I've noticed that it's hard to find Mike Elkin's contact info if doing a search online and since he's the BEST out there for keeping you healthy I figured I'd make finding him a little easier. Here's his info if you are in need of a massage:
Phone: 704-674-1798
He is now located in the South Park area.
The Osprey Talon 22 was just the right fit for my commuting efforts.
My office was relocated to downtown about 18 months ago and since then Jen has been dropping me off and picking me up from work. I'm not exactly sure how we came to the conclusion that dropping me off at work was our best solution but that's what we chose to do. I think we just started to do it and never came up with a better solution. Once baby Claire was born a few weeks ago I knew that I needed to come up with a better solution.
My options were:
* Drive to work and pay $6 per day for parking
* Ride the bus for $3.00 each day
* Ride my mountain bike
* Run to work
I don't like the idea of paying to get to and from work so driving and riding the bus were out. So it was between riding my mountain bike and running. The only problem I had with riding my bike is carrying all of the cycling gear around (helmet, shades, shoes, and locking bike) and since it is only two miles each way for work I couldn't really count it towards my exercise for the day. The only problem I had with running into work is the question of how to tote all of my work clothes, shoes, lunch, snacks, and personal items to and from work. I've tried running with a backpack before and it was terribly uncomfortable.
Last week I did a search for trail running backpacks because I was certain that there had to be someone else out there that wanted to carry a load with them while running and I came across a bunch of backpacks that were designed for aggressive day hiking. Then I came across the Osprey Talon 22 which seemed to have great reviews for day hiking as well as trail running. So I went to REI on the weekend to take a closer look and once I put it on I was completely sold. It fit me like a glove and had adjustable compartments and straps so I could carry a lot or a little with the same comfort. I pulled the trigger and on Wednesday I ran to and from work with it for the first time. I packed 16 lbs worth of my work gear in the bag and ran to and from work with no problems. The bag didn't bounce like I thought it might and was very comfortable. I was able to maintain 7 min pace at my typical easy run heart rates so the additional weight only added about 35-45 seconds per mile to my paces at the same effort. Luckily the uptown YMCA is a block away from my office so I just run to the YMCA, shower, change, and walk a block to work. On my way home I walk a block to the YMCA, lift weights for 30 mins, then run home.
Commuting to work by foot was the perfect solution because it allows for:
* Jen to save 40 mins of her day
* Claire to avoid the car seat two times per day
* Me to get 4 miles of running in each time I go into the office
* My body to get used to carrying a backpack for mountain climbing in the future
* Last but certainly not least...our planet now has one less car on the road
It's a win-win situation all around!!