I did my first speaking gig in a while on Friday: How to Raise $600K in 6 Hours.

Nobody fell asleep so I'm calling it a win!

The fit was super clean - Dia picked out my clothes 😅

☀️

Livin' La Vida Luna y Luca

We don't say "Cheese" for pictures anymore.

We say, "Mommyyyyyyy!!!".

I'm 4 weeks into training for a half marathon and I'm off to a good start.

The weekly distance runs are about to get to the point where each one will set a personal record for "furthest I've ever run in one shot".

I'm running a 10K (6.2mi) today for lunch 😖

So far, I've done all of my training indoors on a treadmill.

My runner friends keep telling me to "get outside", but I'll hold off until the weather turns.

I will admit, however, that running on a treadmill for longer than 20 minutes is tedious at best and deathly boring at worst.

There's only so much Bad Bunny, Jay-Z, & Russ can do to save me from falling asleep.

When the music fades into the background, and I'm alone with my thoughts, I tend to think about a few newly-discovered parallels between life and running.

Showing Up

Showing up is often 99% of the battle. I'm using the Nike Running Club (NRC) app's 14-week half marathon training schedule to prepare.

This program requires 5 runs per week.

With work picking back up, most of my training sessions have been at night - after the kids fall asleep.

The amount of resistance I have to overcome to start each session is incredibly high.

But I tell myself I just need to step into the gym. I give myself permission to turn around if I'm not feeling it, but I at least have to put two feet on the gym mats.

I've never turned around.

Once you get there, mind as well do the damn thing.

I often find this inertia present in my family life as well. Oftentimes, it's really hard to mobilize 2 kids to go anywhere. Whether it's the park, museum, or even grandma and grandpa's house.

The amount of work and preparation that goes into leaving our house makes just staying home so much more attractive.

• Do we have enough diapers?
• Did you pack the snacks?
• Don't forget an extra pair of clothes.
• BIBS!!!!
• Luca's formula?

It's a never-ending, constantly-changing list and we always forget something.

But the end result is the same as running.

I hardly ever (probably never) regret going out and sharing some random experiences with the kids and Dia despite the amount of friction we have to overcome each time we step outside.

This exchange in my college group chat sums it up well.

Accountability

A few of the guys in my college group chat also use the NRC app and I don't think any of us could have predicted how far we'd run in January.

The friendly competition took over and a rising tide raises all ships.

I heavily subscribe to the idea: you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

Filling the gap between where you are and where you want to be is as stupidly simple as surrounding yourself with people who are already there.

A few years ago I went on a bus tour hosted by my mentor, Gabe DaSilva. I paid ~$500 for a ticket to go visit 5 different fix and flip projects that were in various stages of development.

Yesterday, my new construction project was the first stop on Gabe's latest bus tour. That simply DOES NOT happen if I don't hitch my wagon to his star.

The best thing about this "5 people" thing is you can pick and choose a different set of 5 for each category of life you're trying to improve.

It's no secret - I'm trying like hell to be a supportive husband and front-row-father who ages like fine wine all while creating a passive income stream of $1,000/day.

The 5 people I spend time with talking about money are not the same 5 people I'm spending time with to become a better father or husband. Nor are those the same 5 people I'm spending time with to become the fittest version of myself.

I've carefully crafted a "personal board of advisors" over the years to help me get closer to where I think I ultimately want to be.

I will become the best version of myself by virtue of seeking out and spending time with the people who are far ahead of me in each category.

Goal Setting

I'm pretty sure I set my sights way too small with this running thing.

A half-marathon is probably not a big enough accomplishment to satiate my "ego", and I often think I'm "wasting" time training for such a small race.

I think it's because I don't particularly enjoy the training. If I actually liked running, I probably wouldn't think too much of this.

It's sort of like that saying, "if you enjoy what you do for a living, you'll never work a day in your life".

Training for this race is like doing work I don't particularly enjoy.

So if I'm going to reluctantly put the hours into something productive, I mind as well invest the time into a thing that will generate an outsized outcome.

Right now I'm spending 5 hours per week training, but I imagine that'll balloon to 10 hours per week as the race approaches.

I kinda wish I set my eyes on something bigger like a triathlon or even an Ironman.

It would likely take a similar (or incrementally more) amount of time to train, but the payoff would obviously be much bigger.

That's a Wrap

The race isn't until April so there's a lot of time between now and then to gain further appreciation for running as a form of exercise.

But if not, the time spent alone "on the road" might help me learn more about myself, which seems like a bigger payoff than completing any race.