Disclaimer: I used Claude to analyze my Fitbit and Garmin sleep data and assist with writing this post.

I started taking Magnesium L-Threonate in February 2025 after reading about its supposed sleep benefits. I have two young kids and my sleep has been a mess for years, so I figured it was worth a shot.

Magnesium L-Threonate is designed to support brain health, cognitive performance, and restorative sleep by increasing magnesium levels in the brain.

I take magnesium from Momentous. At ~$50 per month (or $37.46 if you sign up for a monthly subscription), it’s not cheap, but it’s NSF Certified for Sport, “a respected independent program that verifies label accuracy and screens for hundreds of banned substances.” Given I put it into my body every day, the cost is worth it to avoid junk and ensure I’m actually getting what I’m paying for.

I’ve been wearing a Fitbit since late 2019 and switched to a Garmin Vivoactive 5 in late 2024 — so I had 1,198 nights of Fitbit data and 527 nights of Garmin data to work with. That’s over 1,700 tracked nights, spanning pre-kids, two newborn phases, and now 16 months of magnesium supplementation totaling roughly $696.86. (Ouch - writing this article is the first time I’ve totaled up the cost!)

Here’s what I found.

The Verdict

Given two kids and six years of constant, interrupted sleep, it’s tough to know for sure whether magnesium is helping. I generally wake up feeling well rested, though my focus on health/fitness over the past two years is a positive influence too: weight training, biking, eating very healthy, and purposely aiming for better sleep.

I’ve decided to continue supplementation, especially because I’m curious to review the metrics once Child 2 sleeps through the night consistently. Given the high monthly cost though, I’ll shop around for other NSF-certified brands.

I do want to pause at some point to see what happens. Claude suggested March or April:

That gets you off-ramp past the winter dip, gives you a clean spring/summer window when your baseline is historically stable (your Fitbit shows consistent 81–84 in Apr–Aug across multiple years), and lets you restart in August or September before the next seasonal drop. A May restart would be too soon; a September restart aligns with roughly 5 months off, which is meaningful.

The Setup

A few key dates that matter for all of this:

• Child 1 born: October 2020

• Child 2 born: October 2023

• Switched from Fitbit to Garmin: December 2024

• Started Magnesium L-Threonate: February 13, 2025

One important caveat upfront: Fitbit and Garmin use different scoring algorithms. Fitbit scores cap around 91; Garmin goes up to 99. In stable periods, my Garmin scores run about 3 points higher than my Fitbit scores would for equivalent sleep. I’ve adjusted for this in the child-comparison charts, but the overall timeline chart shows raw scores — so the two devices aren’t directly comparable there.

The Big Picture: 5.5 Years of Sleep

A few things jump out immediately:

The Child 1 impact was dramatic — scores dropped from around 81 to the low 70s in October–November 2020, then took over a year to recover. The Child 2 impact in October 2023 shows a similar but notably shallower dip — scores dipped into the mid-70s but never hit the depths of Child 1’s newborn phase, and recovery came faster.

The gap in the middle of the timeline (August–November 2024) is where I had no tracker — the Fitbit died so I asked for a Garmin for Christmas. When the Garmin picks up in December 2024, the scores look higher partly because of the device difference.

The Apples-to-Apples Finding: Child 2 Was Easier

Here’s something in the data I wasn’t surprised to see: from a sleep perspective, Child 2 was easier. Since Child 2 was born in October 2023 and I was still wearing my Fitbit, the device captured the first 9 months of Child 2’s life — the same device that captured all of Child 1. So I can do a direct same-device comparison of both newborn phases.

Child 2’s newborn months scored 77.1 on average. Child 1’s scored 71.0. That’s a 6-point difference on the same tracker. Child 2 also recovered faster — by months 5–8, scores were back in the 82–84 range, while Child 1 was still struggling at equivalent ages.

This is important context for everything that follows: by the time I started magnesium (when Child 2 was 16 months old), the worst of the sleep disruption was already behind me.

The chart above aligns both children by months since birth. Blue = Child 1 on Fitbit. Orange = Child 2 on Fitbit (months 0–9). Green = Child 2 on Garmin, adjusted down 3 points for device calibration (months 15+). The dashed green line marks when magnesium started (Child 2’s month 16). The grey shaded region is the data gap when I had no tracker (months 10–13).

A few things worth noting:

• Child 2 (orange) tracked consistently above Child 1 (blue) in the newborn and infant months — less disruption, faster recovery.

• At months 25–28 (roughly November 2025 – February 2026), scores on the Garmin dipped significantly — this lines up with the well-documented 2-year sleep regression.

• The recovery from that dip is already visible by months 30–31.

The Magnesium Signal

So, does it work? The clearest answer is in the awake time data. Being woken up by a toddler isn’t the problem; it’s lying there unable to get back to sleep (sometimes multiple times per night!) that grinds you down.

Before magnesium (months 15–16, shown in orange), my average awake time was 23–32 minutes per night. From month 17 onward — the first full month on mag — it dropped to 11–18 minutes and held there for six months. That’s not a small change.

The bars show average sleep score and the orange line shows average awake time. The first three months on mag (Child 2 age 17–19 months) were the best stretch: awake time averaged 16 minutes per night, awakenings dropped to 1.0 per night (down from 1.6 before). Months 9–12 on mag were rougher — that’s the 2-year regression — but the score has since recovered and awake time is back to around 20 minutes.

The Statistical Picture

Running the numbers on pre-mag vs post-mag Garmin data (49 nights before, 478 nights after):

The awake time and awakening improvements are real and statistically significant. The overall score drop looks alarming at first glance but is almost certainly explained by seasonal patterns and the 2-year regression — my Fitbit shows the same Nov–Feb score dip in 2023 and 2024 without any infants involved.

The REM decline is the one thing I’m keeping an eye on. A 13% drop is meaningful. However, total sleep also dropped about 24 minutes per night, and REM tends to compress when total sleep time shrinks. My working theory is that this reflects toddler-era schedule constraints more than anything the magnesium is doing. I’ll revisit this once Child 2 fully settles into consistent sleep around the 3-year mark.

