Life Update
Family, Failure, and Freestyle
Earlier this year, I committed to posting to Substack on a weekly basis. I have failed at that task miserably. I intend to get back to writing, but maybe with a different cadence. I talked my wife into letting me buy a new computer so now I need a return on my investment.
While I am ramping back up, I wanted to jump back on here, warm up my writing muscles, and post a life update.
Family
A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I welcomed our new son, Parker, into the family. We did not know his sex going into the birth, but we were convinced we would be having a girl. When the midwife announced the birth of our new baby boy, our jaws dropped. It took a lot of practice to stop calling Parker “she.”
Katie had gestational diabetes and we had an induction scheduled for Wednesday. She developed gestational hypertension on Tuesday, so we got to meet Parker a day earlier than expected, which was already a week before 40 weeks. Regardless of this, she rocked the delivery. After two natural births, she made the difficult decision to get an epidural and we were both very surprised how easy it went.
The complications made the hospital stay frustrating. We left the hospital quickly with our first two kids, but with all the risk factors, we had to stay longer and the doctor seemed like she was dragging her feet in letting us leave. We spent all of Thursday waiting on one thing, which did not even happen, so we stayed about 24 hours longer than we needed to.
Though frustrating, both mama and baby are home and healthy. Katie’s parents took the toddlers to their cousin’s birthday party out-of-state, so the first week was like having one kid again. After having been through this twice already, having one kid feels like a breeze.
The older kids are back home and we now feel like a complete unit, even though it is chaotic and the older kids (and old dog) are still adjusting emotionally to having a new younger brother.
Running
Spoiler alert: I did not finish the 2025 iteration of the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run. I am working on the recap for that now. I am disappointed that I did not finish and it sucks to defer a dream for another year, but overall happy with how I performed in the conditions and excited to keep chasing it.
I decided that my first buckle will be from Umstead no matter what and will be registering for 2026 (once I ask my wife and she approves it). I am taking an off-season for the first time since I started ultrarunning because I feel like I am teetering on the edge of burnout.
I do not necessarily want to look like a runner next year, but I would prefer to look like an athlete (as opposed to the fatty that toed the line this year) so I will be focusing on eating, lifting, and swimming until my training starts in October. I will need to maintain some kind of running base but have yet to figure out how to work that in.
Swimming
After Umstead, I signed up for a 1.2-mile open water swim at Jordan Lake here in the Triangle. I had not swum since October, when I swam the other race in the series. Like the October race, I went into the Jordan Lake Open Water Challenge with absolutely no training. Nothing. No swims to even dust off the cobwebs. I just stuffed myself in to my jammer, donned the pair of goggles I bought for the October race, and sent it.
The race, obviously, did not go well. I was lapped by the winner of the 2.4-mile race, Becca Mann, before I was halfway done with mine. The water was pretty rough and I had to spend the first half fighting the wind. The back half was nice because all of that was at my back (feet?).
As I finished, some guy sprinted up the ramp past me. I assumed he was in the 2.4-mile race so I moved out of his way. I later learned that he was in my race, which resulted in DFL for me. I guess he needed that at the unserious pace we were swimming. I did finish first in my age group though…
I joked beforehand that I was cheating on ultrarunning with my true love, open water swimming. I rekindled an old flame and I am back in the pool. I started to remember all the races I used to dream about swimming and consuming all of the swimming content I can get my hands on (including Becca Mann’s recently released “Outside the Lanes” which I discovered the same day I learned she won the 2.4-mile event).
I decided to continue the affair through my running offseason. It works well with the new baby since I can swim in our neighborhood pool about 100 yards from the house. I signed up for an 8-week course to work on my stroke and I am eyeing a few races in September.
I originally committed to Swim the Loop in Wrightsville Beach, a 3.5-mile swim around an island in the Intracoastal Waterway. I have since found a 10-kilometer marathon river swim in Knoxville in September that has caught my fancy. If I think I can be ready for Bridges to Bluffs, I intend to cap my swimming season with it. It will require more planning, as it requires a pilot (someone paddling beside me to help with feeding and navigation), but I think I can make it work right now. If you want to kayak for four hours down the Tennessee River in late September, hit me up.
Writing
I am not sure where I want to take my writing. I really enjoyed hammering these words out, even with a newborn-addled brain. Maybe it is just a hobby. Maybe it is more. I will need to be more disciplined to know for sure.
congrats on the new addition and getting back to writing! brick by brick - it's the only way these things work (in my experience)
What a great read! Keep at it. I know you will achieve your goal of the Umstead 100! Congrats on your new born and congrats on making a commitment to yourself!