Why Can’t I Commit to Active Commuting to Work?

Katelyn Kommer

When I moved to Salt Lake City almost two years ago now, finding a place to rent close to where I work was a high priority for me. Before I moved here my commute options in San Diego were either a 20-30 minute car ride in traffic, or a 50 minute hilly bike ride that left me sweaty and exhausted. Both options drained my energy, and I knew that shortening my commute was going to seriously enhance my quality of life. I lucked out in Salt Lake City and found a place less than two miles away from the REI where I now work. For the first couple of (winter!) months, I walked or biked to work every single day, and absolutely loved it. However, as I’ve gotten busier here I notice that the first thing I deprioritize is actively commuting to work. Though it’s just a five minute drive, I feel so much better when I walk, run, or bike to work and I absolutely love challenging myself to days where I don’t get behind the wheel at all.

The number of days that I actively commuted to work took a nosedive as soon as I started to up my running training. Though it’s such a short journey, I almost always chose 10 extra minutes on the couch over hopping on my bike.

So… Enter my Personal Commute Challenge 

For this year’s Anniversary Sale at REI, I challenged myself to actively commute to work every single day. I was scheduled to work 10 out of the 11 sale days, and I figured it would be a great way to get outside on those busy days. Also, the employee parking lot is always a mess for the sale. Though I typically walked or biked to work when I first moved here, a few months ago I found that running to and from work is actually totally feasible. Furthermore, if I take the long route around I can hop on a trail for a mile or so of nature time on my way into work. This has become a great alternative to scheduling in time to drive to a trail run. And, having to strap up my running shoes and shuffle home after a long shift on my feet is serious grit training.

Before the Anniversary Sale, a group of coworkers and I all joined this commute challenge together. We logged the number of days we commuted, miles, time, and mode of transportation. It became a really fun way to stay involved and engaged at work while it was bonkers in the store. During those 11 days, I absolutely had less time to get out to trails on my own. Switching my priorities from exploring the Wasatch to actively commuting every day meant a lot more miles on pavement and workouts completed on the way to work. It definitely bummed me out to not get out to trails or parks every day for runs, but over half of the sale days my car never left my driveway at all. I started the challenge off by running to work at 4:50 am, and ended it by biking home 11 days later at 10:15 pm. I found that setting my intention clearly and actively challenging myself to stick to commuting were the keys to ensuring that I stick with it for the entire sale. I had so much fun creating and participating in this challenge, so why as soon as the sale was over did I immediately slip back into driving to work?

The Power of a Challenge 

Voicing my intentions and having some sort of community involvement are keys to my athletic goals and challenges. The idea for the Anniversary Sale commute challenge started as a way to get coworkers involved in actively commuting to work, yet it turned into me stubbornly powering myself to work every single day as well. Having this sort of accountability and a physical sheet where I logged my miles was motivating enough to craft my weekly schedule around how I was going to get to work. However, without that kind of clear goal, I started to prioritize the activities I do before and after work and drove to work every day for a week straight.

With the amount of time I spend on trails and working on writing projects outside of my job at REI, I don’t think it’s realistic to expect I can actively commute to work every single day. After a hard trail run, biking two miles uphill in the dead of summer really is exhausting and I want to give myself a bit of grace. However, I’ve been searching for a way to somehow keep myself accountable and motivated to commute AT LEAST 2-3 days a week to work. I’m currently noodling around with the idea of creating a Strava group with some friends for a permanent commute challenge, or finding a physical way for me to log my progress throughout the summer.

Whenever I walk, bike, or run to work I start off my shift in the best mood. I jam out to tunes, get my endorphins flowing, and remind myself how lucky I am to live so closely to my main job. Though I certainly have big athletic goals coming up this fall, one of my main personal goals this summer is finding a way to commit to actively commuting to work most of the time. I’m always open to accountability suggestions, and would love to hear some personal active commuting stories or successes. My Instagram DMs are always open :) @katelyn_ali