What This All Means

What Claude thinks: “The magnesium is probably helping. The awake time drop is too consistent and too sharp to dismiss. Getting back to sleep faster after a middle-of-the-night kid interruption is exactly the subjective benefit I was hoping for, and the data reflects it.”

What I think: With two kids and almost six years of constant, interrupted sleep, it’s tough to know for sure whether magnesium is helping. The awake time datapoint is promising but is that really the magnesium? I generally do wake up feeling well rested though! I’ll continue supplementation, especially because I’m curious to review the metrics once Child 2 sleeps through the night consistently.

Additional conclusions:

Child 2 was genuinely easier. This didn’t surprise me. On the same device, the same algorithm, at the same life stage, Child 2’s newborn months were 6 points better than Child 1’s. Partly due to more experience as parents and a better sleep temperament. But it means the improvement I see in the Garmin period isn’t purely from the supplement; some of it is just having an older, better-sleeping toddler.

The hard part is controlled experiments are impossible. I can’t run this twice. I don’t have a version of 2025 where I didn’t take magnesium. What I can say is that the awake time trend is directionally consistent with what I hoped the supplement would do, and it showed up right when I started taking it.

I’ll keep taking it. The cost is moderate, there’s no downside health risk, and the data supports a genuine benefit in the metric I care about most. I’ll do another analysis around the time Child 2 turns 3 — at that point the toddler noise should largely be gone, and any remaining signal will be cleaner.

Methods & Notes

• Fitbit data: 1,198 nights, December 2019 – July 2024. Data source from a Google Health data export (Takeout → Google Health → Sleep Score → sleep_score.csv).

• Garmin data: 527 nights, December 2024 – June 2026. Data source from Garmin data export (DI_CONNECT → DI-Connect-Wellness → various timestamped files ending in “sleepData.json.”)

• Device calibration: Garmin scores adjusted −3 pts in head-to-head child comparisons based on observed offset between devices in stable periods

• Statistical tests: Welch’s t-test for pre/post comparisons on Garmin data

• Rolling averages: 30-day rolling means used in timeline charts

• Limitations: No control condition; seasonal effects not fully isolated; short pre-mag baseline window (49 nights); REM decline warrants monitoring

Analysis done with Python (pandas, scipy, matplotlib). Charts generated from raw tracker exports.

Week Six: Difficulty Breathing and a Major Fall

Coming off of my birthday week, I felt great! That changed rapidly though. On Monday, I attempted a 45 minute Peloton ride. I could only manage 20 mins! My energy was very low and more concerning, I had difficulty breathing. It felt like a cold was coming on. All I could think was, “Ugh! I hope I’m not sick again!”

The next day, I felt a bit better. Wondering if my breathing trouble was a fluke (and I really wanted to try my new Shimano bike shoes!), I decided to go on an outdoor ride. The shoes felt very comfortable and I had more energy. I practiced breathing through my nose - not only because of my difficulties the day before but some advice that came up that same day from Dan Go caught my eye:

Nasal breathing filters your air, boosts oxygen uptake, and produces nitric oxide, enhancing lung function and cardiovascular health. It reduces stress, improves sleep quality, and strengthens the immune system, all contributing to increased longevity and overall well-being.

From the perspective of improving my biking performance, this is awesome:

Nasal breathing also has another important advantage: It improves your physical performance through the release of nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide is a molecule that plays an essential role in increasing circulation and delivering oxygen into cells.

Nasal breathing alone can boost nitric oxide by up to 6x, which is one of the reasons we can absorb about 18 percent more oxygen than by just breathing through the mouth.

I’m not sure about my performance, but breathing while biking felt OK. However, after finishing the ride, I developed a rough cough. After speaking with my trainer, I decided to take the rest of the week off to recover. Given how rocky the past few weeks have been, I begrudgingly agreed to rest.

Saturday arrived. My Monday Men workout friend invited us to see Rodd Tuff Curls and the Benchpress, a high energy cover band, at the wonderful Seven Acre Dairy outdoor venue. My friend Patrick proposed riding our bikes there and while I was trying to save energy for a long Sunday ride, I agreed since it’s a flat trail that I’ve ridden many times before.

Simple Shortcut, Tough Fall

The show was a ton of fun. On the ride back, we decided to take a shortcut off the main paved bike path that saves a bit of time. Big mistake! As soon as my tires hit the gravel, I slipped and fell down hard on my right leg, arm, and shoulder. It happened so fast I didn’t realize it right away.

If you’ve followed my RAW training series, you know I’m no stranger to falls and scrapes. My leg and arm were badly scrapped, with gravel pieces stuck in them. The wounds stung but that was nothing compared to my shoulder pain. It took the brunt of the fall and hurt like hell!

A few moments after the fall, my thoughts were all over the place: Did I break something? Can I ride home?

Fortunately, I appeared to have full range of motion. I gingerly climbed back on the bike and rode the ~10 miles back home. It was difficult to fall asleep that night and I resolved to go to urgent care immediately in the morning. Candidly, I was an emotional mess thinking about the RAW ride. Hurting myself on a causal ride was so upsetting.

Some Relief

A sigh of relief - an X-ray showed nothing was broken! My shoulder was likely badly bruised internally and maybe some tears.

Once again, I’m back to resting. Painkillers and ice packs are my new friends. Besides missing exercise, the hardest part has been being cautiously lifting my kids. My two year old in particular still loves to be held so holding him on the left side or not at all has been frustrating.

My men’s workout group was supportive while delivering some tough love:

Injuries are setbacks, not finality. When I had my fractured ankle I still showed up at MM. I just didn’t do running stuff. Keep the mindset and habits around self care.

Welcome - you are officially a “cyclist!”

Hopefully you can still walk … continue your training for the century or for your mental being. Don’t just give up and sit on the couch.

They are right, of course. This is just a setback and one that I can and should get over quickly - at least mentally. I can still train. I can just focus on other areas like lower body, walking, hiking, etc.

