I was never a runner. In high school, I got out of running the mile with a BS doctor’s note (“Sophie is excused from taking part in required physical activity due to hip and knee complications”). I ran occasionally in college and afterwards, but I never thought much of it.
I actually started to like running when I began using it as a way of getting home from work. My boyfriend Drue began using my car to commute after his died, since his lengthy trip to the suburbs trumped my mere three miles home. Originally, it was going to be a temporary solution until he found new car, but we decided it didn’t make much sense for us to have two cars, money-wise and environmentally-wise.
So he would drop me off in the morning with my things and I would run home after work. It took me a while to get used to it—I am not fast by any means, and I sweat like crazy—but I was really excited to find out how much I liked it. I also couldn’t really talk myself out of it, since I had to do it to get home. I increased to running to and from work when Drue’s schedule changed, and I am happy to say that even when he got a job in Atlanta (freeing up the car), I continued to run to and from work at least a few times a week.
There are definitely some challenges—the heat is a big one for me—but overall, I really enjoy my commute. It builds in time for some activity, and I feel more energetic and less stressed.
I’ll be posting more soon on my experiences run commuting, as well as some of the things that make my commute easier. Thanks to Josh and Kyle for having me!