One more trip around the sun

“The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.” – Hervey Allen

I think that quote does a hell of a job of saying how I feel about turning thirty. Looking back on my first thirty years, I can honestly tell you that I was an idealist and a dreamer. I had a firm mental picture of the life that I wanted for myself and I got out of bed every day willing to do whatever it took to achieve it. I was (and still am to a certain extent) a very high-stress individual, a worrier, an anxious person that has a very difficult time relaxing…well, unless there’s booze involved. If I had a dollar for every time my Mother and/or Wife told me to “relax”, “stop and smell the roses”, or “just enjoy the life you have while it’s here”…let’s just say I’d be pretty rich. But that was just not the way I was wired…to be honest with you, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to completely relax to that level, even if I retire and live on a sailboat somewhere… But I have been able to tone things down a bit these past few years, especially this last one, and I think I know why.

To get to the answer, we first have to jump back in time to right about three years ago…around June/July 2008. At that point, Landon was about 3 months old and Michaela was looking for something to do to help her get rid of whatever baby weight she claims she had (which was next to nothing…most people couldn’t even tell she was pregnant at full term!)…anyhow, the solution that she came up with was to train for the Nike Women’s half marathon in San Francisco. She put in the road work, trained and did great. Which lead her to sign up for more runs both local and in the bay area. As for me, I was an athlete in high school but had given up that sort of activity a while back and was more focused on the 12 oz curls than any other form of exercise…especially running, which I had always despised. Eventually I noticed that she was out running quite a bit and I was at home playing Mr. Mom, and decided that running would be a good way to get in some quality time together (which is extremely rare with a little one at home).

Fast forward to July 2010….Michaela talked me into signing up for the Blood, Sweat, and Beers trail run…my first ever organized race. It was only a little over five miles, but they are an extremely tough, hilly five miles. Well, we both finished the race about a second apart and immediately said “what’s next?”. In this case, what came next was the Vegas Rock ’N Roll Marathon in December where we both finished in right around 4 hours.

From there, Michaela’s running spring-boarded into the Way Too Cool 50K and the American River 50 mile race, where she rocked both races and managed to get herself invited to be a part of an Ultra-Running Team. For me, the path was a little bit tougher. I initially signed up to run both ultras as well, but injured my IT Band (which causes excrutiating knee pain) and I’ve spent the past 7 months rehabbing it. I’ve never had an injury last this long, but the experience has been a great one for me, as it’s shown me how to take better care of myself before, during, and after runs. It has also shown me that I actually DO like to run, as I could have easily used this injury as an excuse to give it up.

The running was exactly what my body needed and I managed to drop my weight by about 25 lbs from where I was just a year or two earlier. Not only that, it has also helped me to find focus in my life, show me how important the health of my body is (as well as what I put into it), and it has also allowed me to meet many new people and make some really great friends in a short amount of time. It has given me the energy and stamina that I need to keep up with my three year old. It has shown me how important it is to challenge yourself and that through perserverance, pain, and determination, the reward is always worth it.

So here I am now, sitting on the precipice of turning thirty and I am happy.

-I am grateful for my family…Michaela pushes me in life as well as running, she is an exceptional mother and a loving wife…not to mention the fact that she’s as beautiful now as the day I met her! Landon is just a great kid. He’s fun to play with, smart as a whip, and also very loving with his parents (which we’ll take as long as we can get it).

-I am grateful for my friends and extended family as well. We have no shortage of love and support, which is truly a blessing for us. We love the fact that on any given day if we need to head out for a run or a date, we’ve got plenty of people that we can rely on to watch Landon for us.

-I am grateful for the people I have met, the things that I have experienced, and the lessons that I have learned in my first thirty years. Without them, I would not be the man I am today.

-I am grateful for our health and our careers which enable us to live life the way we want to live it.

-And I am grateful for our dreams that we continue to picture in our heads. I may be thirty now, but in no way do I plan to stop dreaming!

Looking ahead to this time next year, I hope I survive to be grateful for things like this…

-I would like to complete the Way Too Cool 50K and the American River 50M

-I would like to be the best husband and father that I can be, which includes supporting my wife and son to the best of my abilities

-I would like to get us closer to our goal of moving down to San Diego, CA in whatever capacity I can

-I would like to continue my outside business pursuits in hopes of someday making it a full-time opportunity

And lastly, I would like to be able to stop and smell the roses a little more. I survived those first thirty years going a hundred miles an hour with my hair on fire…maybe on this second lap around the lake I’ll pace myself a little better…after all, I’m learning how to do that now.