Officially a Cyclist

My favorite Substack writer recently wrote about Misogi again:

With only a few weeks to go before the big event, I definitely am living up to the misogi definition. I’ve lost several weeks of training due to illness and injury. I’m nervous that I won’t be able to complete 100 miles, especially since I’ve missed a bunch of my long Sunday training rides. I’m certainly not worried about dying - but the shoulder injury’s reminded me that biking can be dangerous and accidents can happen suddenly.

Ultimately, I need to rest my body, mentally reset, and get back on the bike ASAP so I can make the most of the remaining training opportunities I have before RAW.

Week Five: Solid Memorial Day

This week was solid, beginning with a 32 mile ride with my neighbor through McFarland on Memorial Day. We stopped for breakfast along the way and overall had a stellar time. Towards the end, my buddy led me through a shortcut path along the lake. We came out to a very steep hill. Just as we hit it, we heard shouting - a couple yelled that it was their private driveway, not the bike path!

Unfortunately I was really caught off guard, lost momentum, and fell and scrapped my knee again. My poor legs aren’t gonna make it!

On Friday, May 29th, I turned 39!

On Saturday, I drove down to Illinois to celebrate my birthday with some longtime friends. We came up with evening plans but what to do in the afternoon?

BIKE RIDE! 🤩

We took a relaxed ride along the McHenry County Prairie trail. I haven’t ridden a bike in Illinois since I was a kid so it was nice to be back. It was perfect weather and very busy on the trails. I would love to explore more trails in the future!

Birthday Haul: New Bike Gear!

In a shock to no one, all I asked my family for my birthday was bike-related presents. Boy, did they deliver! REI is very happy with us.

• Bike jersey and bib: Me + tight outfits are usually a no-go, but since I’m fully committed to biking now… I have to embrace them. I “get it” now: they are quite comfortable! Unfortunately the jersey was too tight, so I’ll have to exchange it for a larger size. Someday, I’ll make exercise clothing that is “Heavyweight friendly”…

• Selle Royal Respiro saddle: After some research, I decided to upgrade my saddle from the stock Felt VR one to one with a cutout. Why? “A bike saddle with a cut-out features a hole or deep channel in the center. It is designed to relieve pressure on sensitive perineal soft tissues and the pudendal nerve, improving blood flow and reducing numbness or discomfort during long rides.” I’m all about improving my comfort so this upgrade seemed like a no-brainer. Verdict: I love it! I can definitely notice a difference in comfort.

• Camelbak Podium stainless steel water bottle: Features a high-flow cap that makes drinking water while riding easier - “just grab, lift, sip.” One issue is that it scratches easily when placed in a metal bottle holder. I switched to a holder that could be loosened but some light damage was done. Two thumbs up, though.

• Body Glide: I think you know what this is for. Haven’t tried it yet but I’m sure it’ll be great on longer rides.

• Smartwool bike socks: As someone who sweats a lot, I appreciate this brand because of the breathability, thinness of the material, and overall comfort. I’m not sure what the difference is between the “bike” versions and regular ones. We’ll see.

So far this season, I’ve used my Peloton shoes with my Felt road bike. They’ve worked just fine, but with all the riding I’m doing, I figured it would be good to get another, dedicated road bike pair. Enter the Shimano RC102’s. I dig them! They feel a bit more comfortable than the Pelotons.

Finally, I asked for a compact multitool I can carry on the bike. If I need to adjust something during a long ride, this will be worth it. I got the crankbrothers M-10 multi-tool. It was immediate useful: swapping in the new saddle, replacing the water bottle holder, etc.

Grateful

I ended the week full of gratitude. Great bike rides with friends old and new. A lot of birthday celebrations. I’m 39 and feeling fine!

I’m the strongest I’ve ever been. I’m the lightest I’ve been in years. I’ve built a great, rewarding career in technology. I have a wonderful family and close friends who show up for me.

Despite all of that, the work continues.

Stress eating is my biggest anchor. The thing that holds back my health and fitness goals more than anything else. The mental health challenges of modern life are real. Juggling work, kids, health, relationships, and ambitious projects often feels impossible.

But here’s what’s also true: I’ve got this. I’m all in.

I’m cooking healthy meals. I work with a trainer on weight training and nutrition. I’m always learning — new health habits, new fitness strategies. I show up as a present father and husband. I bring my whole self to work every day. I’m back to writing this newsletter so I can inspire and help others like me turn their lives around.

And in a few short weeks, I’m taking on my most ambitious fitness challenge yet: biking 100 miles at Ride Across Wisconsin.

39 years in, I’m the best version of myself. And I'm just getting started.

Redoing My Longest Ride

After completing a 37 mile ride the other week with relative ease, I felt confident to take on a longer ride. I set my sights on 50 miles. Not only is it half of a century but it’s also the longest distance I’ve ridden completed back in 2024. Then I thought, why not attempt the same path I took two years ago?!

The Mount Horeb route is #12 on Trek’s “Great Rides Madison” collection:

My pal Grant from my men’s workout group joined me this time. That makes three guys that have joined me on these longer rides. I am overwhelmed with gratitude - their support means the world to me!

The first half of the ride was delightfully challenging. Endless rolling hills provided plenty of opportunities to practice hill climbs. The back half was quite flat which was a nice reprieve. A result of a Friday night storm, there were lots of downed trees too that we had to navigate around.

Comparing my stats from 2024, I’m thrilled with my progress. One hour less of moving time and a 40% decrease in relative effort? Awesome. Perhaps I’ll ride it once more before the RAW event to see how much I can improve these numbers.

“Lose Weight with This One (Horrendous) Trick!”

After a wonderful Sunday ride, I felt accomplished heading into the work week. Monday night took an immediate turn for the worse: I experienced some stomach discomfort but didn’t think much of it. The next day though, it was full-blown painful cramping. It was so debilitating that it made it challenging to work, though I tried my best. It lasted until Saturday (yesterday) effectively killing my ability to train.

On Wednesday, my youngest developed symptoms so we kept him home the rest of the week. We cancelled our Memorial Day weekend plans to head up to northern Wisconsin. Besides the family R&R, I was excited to explore the wonderful network of trails in the Northwoods with my new road bike.

