear exhaustion resulting from just trying to keep up. The good news for me is this class is just the beginning. I’m ready for the next session.

Day 74 – Tuesday – 15.5 miles
Run from Studio to Photo Shoot: 4.25 miles
Run from Photo Shoot to Studio: 4.25 miles
Run from Studio to Meeting: 3.5 miles
Run from Meeting to Studio: 3.5 miles

Day 75 – Thursday – 11 miles
Run from Studio to Mailbox: 5 miles (with single jogger with my son)
Run from Mailbox to Studio: 6 miles

Weekly Commute Mileage: 26.5 miles
Total Commute Mileage to Date: 725.5 miles

Tip of the Week
Try adding something new to your typical training program. Even if the new activity is outside your comfort zone, stepping into the unknown can open your eyes to a new horizon.