Cliche, but “a whirlwind of a year.” New baby, new job, and a new coast. Looking forward to a settled 2023 in which none of those occur.
Bryn joined us in late March. Compared to her older sister, the birthing process was a breeze. Two kids is definitely more than twice as hard as one, but we’re managing well and I’m just a few days away from ensuring we don’t have a third 😉
Mia has become a full-fledged person overflowing with personality. She’s hilarious and amazing. Her speech and ability to understand subtleties and remember minutiae blow my mind.
Rebecca is an incredible mother. I’m in awe of her most days. With the move, she had to leave her job, but she’s just weeks away from starting a new career in the familiar field of healthcare. Very excited for her.
I began working at Slack after being laid off from Skyward/Verizon when we shut down operations. The place prior was also a full-on shutdown and the one before that lasted only until recently. Am I the kiss of death? Surely I can’t take down Slack. Given the current economic situation, I’m also not confident it will last :/
I’ve yet to post about the move, but do plan to get to it. To summarize, we didn’t want to raise the kids in Portland and landed in Rebecca’s hometown in Vermont. It’s a harder place to live, but we’re adjusting, the community is amazing, and grandma and grandpa literally live across the street. This move was the highest stress thing in my life, but I’ll get to that when I get to that post.
Travel
Travel outside of getting across the country with two kids and two cats was relatively tame.
- I was able to get away for what likely my last “College Guys Ski Trip” for a bit. We did Vail again. Amazing, as always.
- We spent a weekend in Pacific City at a beach house. I’ll miss the Pacific Coast 🙁
- Overnighted in a van with Danny at Mt. Hood Meadows. Fun experience.
Wellness
Healthwise, we’re all good. The cold here has my hands feeling arthritic, but I’m sure I’ll grow out of it. Legs have been feeling good. I did have a kidney stone, which was far and away the most pain I could ever imagine. Was pretty certain I was on my deathbed. I was the only one to get Covid in early May, which was all sorts of fun with new baby and coinciding with my sister visiting.
- Some form of exercise every day. That streak is now at ~2400 days.
- Burned 260k extra calories, down 15% YoY.
- Rode 5000 miles. More outdoor than usual since Vermont has outstanding gravel roads. I probably need to start gauging effort in hours as it’s a lot bumpier here. Very happy with this number as I effectively took about five months off in the middle of the year.
- No real racing. Local weekly series type stuff doesn’t really exist here. It’s more single large events. There is some relatively close CX, but I can’t afford two hours of driving on a weeknight.
- Grabbed a bunch of local KOMs. With no local racing scene, chasing segments is how I’ve been pushing myself. There isn’t as much competition as in a more populated area, but there are some quick folks to chase!
- Had nine virtual wins, eight seconds, and four thirds. Nice improvement over 8/4/5 last year. I spent time working on my sprint so this makes sense.
- Ran 44 miles. Lowest number in many, many years. Just didn’t find the time for it. Almost ran a sub-20 5k.
- Hiked 43 miles. Wanted a lot more given we can walk to hikes from the house, but like running I simply couldn’t find the time.
- Walked 359 miles. Much of that with a stroller or baby in my arms.
- Snowboarded 5 days. Always want more, but I’ll take it.
Books
- Read 30.
- Only a single five star review going to I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood. I thoroughly enjoyed Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures as a Fisherman Turned Restorative Ocean Farmer and Bryn’s name was derived from the author’s so I figure I should capture that somewhere (here) for posterity.
2022 Goal Review
I was clearly overly ambitious with these. Less next year.
- ❌ Hike the Wildwood Trail. No. Not even close, especially with the sooner than expected move.
- ✅ Increase 15s power. I wish I could say I definitely nailed this, but I do know my sprint has improved at least a bit. With a more focused effort it would have been more obvious. I am winning sprints now and then, which never used to happen. Should have noted what it was at the start.
- ✅ Ride outside more. Vermont’s gravel roads made this easy.
- ❌ Complete a “goal” race. Wasn’t in the cards. After Covid and the move I was out of fitness until the season was over.
- ❌ Write more of the significant stuff on here.
- ❌ Begin section-hike of Long Trail.
- ✅ Survive two major life changes.
2023 Goals
- Complete a major house project. We have a few.
- Complete a “goal” race. Already have my eye on two.
- Get back down to race weight. I’ve got about 10 extra pounds on me right now.
- At least one big trip with the family. Long car ride, a flight, something.
This was my 17th Year In Review in a row. See 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.
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