Here we are, another year to reflect back upon – they continue to slide by quicker and quicker.

This last year I took off from racing…. mostly. Just the Ironbull 25k.

I mentally needed the break, and a chance to reintroduce a bit more balance into my life, to what my personality of excess would allow for that it. As it turns out, draining time from one thing tends to just fill up time in other areas. Call it reclaiming, call it re-prioritizations. Whatever it is, you call it, time’s the one thing we all have a limited amount of, and choosing where it goes is one of the most important daily decisions to be made.

So, what did I choose to put my time into instead of all the training and race?

More time with family and friends.

There isn’t anything specific here, doesn’t need to be a big event, just time enjoyed with others that you choose to be around.

Re-Learning how to play guitar.

Before I was married I bought a used acoustic guitar, and played a little with the goal of playing a song for my wife at our wedding reception. We’ve been married 18 years now, and that was the end of my guitar playing days for a very long time. So, with some extra free time, I picked that old acoustic up, then bought an electric and another, and some other guitars… (you see how this excessive personality thing goes?) and worked at trying to re-learn. Which evolved into writing and starting to create some music just for myself.

It’s a different sort of goal when it’s amorphous, without a deadline or shape. A different method of motivation, in which doing is the reward, not some arbitrary end point. That said, it would be fun to gain enough confidence to play an open mic or something. I filled in with a friend at one, but that was just stage experience, the pressure was all on him, not sure my guitar’s amp was high enough to even hear.

Writing Books

This has been another really interesting challenge and journey. With a friend, just shy of 2 years ago, we decided to write a series of fantasy books, in a new world, where 5 hero’s would each have their own origin story book, then join them together for a wider world arc for another 5 books. I’m happy to say the first five when together really quickly, book 6 however, that’s been a greater challenge, and we’re excited to release it in early 2026.

On top of that, I’ve been playing with my own dystopian near-future (2044) world building, which led to creating some AI based songs on the world, which got me thinking there was a narrative there. And out of that NULL KIDS was created. My first solo and stand alone novel, which I’ll be self-publishing in 2026 as well. I wasn’t certain if this was a graphic novel, a cartoon, or a proper novel, but as the story has come to life, and the characters continue to build, I’m happy with it in novel form and I’m excited to share more on this one in the near future.

Writing an App

Some plans and projects don’t work out though. Previously I made a post on here about the Dreamers project, an app that could do interactive story telling for school aged kids, and help with creativity, spelling, comprehension and reporting all that back to the parents. But, that didn’t quite go as planning, adoption was difficult, which is usually the challenge, so at a certain point, cutting that effort out was needed. Sad to see it drop, but you gotta take your shots and know when they’re not working any longer.

So all that was stuff outside of racing and training – and while I wasn’t directly doing those things for myself. I love my friends I’ve created in that world, the community that’s been built around the shared love of pushing to the extremes, and I’ve still been a part of that community.

Directly, I’ve still been coaching, helping several achieve new personal records in distance and speeds. They’ve all done amazing hitting the ambitious goals they set out for themselves and I’m honored they trust me to help them, being an acountabilibuddy to get to those finish lines.

WausaUltra is ramping up for our 6th year this May. This community has continued to grow and evolve and it’s so cool to be a part of something that has taken on a sort of organic growth. This year should be the best yet, with an update to the course, and a very special surprise for our bibs. Our friends from Colorado are coming in again, and will hopefully do another amazing video like this one!!

But one of the coolest things I was able to do in the realm of racing was travel to the Tahoe 200 with Ryan and his family to help crew and pace with Chad as well as Clayton and Ellen racing too. This was such an amazing adventure, the place is just incredible, the views are ridiculous, the people were amazing, getting to know Ryan’s family better was something I’m very grateful for and seeing Ryan go out there and complete this epic adventure. It’s hard to call the 200’s a race, as it seems like more of an adventure to me. You, with some crew, out there in the wild, just moving forward. Really cool, and certain I don’t want a bib! I’d go pace this again in an instant, but I’m really ok without racing it mysellf.

That adventure part is not starting to really stick with me. That’s the point right? This endurance sport, is only really a journey of self discovery. Do you want to be the fastest? Go the furthest? Outside of setting your own goals, that really doesn’t matter.

What does matter then?

The experiences you create, the memories you keep and the stories you build.

So here I am now, knowing my fastest times are behind me. Adjusting to the knowledge I won’t be able to do what I once could. But I can certainly continue to do what this was always about, make memories. I can continue to move, by choice, to continue to try. Some things in life certainly don’t work out how you plan. But if this sport has taught me anything, it’s important to pivot, and to keep moving forward.

So as I write out my own training plan for this year, taking me to the start line of Grandma’s Marathon and Ironman Madison. I’ll be revisiting old races to me. Not with the mindset of hitting new time goals. But ensuring I capture the moments of the race, and the journey of getting there.