All in all a brutal week across the board. The only positive? I lost eight pounds (ha!).

Reflection

Given how the week went, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to write this post. However, starting off by covering my record-breaking, longest ride yet was the dose of reality I needed. Yes, the week went to hell quickly but the Sunday ride serves as a reminder that I need to focus on the positive. In aggregate, I am accomplishing what I set out to do - consistently training for a century ride. I knew going in that it would be a challenging project with lots of ups and downs, but that’s, in part, why I’m doing it!

Seven weeks to go. Time to reset and move forward.

This week, I only rode 20.1 miles. Sudden mind and body fatigue hit me on Tuesday, throwing off the rest of the week.

A Decent Start

The week started out well. It was Mother’s Day weekend so I skipped my long ride. My wife wanted to hike, so we took the kids to Blue Mound State Park for a several mile loop (not captured in Strava). It was a chilly but sunny day so the temperature was perfect. I carried my 2.5 year old on my back using this Osprey child carrier backpack:

I highly recommend this carrier and the Osprey brand. They are expensive but high quality and built to last. It has lots of built-in storage for water and snacks and is so comfortable, both kids have fallen asleep during hikes.

Charlie is around 30 pounds now so he provided a solid “rucking” experience! I did have some shoulder and back soreness after the hike but I’m proud to say I carried him effortlessly up some long hilly terrain.

The Struggle is the Point

Sunday turned into Monday quickly. A 5:30am Monday Men workout hit me hard. We often do an exercise that I’ve come to love and hate: a backward hill run while holding a weighted sandbag (around 35 lbs). It is brutally difficult for me but I’m slowly improving. Once we get to the top of the hill, we raise up our arms to carry the sandbag above our heads.

The morning dew often makes the hill quite slippery, so I’m no stranger to falling while going up the hill. This time, however, I fell while going down the hill - thankfully not dropping the sandbag on my head! I landed on my back which did not feel good but I recovered quickly. Later that day I felt incredibly sore in my neck and back - three cheers for ibuprofen and naproxen!

Shortly after falling, I mumbled to Patrick, who leads the group, “sorry! I’m struggling today.” He brought everyone together and reminded us that’s the point: we are there to struggle! We are choosing to get up early to work on our health and fitness together. By the time most folks wake, we’ve completed a killer workout. Exactly what I needed to hear.

Bonking of the Body and Mind

I woke up Tuesday morning feeling a bit crummy and congested. I didn’t think too much of it at first and was able to do two challenging hill rides on my Peloton instead of going out on the road bike:

I felt so much better after those rides. However, Wednesday morning I woke up feeling like a freight truck had hit me. Intense body fatigue that, in a way, felt like bonking:

Bonking, or "hitting the wall," is a state of extreme fatigue and sudden energy loss in endurance sports caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles. It typically causes a dramatic drop in performance, lightheadedness, and mental confusion, often requiring immediate, high-carbohydrate fuel to resolve.

On top of that fatigue, runny nose and congestion. Ugh. The rest of the week was tough: I couldn’t seem to shake the mental and physical effects. I tried to get more sleep but unfortunately Charlie woke up here and there almost every night.

Where did this come from? My guess is the previous two weeks catching up to me. While I’ve been successful waking up earlier (between 5 and 5:30am), I’ve struggled to get to bed earlier due to a classic parenting phenomenon: revenge bedtime procrastination.

This behavior happens when caregivers sacrifice sleep for peace and quiet, often engaging in "me time" despite feeling exhausted.

For as far back as I can remember (late 2025?) the kids have been increasingly difficult to get to bed. Often we don’t get them down until 8:30 or 9pm, which doesn’t leave us with much downtime. With the training schedule I’m attempting, that means I should really go to bed soon after the kids do. I love my downtime though, so in reality I’ve been going to bed at my normal time (10-10:30pm). That’s clearly not a recipe for success!

One Last Push

I felt absolutely dreadful waking up on Friday. After a 20 minute lunch break nap and some caffeine, I managed to rally by the end of the day to get in a quick Peloton ride:

it wasn’t much, of course, but it felt good to just do something.

Week Three Complete

It was a rough week. I exercised as much as I could and rested as much as I could - that’s all I can ask for. Looking forward to focusing on better sleep and more rides this coming week. Tomorrow (Sunday) I’m going to attempt a 50 mile ride, despite still feeling a bit under the weather.

Weekly Training Summary

I rode 70.2 miles this week.

Ride 3: Stoughton

Sundays are becoming my long ride days. I start early AM to be back by noon so I can still enjoy most of the day with the fam. This was my longest ride in quite some time and I was thrilled that Kevin, from my neighborhood workout group, joined me. He’s an experienced cyclist so it was fun to pick his brain on all things bikes.

There was a lot of rainy wind in the first half but I didn’t care - I was out on my new bike! The ride felt comfortable until the end when neck and shoulder pain crept in. Still, overall I feel incredible!

Ride 4: Turkeys on Tuesday

Continuing the momentum from a 5:30am Monday Men workout (I’m overdue to write about that!) I was up at 5 again for an hour ride. I love how effortless I added speed simply by upgrading from a hybrid to a road bike (from 10 to 12.5mph currently).

As the Strava post says, I need to get to bed earlier. Not only to account for getting up earlier but the challenge of my toddler’s random wakeups.

Ride 5: Capital City Trail

I tried something a little different with this ride. I got up at 5 a.m. but instead of riding immediately I did some work. With everyone else in the house asleep and my mind sharp from all the exercising this week, I was incredibly productive. I hit the trail after dropping my kids off from school.

I’ve never ridden the Capital City trail before and wow, it didn’t disappoint! Heading southeast led me in and out of several wooded areas which is always a highlight. There are very few road interruptions too. I enjoyed the ride so much, I didn’t stop to take pictures.

Week Two Complete!

I carried the excitement and momentum of getting a new road bike and beginning serious training with me into week two. I’m ending the week feeling so happy about my efforts and progress.

