The Symbolism Of A New Year

Quick reflections on 2024 as 2025 gets rolling

I love leaning into the sharpness of the calendar turning to a new year, to take stock and make changes. Change is hard and any contrived catalyst I can get, I’ll take. Even so, as sad as it sounds, throughout my 20s and early 30s I rarely had a year that I looked back on with reverence. They usually acted as a template of what not to do going into the next year.

Welp, I’m happy to say this past year bucked that trend. Looking back on 2024 I am quite excited about the progress I made as a human, always seeking to discover meaning of our lives on this strange rock. A few crucial habits were also built to help launch a solid 2025 – both in life and in running.

How I Fared on the Trails in 2024

2024 was my second full year of running ultras. Heading into the year I hoped to finish as many races as possible and run my first 100k. I ended up finishing 3 ultras (with 1 DNF and 1 DNS), and snagged a qualifying spot for CCC in my first 100k - pacing 2nd at Desert Rats by UTMB.

My stats across the board were vastly up from 2023.

I ran 2,961 miles (+102%) and gained 547,823 ft (+188%) across 452 hours of activity.

Those vanity metrics are straightforward though. It simply takes the right life-situation and the will to do it. What I’m most proud of this year is the presence and maturity I developed during and through running. I shifted my view on training from one of comparison, to one of enjoyment. I tried to approach each individual session without pressure. I got out the door more often than not. I ate and drank a lot. I became content with done over perfect.

It essentially took the full year for this shift to take hold. There are certainly days where I still dive into stats on Strava to create a measuring stick for myself, but again, progress over perfection.

My last race of the year, the aforementioned DNF, Ultra Trail Cape Town, delivered the most growth. As I sat hunched over in Hout Bay, sunken eyes revealing my dehydration and drained energy stores, the sense that a specific result mattered over simply being grateful to run the race seemed to dissipate. Being pretty good at running is a blessing that also carries the weight of “what if.” What if I dedicated more time, could I become elite?

I’ve accepted that a place or two here or there, means very little. It doesn’t mean I won’t continue to dedicate myself to the craft, but it won’t be a means to seek greater results. Finding meaning in the broader impact that running might unlock is more important for me to value over a marginal improvement in results.

In short, I finished the year a bit banged up, but covered more literal and metaphorical ground in 2024 than ever before.

Life Outside of Running

I’d be remiss to not mention some other major milestones I hit and shifts that took root in 2024.

First off, my partner and I got engaged in August. During a recent end of the year cleaning spree, I stumbled upon a few old journals. I have historically been very inconsistent with journaling, but a common thread I found in my sporadic entries was struggles on the dating and love front. It still feels surreal to be in such a solid and happy place there, though it took a lot of intentional work to get to this place.

It was also a joy to coach and crew her during her first 50k in August. She dove into training and it showed with a 2nd place finish at a legit regional race – her Ultrasignup score puts mine to shame.

Outside the realm of relationships, I made strides in 2024 on the community involvement and volunteering front. I have steadily grown my involvement in Metro Caring and have begun to explore other ways to join local activist movements I believe in. I find this to be a critical offset to the hours I spend on the trails each week – which is an inherently selfish endeavor.

The trip to Cape Town wasn’t all a miss either. While there we stumbled upon a local fueling brand that boasts the best-tasting carb and electrolyte mix I’ve ever had. After a bit of outreach and a dozen meetings, it looks like I’m going to be partnering with that brand to expand to the US…more to come on that front.

Lastly, I wrote! I rolled out this substack and am playing around with another that is more geared towards politics and activism (check it here if you’d like).

Things will never shake out exactly as we plan, but there is so much good to be had when you lean into the progress over perfection mindset…and don’t forget to have a little fun along the way.

Happy new year y’all, thanks for tuning in.