On New Year’s Eve I decided I wanted to go walk 10 miles with 20lbs in my rucking backpack. I decided on a route that would take me down Far West and up Ladera Norte. If you aren’t familiar with Austin cycling, Ladera Norte is a pretty standard hill climb here in town. It’s very steep, and it provides a good challenge without having to ride out. I decided that this was the perfect route for my ruck. I headed out with 2 liters of water, some food, and ready to go at 8 AM. ...
Welcome to 2026, and of course the world has craziness waiting for us. As this weekend was my birthday, I wanted to fill it with some fun stuff. I had had a good couple of weeks off from work (including my all-time long rucking adventure, a post on that later), and I got to cap that off with my birthday. As we go into 2026 I will post my personal goals on here like I did last year, I also want to update everyone on my 2025 goals. Those posts will come in the next couple of weeks. ...
I had the best of plans to get out on the water in my kayak to do some fishing, but a case of food poisoning ruined that a few weeks ago. But with our upcoming trip back to Baton Rouge for the holidays, that left one weekend to get out and try to catch some fish, and I was excited to bring the kayak to Cypress Creek park on Lake Travis to see what I could find. ...
I ran my first half marathon in two years today. It was a journey. I’ve had some issues with my hip, and while it flared up for the first 4 or so miles it eventually relaxed and I was able to get through it. I’m very motivated to get through the physical therapy I’ve signed up for this hip thing. My pace got faster as the race went on, but the hip has kept me from running like I had hoped I would in the beginning of the year. I’m hoping to do the ole man river half in Kenner in December. Hopefully the PT will have made some in roads by then.
As we are about to head back to Austin for a few weeks, I wanted to take a minute to highlight one of the things that really brings me joy. One of the great things about our neighborhood in Baton Rouge is all the cats. And for the most part, a lot of them are very friendly. Today I wanted to talk about all my cat friends. This is Asher. He lives in the apartment below us. He’s a very chatty guy. Also, yes, that is a total trap. He doesn’t like his tummy rubbed, even though he will gladly show it to you while he flip flops. He often greets me when I go walking or running in the morning. ...
Wow, I was recapping our trip in the beginning of July and now it’s mid September? The last four weeks have been great from an exercise and nutrition point of view. And now I find myself in Ankara, Turkey! This time of year really is my favorite. As soon as Labor Day passes, college football starts up, and we can start envisioning days that aren’t brutally hot. Well I needed to catch up, so here we are. I’ll hopefully get some more interesting pictures from Ankara.
Carrie and I were lucky enough to get to go to the UK and France recently. I was giving part of the keynote in our NI Days UK conference, and we decided to take advantage of the July 4th holidays to go see the start of the Tour de France in Lille, France. Small villages and towns in the UK are just absolutely lovely. Also, Lille is great. I’d go back to that city in a heartbeat. Here are a section of pictures. ...
Last weekend we had the great opportunity to visit our friends in Jackson, Wyoming. One of the best scenic landings at an airport I’ve ever experienced. You fly in right by the Tetons and over all the lakes. It was truly stunning. We spent our first full day there exploring the southern half of Yellowstone. What a unique place. Between the geysers, the prismatic pools, and bubbling mud, I will definitely not be forgetting that anytime soon. ...
We’re back in Austin. We won’t be headed back to Baton Rouge to live until September. The trip back is always an ordeal, and GiGi was very sleepy last night after we got back. One of my goals this year was to travel. It’s easy for me to sink into habit. But this summer we have a few trips planned, and I’ll share more here as we get closer. I’m looking forward to them all.
Every year when the heat sets in, I feel like one of us learns the lesson the hard way that you have to a) hydrate appropriately and b) get enough electrolytes. This year was apparently my turn. The past couple of weekends on my long runs on Saturday mornings, I have just been destroyed afterwards. A week ago, I took like a 2.5 hour nap after my run and my stress level on my Garmin never went down. This Saturday I felt ok during the day, but when I woke up Sunday I felt exhausted (though staying up to watch Texas lose at baseball didn’t help). I was really wondering what the issue was. ...