First Challenge: Clipless Pedals

While I’m not going “all out” on fancy bike gear, I do want to improve my odds of completing the century ride. I’ve seen that all the pros use clipless pedals:

“Specialized shoes and cleats that snap into the pedal, enhancing power transfer, control, and efficiency by keeping feet securely in place.”

Deal! I bought Keo Look 3 pedals and with some difficulty, added them to my bike. It was late Friday afternoon and I was excited to jump on and begin riding right away. I have a Peloton bike I ride in the winter so I’m used to clipping in. Then I realized: the Peloton bike is stationary. A road bike? Not so much.

Uh oh.

No problem - YouTube to the rescue - to learn how to clip in and balance with these pedals. I decided to use my Peloton shoes at first. Depending on comfort I may get different shoes. Common advice says to clip in with your dominant side first (right side for me), then push off and clip into the other side.

Cue the music and montage over the next couple of hours of me in front of my house on the sidewalk trying and failing to clip in. I fell a lot - mostly in the grass - but it mostly bruised my ego. I’ll admit that I thought about switching back to the stock flat pedals, but stuck with them.

I bruised my knees pretty badly and called it quits for the day. No ride for me! I had some success - I could clip in when facing downhill (I live on a hilly incline) but not facing up the hill. I’ll take it!

Weekly Training Summary

I’m very happy with my first week of century training. I rode 51.6 miles total and kept up with my weight training.

First Ride

A lot of nervous excitement the evening before and the morning of my first ride, mostly thinking about falls. My friend Jonathan from my men’s neighborhood workout group joined me for a great 22 mile loop. The bike felt great and I was floored by how fast it seems compared to my hybrid bike. In fact, I achieved some PRs without trying.

Unfortunately, I had a nasty fall about one hour into the ride on a concrete bridge, scrapping my knee badly. Blood dripping down my leg, I joked to Jonathan, “tis but a flesh wound!” 😂 Still no regrets going with clipless pedals.

One bike issue I noticed: occasionally the gears would grind and at one point, slip loose on the back. Easy enough to pop back on but I chalked it up to my novice gear shifting skills.

Let the Training Begin!

I’m experimenting with switching my sleep schedule so that I wake up between 5 to 5:30am in order to ensure I have enough ride time.

I woke up at 5am on Tuesday and was on the bike path by my house by 5:30. It was chilly and I was groggy, but once I started moving I felt wonderful. There’s nothing quite like being in the middle of a bike ride while the sun rises.

Arriving home just past 6:30am, my wife getting ready for work and my kids still sleeping, was immensely satisfying. My exercise was complete and the day hadn’t even started yet!

Gear Trouble?!

During my next ride the gear issues became more apparent. Halfway through, the rear chain slipped again and for the life of me I couldn’t get it to reattach for a good 20 minutes or so. I almost panicked thinking I’d have to call an Uber to get home since I was a good 7 miles out on the trail.

I eventually reattached it and cautiously rode home with no further issues. With a longer Sunday ride planned, I knew I couldn’t ignore the issue, so I called the bike shop I purchased from. The folks at Budget Bicycle Center are awesome. Over lunch break on Friday, I went to the shop and in just minutes, a mechanic fixed it free of charge. The derailleur hanger was bent:

“A replaceable, sacrificial piece of metal connecting the rear derailleur to the bike frame, designed to bend or break during impacts to protect the frame and derailleur.”

I’m lucky my initial falls didn’t damage anything. The bike mechanic bent it back and the bike was as good as new - gear shifting worked well again. Sigh of relief!

Saturday Adventure

I wrapped up the week with a fun outing with my kids to soccer practice, the zoo, playing in a park, and having a picnic.

I attached a burley loaded with both kids to my original hybrid bike (Trek FX 3). While hills are a challenge, I’m proud to have built the strength to pull them myself (70+ pounds!).

Week One Complete!

I’m feeling proud of my first week with my new bike because I powered through the difficult of falling with clipless pedals and exercised intentionally six out of seven days. Looking forward to carrying the momentum into next week!

My longest bike ride was a couple years back at 50 miles or so. My main bike is a Trek FX 3 hybrid. I love it but I’m long overdue to upgrade to a road bike.

I’ve been thinking lately of how to push myself physically and mentally. From the incredible , I learned the concept of misogi:

Combining these ideas, the path forward to challenge myself this year became clear. My 2026 misogi challenge is:

Road Bike

It was early April when this plan came together and with the event in July, there wasn’t much time. Immediately I began researching and test riding bikes at my local bike shops. My top contenders became the Trek Domane AL 5 and the Felt VR 40. Ultimately, I chose the Felt, an aluminum endurance road bike, as it felt (ha) the most comfortable:

I’m not a huge fan of the clover green color. My local shops only had the clover in my size, so I looked online. A bike shop in Oklahoma had “aqua fresh,” this gorgeous bright blue, in my size (56cm large)! I ordered it despite having never put a bike together. I figured it’d be worth it to have the color I wanted, especially for something I’ll use for many years.

To my delight, the bike arrived in just a couple of days. I excitedly opened the box and gasped: they sent the wrong size. It was clearly labeled 54cm, not 56. Ultimately, bike fit matters most, so I sent it back and purchased the clover Felt VR 40 at Budget Bicycle Center here in Madison. It was a wonderful experience and I get one free bike tuneup.

The Century Ride

RAW 2026 takes place on at 6am Saturday, July 11th in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Eau Claire is an almost three hour drive from Madison, so I have to arrive Friday and stay overnight. I’ve invited friends to ride with me but so far, it looks like I’ll be doing this by myself. A three hour drive home Saturday night after all that biking will be fun.

Here’s the 100 mile route on RideWithGPS:

I’ll admit I don’t understand how to read the elevation in the above image, so I fed it to Claude:

Based on this, it said:

• Nearly half the climbing is in the first 10 miles, so hill work is non-negotiable.

• Practice starting rides with climbs.

• Pacing discipline is your race strategy.

