this decade i saw life give and take. my first child was born, and as the sharing the title of oldest sibling with my wife, we were the forerunners for ushering in the next generation - so the experience was not only personal but also experiential from a primary standpoint. also crammed in that single decade, on the other end of the spectrum, i had a parent loss. my dad went on early, shocking us all at the age of 53. throw in my grandfathers passing, while not the first of grandparents I have experienced parting from, we have a 4 generational series of events, actually smashed into 4 months. Jan 2011-May 2011.
it was such a joy moving into parenthood. Not despite the end of "freedom" in a sense, no because we did kind of yearn for that, but our youth kept us equipped with the naivete to keep moving to the dance - which we did with kid in tow. When you are the first of your friends to be in this phase of life, you just keep L I V I N baby. taking her to parks, breweries, concerts, friends houses, restaurants, we did it.
Speaking of which, one thing that is to note and that i will remember about this decade was that it really was the decade Craft Beer really began and took hold, skyrocketing into our culture seemingly everywhere and anywhere one were to find a cold beverage. i believe there are 20+ in the Charlotte proper, with i'm sure 10 around the city, and then on to everywhere you practically go in the state of NC, and to a certain extent anywhere you keep going in the country.
my first marathon was this decade....2010 Ft. Lauderdale, A1A marathon. I think i had the itch to have some new big undertaking that i could combine with travel. i thought the challenge was perfectly arduous enough yet also attainable in a period of time that wouldn't extend beyond the point of keeping my interest. through this i added blogging/writing in longer form as a running log. the new for 2010 blogs that were popular was not short in the field of runners, who have been famous for their running logs and journals, a staple for these athletes and something unique in sport. it lends itself to the inward reflection we get on many a solo runs. another gift to be appreciated in that i discovered i felt more complete, clear, and expressive from writing recaps of runs, and also respectful for the bursts of thoughts i would glean while running that i could then capture before it was blown away into the air.
running from end of 2009-mid 2012 was good, and then it had almost a 4 year lull-and i only say that now after having and currently still on this heightened and more consistent kick of running for the last 1.5 years and being able to see that while i ran, i left prime years on the table - 28-32 (2012-2016) - but, hey you can't do it all/everything. i had my second daughter in 2014 and we moved houses across town in 2015. I also changed jobs in 2012 and was tasked with building a client base of trucking companies from scratch, alone. it was very challenging, the job, but i leaned on my endurance training from running and persevered and did in fact build a book of business.
old friendships were maintained, and new ones were forged. a tradition kept on rolling - Man Night, although the venue hasn't been here in close to 2 years. We are not far from the end of this tunnel and will definitely be resuming some hosting.
and yet, while i could write more, and would were i not puttering out at this current time, i will wind it down by getting to something that i have really been in the last bit was just how special this last year of the decade has been. 2019 started with me taking a work trip to kick off some sales training which really was a nice jolt going into year 7 as a producer, a large family trip to Disney world - the best and biggest vacation we have done, and from a running standpoint - the fastest I have been ever at the long stuff, and since college at the shorter stuff. It's nice getting PRs still, and this past year I got more than I ever have: Marathon (2x), 10k (2x), 8k (post college) and had a trail half (pr....only other one was in 2016)
my outlook changed from all the above. i grew deeply with the events mentioned, and i think as a human and consciousness found better love, peace, awe and wonder.
it was such a joy moving into parenthood. Not despite the end of "freedom" in a sense, no because we did kind of yearn for that, but our youth kept us equipped with the naivete to keep moving to the dance - which we did with kid in tow. When you are the first of your friends to be in this phase of life, you just keep L I V I N baby. taking her to parks, breweries, concerts, friends houses, restaurants, we did it.
Speaking of which, one thing that is to note and that i will remember about this decade was that it really was the decade Craft Beer really began and took hold, skyrocketing into our culture seemingly everywhere and anywhere one were to find a cold beverage. i believe there are 20+ in the Charlotte proper, with i'm sure 10 around the city, and then on to everywhere you practically go in the state of NC, and to a certain extent anywhere you keep going in the country.
my first marathon was this decade....2010 Ft. Lauderdale, A1A marathon. I think i had the itch to have some new big undertaking that i could combine with travel. i thought the challenge was perfectly arduous enough yet also attainable in a period of time that wouldn't extend beyond the point of keeping my interest. through this i added blogging/writing in longer form as a running log. the new for 2010 blogs that were popular was not short in the field of runners, who have been famous for their running logs and journals, a staple for these athletes and something unique in sport. it lends itself to the inward reflection we get on many a solo runs. another gift to be appreciated in that i discovered i felt more complete, clear, and expressive from writing recaps of runs, and also respectful for the bursts of thoughts i would glean while running that i could then capture before it was blown away into the air.
running from end of 2009-mid 2012 was good, and then it had almost a 4 year lull-and i only say that now after having and currently still on this heightened and more consistent kick of running for the last 1.5 years and being able to see that while i ran, i left prime years on the table - 28-32 (2012-2016) - but, hey you can't do it all/everything. i had my second daughter in 2014 and we moved houses across town in 2015. I also changed jobs in 2012 and was tasked with building a client base of trucking companies from scratch, alone. it was very challenging, the job, but i leaned on my endurance training from running and persevered and did in fact build a book of business.
old friendships were maintained, and new ones were forged. a tradition kept on rolling - Man Night, although the venue hasn't been here in close to 2 years. We are not far from the end of this tunnel and will definitely be resuming some hosting.
and yet, while i could write more, and would were i not puttering out at this current time, i will wind it down by getting to something that i have really been in the last bit was just how special this last year of the decade has been. 2019 started with me taking a work trip to kick off some sales training which really was a nice jolt going into year 7 as a producer, a large family trip to Disney world - the best and biggest vacation we have done, and from a running standpoint - the fastest I have been ever at the long stuff, and since college at the shorter stuff. It's nice getting PRs still, and this past year I got more than I ever have: Marathon (2x), 10k (2x), 8k (post college) and had a trail half (pr....only other one was in 2016)
my outlook changed from all the above. i grew deeply with the events mentioned, and i think as a human and consciousness found better love, peace, awe and wonder.
