Investing Baseline

Since our daughter, nephews and cousins were in middle school, we made a conscious choice to give them gifts of adventure rather than things. Our adventures have included surf camp in Cali, diving in the Caymans, white water rafting in West Virginia (the kids claimed that there was a death by water theme), and urban ... More

Love with a Hint of Despair

A recent email I sent for a possible Zoom meeting: In keeping with our low brow intellectual goals for this event some of the topics to include: Final Four Marriage Bracket - who is breaking up, hooking up and who is zooming who?Coffee Cup Happy Hour - how many of our coworkers are drinking alcohol during zoom ... More

Pacing a Pandemic

I had my first friend unable to be with a dying family member due to Covid-19 quarantine.  She experienced the heart-wrenching agony of her loved one dying alone and compounded by the realization that she will be grieving alone too.  I have no words to offer beyond a profound sadness for her and her family. I think ... More

Notes from a Pandemic 3/23/20

I coughed five times last night when I started to go to sleep. And then I spent the next thirty minutes trying to decide what I would do if I was getting sick. How would I protect JoAnn? I ran through my plan again. And again. And then I fell asleep without another cough. I imagine everyone is going through the same ... More

Notes from a Pandemic – March 16, 2020

KT and I decided to start writing down what we will be experiencing now and in the future. I write so we remember. When Katie and I were in the Caymans in January, I mentioned that some of the scientists I follow on Twitter were concerned about developments in China surrounding a novel virus. We discussed what we ... More

Break Before Breaking

I thought I would want to resume running this morning.  When the alarm went off at 5 am, I contemplated staying in bed.  Once I was awake and caffeinated, it was clear that I confused wanting with hoping.  I decided that hoping was not a great mental state to resume training and instead I walked the dog and sat in the ... More

I Deserve This…

After a recent race, I ran into a successful athlete that I only know via social media.  I introduced myself and asked her about her race. She responded with a myriad of reasons why she didn’t perform to her expectations.  Some of the reasons were internal and others were external. I have been around enough athletes to ... More

My Hero is Home

During Ann's nineteen months of cancer treatment, my duties were simple; love her, be with her, make sure she got the best medical treatment possible, and stay strong. For nineteen months I kept the tears and horror at bay. After her death, my hardest challenge has been to stop crying. Last weekend we held her ... More

Enduring with Training

After a recent physical exam, my MD asked me the standard mental health questions.  Are you sad? Is it disrupting your life? I remember saying yes to every question. She paused and pointed out that there are medications that could be helpful for me.  I looked at her and explained that my best friend and sister received a ... More

In the failure, I find patience…

Understatement: I am goal driven.  Almost to a fault.  I approach every workout as a test.  Can I meet my goal?  How much will it hurt?  Have I set myself up for success? In the early days of the sport, I met every benchmark.  I checked off the boxes with confidence knowing that I could do the work.  This pleased ... More