Here’s what Claude gave me for a training plan:

My current pace of 10 mph attempting a 100 mile ride means ten hours of riding, and that’s not counting hilly terrain and rest stops. After some brief panicking, I remembered that I’ll be faster on the road bike and this reiterates why I need to dedicate a lot of time for training!

I’ll have a dedicated post soon about how I’m planning using Claude - it’s been a fun experiment!

Challenges

There’s several areas to contend with:

• My kids: I have a 5 and 2 year old who I love dearly, of course. As a hands-on Millennial Dad, I spend lots of time with them, especially on weekends. Biking takes up a lot of time, so I’ll need to figure out how to balance my commitments between being a present father and training. Also, my youngest still wakes up occasionally at night, which disrupts my sleep. It’s gotten better over time but something to contend with as sleep is critical for recovery.

• Physical fitness: I’ve been weight training and bike riding for years now, and am the strongest and healthiest I’ve ever been. I’ve lost a good amount of weight but still have lots to go. I’ll try to lose as much as weight as possible leading up to the event to make me lighter on the bike.

• Life: I’ve never trained for an event like this before. The dedication required is exciting and a bit scary from a time, energy, and focus perspective. Between work, the kids, house projects, etc. I feel my schedule is completely full from the time I wake up until I go to bed. That said, I’ll find a way!

Onward

There are a bit over two months remaining until the event in July. It’s going to be extremely challenging to pull this off, but I couldn’t be more excited! Each week, I’ll document my training journey. Stay tuned!

I had big plans for this blog when I started a little over a year ago. I was on a great path with my fitness, things were going relatively well — and then everything changed.

I got a few long posts up on the site and felt like I was building momentum. But soon after, things took a turn. A large company acquired the small startup I was working at. They had held off on making any major changes for a while — until January 1, 2024. The transition was immediately challenging. I wish I could describe it more clearly, but let’s just call it what it was: overwhelming.

Corporate Chaos and Personal Strain

There was a lot to learn, tons of new people to meet, and even more to do. It became too much, and I paused this blog. The stress and anxiety from work bled into my personal life — I exercised less, slept poorly, and on top of it all, I had a newborn at home. I was trying to navigate this new corporate environment while parenting a four-month-old. It just kept piling up.

Then in April, I found out I was being laid off — part of a 10% company-wide cut. It wasn’t performance-related, but damn, it still stung. I was completely shocked. My final day was May 1, 2024.

The Job Search and Lingering Stress

I immediately began a job search that lasted until September. I felt incredibly lost — the job market was (and still is) difficult to navigate. I did manage to regain some consistency in my exercise routine, which helped, but I faltered when it came to eating well. Like many people, food is my stress comfort.

Even being home — where technically it should be easy to exercise — was tough. I constantly felt like I should be spending more time on the job search. Should I lift weights or send more resumes? Hit a workout or message people on LinkedIn? That push and pull wore me down.

A Spark of Hope

In early summer, though, I had a small but meaningful victory: I biked 50 miles in one day, completely solo. That felt amazing — a spark of hope in the midst of a rough season.

Slowly, my infant started sleeping better (he’s a great sleeper now, thankfully), and that helped me begin recovering from the chaos of 2024.

A Major Turnaround

In September, I landed a job with a small startup, and things immediately began to improve. I wish I could say that my mood and happiness weren’t tied to employment, but the pressure of being a father to two young boys and needing to provide was immense.

I’m so grateful for my incredibly supportive wife. Not long after starting that job, another twist came: I got recruited to join a much larger company — alongside a group of 15 or so former colleagues. It was like my luck flipped overnight. That’s when I was able to truly get back on track.

Progress and Support

Since January, I’ve lost 10 pounds, been going to therapy more consistently, and I’m lifting regularly. I feel much happier and more stable. I also increased my depression medication dosage, started seeing a nutritionist and a fitness coach, and even joined a Monday men’s workout group.

I have so many great posts and fitness experiences to share, and I’m looking forward to documenting them — starting now.

What I Learned

Here are a few things I’ve learned during this time:

1. Reach out for help. That includes friends, family, therapists, and even adjusting medication if needed.

2. Clean eating, exercise, and sleep are critical. I hate to admit this, but I’ve had to relearn this over and over. Life will always throw challenges at you — you’re better equipped to face them when you’re physically and mentally well. That’s really what this newsletter is about: building and sharing that mindset.

3. Give yourself grace. Sometimes life just hits hard. It’s okay to step away. It’s okay to recognize you can’t take on all the things you want to accomplish and not feel guilty about it. Focusing on the fundamentals will eventually bring you back to The Path.

Looking Ahead

This year is going to be amazing — in fact, it already has been. I’m excited to share what I’ve been up to these past few months. Let’s freaking go!

Along the way, my fitness journey faltered: my exercise routine became sporadic, I started binge eating due to stress, and I stopped tracking food intake.

That’s the point of documenting my journey, though—to show that fitness journeys are not linear. Life happens, failure happens, but what matters is picking yourself back up and starting again. Today, I’m doing much better and back on The Path.

Let’s begin by reviewing what I originally planned for 2024.

Original Plan

"One year of obsession can change your life."

I perked up after hearing this sentence on the My First Million podcast. It perfectly encapsulates what I’ve been working toward: the realization that if I’m going to accomplish meaningful change, I need to be “all-in” on fitness.

This year, I'm obsessed with health and fitness.

Now, “obsession” typically equates to negative, unhealthy behavior. In this case, I need to make fitness my main focus, following healthy habits every day. So far, as mentioned above, it’s been a challenge. Here are my original goals:

Big Goals

• Lose some amount of weight weekly

  • Ideally, 1 pound per week (2-week grace period, so 50 pounds total for the year).

• Reduce BMI from obese to overweight.

• Bike ride 75 miles in one day.

  • Previous record: 36.9 miles at Bike the Barns 2023

• Share my fitness journey on the HF Substack. 1 post every 2 weeks! 25 posts total.

Checkpoint Goals

• Lose 25 pounds by July 2024.

• Bike 50 miles in one day by July 2024.

