The Eau Claire Project | 08.11.2021 |

I suppose now would be a good time to touch on what this Eau Claire Project is even all about. It wasn't until June 7th, 2021, (incidentally the first run after receiving my second dose of the vaccine) that I actively started pursuing this project. The seed was planted well over a year ago, first suggested by a good buddy of mine, Jake Smith. 

Jake is another tattooed runner dude who has inspired my running journey on many occasions. From HR training, the literal reason I am able to run healthy again, to running on the Ice Age Trail and a miracle mile or two, Jake is a steady source of  love and appreciation for the process of running. I wouldn't find out later that this project was first done publicly by a Strava  user named Rickey Gates who ran on every street in San Francisco in 46 days

From the moment Jake mentioned it, I was immediately hooked. My family moved to Eau Claire in 1992 from Green Bay, the town where I was born. The earliest years of my conscious life were lived within the spaces around this city; and with it, a flood of experiences and memories.

Wanting to run on, see and experience every street in Eau Claire comes from a feeling of deep connectedness to this space. I literally wouldn't be who I am without it. We all reflect the spaces that we live and the experiences we have. Eau Claire is home to many; every one of us having a unique experience of  it. I want to know those experiences.

And boy do I love to run. On June 7th, 2021, I went out through Randall Park, the neighborhood I live in, to run on every street I hadn't run on this year. Even though I 'knew' the neighborhood, every street felt new to me. Until then, this had only been an idea. After finishing my first planned effort, I knew this was real and I was just beginning. 

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For anyone who doesn't know, Strava is a health and fitness app that allows you to log activities and gives you a various assortment of data, one of which being a GPS read out of your activity. Strava then takes your accumulated efforts and generates a "heatmap." This is an overlay of every place you've run, walked or biked within the calendar year. 

In early June, I had run a lot of the same routes with several areas I had driven to - a relatively sparse map. But the closer I looked, the more curious I got. How is it that I've lived in this city for a total of 22 years and not know like, most of these dang streets?! It was bizarre and exciting and I wanted in.

This correlated extremely well with my current training level too. I owe another thanks to Jake Smith for turning me on to heart-rate training. This concept follows the notion of training well below your high effort threshold, keeping your heart rate at a relatively low 120-130 bpm (this varies depending on age and physiology). The idea is that you can run longer and further by consciously monitoring your heart rate, by relaxing and easing into a comfortable pace.

By June 7th, I was over a year into consistent healthy running, with a decent experience with heart rate training. I had a few 20+ LSD (long slow distance) runs under my belt so I felt prepared. Engaging the Eau Claire Project would mean a conscious engagement with this city, focused long-runs with intentional route planning. That's my shit. 

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So I guess that's it, in a nut shell.  After starting, I would learn that this project could be so much more than just running on streets and filling out maps. This was going to be a sweeping experience of Eau Claire. Eau Claire is a community, communities are made up of districts and neighborhoods that are connected by streets. And on those streets are people; where they live their lives and experience the whole spectrum of human existence. 

People are the essence of this project. It's people who make up this community. The desire to run on every street in Eau Claire is the same desire to meet every person in Eau Claire; to look them in the eyes, to listen to their story, to understand their pain and share in their joy. It's being alive, it's being human and connected to one another. Eau Claire is a place I call home, and if I call it home, anyone can call it home.  It's not exclusive. It doesn't belong to anyone. It's a space. A community for those who choose to be here. 

And that means everyone matters, everyone helps create this space. So why not fill it with love and appreciation for each other, to build a community that respects and values every single one of its people because they make it good and different and alive! 

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*ahem* So now that we've  established the ethos of this project, I'll be using this blog to post about my experiences and how this project has inspired and revitalized my love and appreciation for running, health, my hometown and everyone who call this place home. 

You'll notice I go back and forth between recent and past running experiences because they're all a part of this project; they all evoke memories and feelings. The same is true for everyone's experiences; somehow running makes it easy to channel that, so that's what we doin' here.

Lastly, holy crap, thank YOU. You are the reason for all of this. You matter.  The mere fact that you're reading these words is an act of love and kindness and it extends to all reaches of the Universe. You help me. You inspire me. Thank you for being part of this with me.