• Log 6 InBody scans by July 2024.

Daily Systems

• Track food in MFP every single day in 2024.

• Strenuous Exercise 4x per week

• Prioritize sleep in the evenings. 7+ hours

• Alcohol: only 1 real drink, the rest N/A or alternatives.

Revised Plan

In January, my goals felt ambitious but doable. Today going forward, I need to revamp them to be more realistic. There are 33 weeks or 7.5 months left in 2024. Changes have been bolded.

Big Goals

• Lose some amount of weight weekly

  • Ideally 1 pound per week (30 pounds total for the year).

• Reduce BMI from obese to overweight rating.

• Bike ride 75 miles in one day.

  • Previous record: 36.9 miles at Bike the Barns 2023

• Share my fitness journey on the HF Substack. 1 post every 2 weeks! 16 posts total.

Checkpoint Goals

• Lose 10 pounds by July 2024.

• Bike 50 miles in one day by July 2024. [I think this is still possible!]

• Log 2 InBody scans by July 2024.

Daily Systems

• Track food in MFP on the remaining days in 2024.

• Strenuous Exercise 3x per week

• Prioritize sleep in the evenings. 7+ hours

• Alcohol: Still limiting by mixing in n/a drinks. I want to enjoy myself, so tracking will help keep me in check.

Here are the changes I’m making to accomplish these goals.

Weight loss: I am my own worst enemy. Overeating, especially when stressed, remains my biggest obstacle. I eat healthily these days, but sweets/desserts/snacking derail all of my hard work. To address this, I need to track my food in MyFitnessPal again because it’s proven to help me stay on The Path.

Exercise: This is the one area I’m proud of. I’ve consistently kept up my weight training and biking even during the tough times of high stress and low sleep. This is even easier in the Summer when I’m outdoors more.

Sleep: I stay up too late and (due to my small children) get up too early. I also want to work on side projects again, like this newsletter. My new plan is to allot an eight-hour timespan by being in bed by 10 pm and waking up at 6 am. Except in some cases where the kids wake up early, that gives me 30 minutes of “me time” for projects and seven hours or more of sleep.

Forward!

It’s been a difficult first half of the year. I have concrete action items to follow to remain on track and accelerate my health and fitness. Let’s do this!

The health and wellness industry’s (de)motivation.

Every day, we are bombarded with the “cure” for obesity. Influencers who have never really struggled with their weight show off toned muscles, unrealistic, beautiful bodies, and time-consuming fitness routines. The result is the opposite of motivation for those of us living in the real world. They just make you feel bad about yourself.

Crash diets, pills, and weight loss programs offer quick wins in the short term, designed only to keep you hooked and continuing to pay long-term. Lose weight fast, sure, only to have it pile on again quickly. Where is their motivation to transform your life for good? They would no longer have anything to sell you.

Instead, concentrate on the fitness foundations: eating well, sleeping, and exercising. Diets, supplements, and false promises are a distraction. Influencers and weight loss programs promote miracle cures because health fundamentals have to be followed, not sold.

The odds are stacked against us.

Our food choices are unhealthy by default.

• 73% of American grocery stores contain ultra-processed foods.

• Restaurant meals are tasty because they are drowned in salt, fat, butter, and sugar.

• School cafeterias serve junk food, leading our kids down the wrong path from an early age.

We can control the food we bring into our homes, but our discipline is challenged and worn down every time we step outside.

We’re told to focus on the number on the scale.

Stepping onto the scale makes sense when you have only a few pounds to lose. But when you’re an obese person, it’s discouraging and makes the situation feel impossible.

The scale is an awful way to gauge progress because many factors affect the number shown at any given time, such as time of day or natural body fluctuations like hydration level. Converting fat to muscle through weight training means sometimes you’ll gain weight, but of course, that’s a good thing!

Since the scale doesn’t reflect an obese person’s true progress, it’s better to measure body composition: chest, upper arm, waist, and thigh girth. Your body’s visible changes may seem negligible, but the impact is tangible. In one recent measurement period, I “only” lost ten pounds, but the results were incredible. My arms became more toned, my XXL t-shirts fit better, and my energy levels increased significantly. If I focused solely on the scale, I would have felt dejected instead of inspired.

Losing weight is tough enough without piling on the stresses of society. Once we understand how society influences our efforts, though, we can begin to fight back, making weight loss more likely.

Besides health, typical life priority lists include a mishmash of family, career, relationships, faith, and purpose. After a long, arduous journey spanning many years, I've realized that health and fitness should be number one because they profoundly affect every other priority.

Family, often listed as priority number one, should be number two. It's challenging to support your family if you're not healthy. As a parent and role model to your kids, how you live your life influences them for their entire lives. Of course, being healthy means having the energy to keep up with them physically and remaining calm during the most stressful times. When you're not distracted by health concerns, you can focus on providing the care, financial support, and love a family needs. 

Speaking of financial support, most people have to work for the majority of their lives. Given this massive time investment, good health means bringing your best self every day. Over the long run, this translates to building lifelong relationships with coworkers, more opportunities to advance, and an increased sense of ownership and purpose. I've solved the most demanding work challenges when feeling my best.

Feeling your best is strongly correlated with religious faith. Many feel religion provides life extension and positive mental benefits. In fact, "people who represent their relationship with God as being loving and satisfying pray more and report fewer mental health symptoms." Naturally, when you're healthy, you'll build upon that foundation. You can better serve others and develop close-knit relationships with fellow church members. Good health and faith go hand in hand.

All of these life priorities share something in common: relationships. Building close relationships is the key to a satisfying life. Being healthy provides relationship optionality. Whether through fun physical activities like sports, hiking, swimming, etc., or traveling abroad to explore new cities and cultures. Maintaining friendships takes work. Work that requires time and effort is only available with good health. Being mentally healthy means being emotionally available to friends, a crucial aspect of creating deep connections. 

My Results After a Year of Change

Making health my priority #1 this past year has led me to achieve remarkable results. By focusing on health and fitness, I've lost 30 pounds, gained several pounds of muscle, and slept better than ever. I wake up most days feeling amazing - more focus, mental clarity, and purpose. I'm a better father for it, too, with more energy to keep up with a rambunctious toddler and newborn sons.

Whenever I struggle to "Stay on the Path," revisiting each life priority reminds me of what I'm gaining by sticking to my health goals. Like a roaring waterfall, the positive effects of good health and fitness cascade into all other parts of life.

Typical life priority lists include Health, Family, Career, Relationships, Faith, Purpose, etc., with Family being first. But, I've realized that health and fitness must be #1 because they deeply affect every other priority:

• Family: It's difficult to support your family if you're not healthy. Being a good role model, providing financial support, engaging in physical activity, and much more.

• Career: Poor health means work absences, not performing at your best, etc.

• Relationships: You'll miss out on many fun experiences if you struggle with physical activity. It's tough to maintain friendships if medical issues take over your life.

• Faith: "Your body is a temple" means treating it with respect.

This realization has motivated me to put immense energy into bettering myself and helps me "Stay on the Path" when I'm struggling.

Why Now? What Changed?

I’ve tried dieting. I’ve tried exercising. I’ve “tried everything.” For the first time last Fall though, I began working on my health with intentionality. This meant:

• Exercising 4x per week.

• Eating clean and tracking all meals.

• Getting at least seven hours of sleep per night.

• Researching and learning everything I could about health and fitness.

Call it a “eureka!” moment, perhaps. I realized that I’ve devoted an immense amount of time and energy to anything I've mastered. This includes computer programming, where, over many years, I read/wrote blogs, delivered talks, went to conferences, contributed to Q&A forums, and built side projects. Most recently, product management has been my career focus, and I’m obsessively learning as much as possible to become a great PM as fast as possible.

Besides intense focus, ultimately years of struggling came to a head. Other reasons that sharpened my drive towards better health:

Tired of being heavy. It is exhausting being overweight/obese. Every day, you are reminded that you're fat. Every year I would say, "This is the year," but it wouldn't happen. I was tired of disappointing myself.

Recognizing my current approaches weren't working. Over the years, I've had solid bouts of weight training, but I didn't really get stronger, nor did the weight come off. Why? I wasn't following a serious training program and still ate poorly! It took a long while to recognize that, though.

Being a role model for my kids. There are many complex feelings here, including:

• How can I expect them to grow into healthy adults if I don't demonstrate healthy habits?

• I don't want to embarrass myself physically by not keeping up with them.

• I can't bear the thought of abandoning them by dying young.

Since the new year, I've lost 24 pounds and have gained a ton of muscle. I've never felt better!

What's working for me?

1. Tracking calories

Ugh. It's tedious and annoying to track foods. Guessing calories from takeout and restaurants will always be challenging. But most of us underestimate our calorie intake. The biggest win is helping me be mindful of the foods I eat so I don't overindulge.

2. Exercising multiple times per week.

You can't out-exercise your diet. Believe me, I've tried and failed many times! It helps with weight loss, strength, flexibility, better sleep, and more. I mainly bicycle for cardio and lift weights to build muscle (which burns fat).

3. Reducing fat and increasing protein intake.

Limiting fat intake helps with weight loss. High protein diets help build/repair muscle and satisfy you so you don't overeat.

4. Prioritizing sleep.

Weight loss is said to be more effective with 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. It's tricky since it cuts into my limited free time (2 kids now), but it is necessary for recovery and energy.  I feel my best after 7+ hours of sleep.

5. Getting lots of help.

Becoming healthy isn't easy; it's a lifelong struggle for many like me. My success stems from seeing personal trainers and nutrition/health coaches over time. My spouse is incredibly supportive.  It takes a village! Don't be afraid to seek help.

6. Make it fun.

Serious weight loss takes time. I've had a lot of ups and downs, and my loss hasn't been linear. Focusing on staying positive and celebrating wins helps. Finding the activities you enjoy (for me, biking and weights) is crucial to sticking with it long-term.

What's not going well?

Overeating. While I did lose a decent amount of weight, throughout the year, periods of yo-yoing back and forth or stagnating for months were common. I'm not sure I have a full-blown "food addiction," but a lot of the behaviors are there: eating more than intended, feeling guilty, trying to quit certain foods, being unable to control the consumption of unhealthy foods, etc. Even when I commit to only having a small portion of unhealthy food, I find myself unable to stick to it. I'm working on some strategies to combat this in 2024.

Non-scale Victories (NSV)

Losing weight is great, but I've learned that it's the improved energy, the increased physical strength, and other changes that make the most motivational difference. Some of mine this year were:

• My clothes fit better. I'm able to wear old T-shirts that don't fit now. When I went to a Summer wedding, the suit I’d owned for years fit better. It was a huge confidence booster since I was around family I hadn't seen in a long time.

• Lifting heavy things by myself. It's such a satisfying feeling when someone asks me if I need help moving something like heavy furniture; I say “no,” and to their shock, I move it myself!

• Ability to bike up hills. When I started biking, I couldn't make it up any hills without stopping to walk. It feels incredible to keep up with my peers.

• My left knee pain is gone. For years, my left knee has given me trouble, but through proper stretching and weight training, the pain has disappeared.

Stats

I tracked various physical stats throughout the year.

• Weight start/end: 281 and 257 pounds

  • Total weight lost: 24 pounds

  • Number of Henry's lost: 0.75 (One Henry, age 2 = 32 lbs)

• Starting/Ending BMI: 40.0 and 38.0 (-2)

• Starting/Ending PBF (percent body fat): 40.2 and 39 (-1.2)

• Start/End SMM (skeletal muscle mass): 90.2 and 92.2 (+2)

• VO2 Max: 26.8 or "poor" rating. Ran 1.06 miles in 12 minutes via the Cooper test

Body Circumference: Just a bit of change, though positive!

Onward to '24

2023 was a great year for my health and fitness journey. I'm just beginning, but I'm excited rather than intimidated by all the hard work ahead! I have so much to learn and put into practice. I'm ready to dive headfirst into 2024. LFG!

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