Late Nights / Early Mornings

Parenthood. It’s not what you think. When you move through life, grow, change, make mistakes, hit milestones you learn to set some expectations for yourself. You set goals. Being a parent goes against a lot of that which is probably why I like running and being a dad so much. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t ever think I’d say something like that. I wasn’t the one overjoyed about having kids. And when my wife Jessie and I ended up having twins, Vincent and Whitaker, our world exploded into a million expectations.

Running does something to you. It’s the only thing I was remotely good at growing up, and by good I mean I could run slightly faster than the majority. Slightly. You didn’t see me crossing any lines before anyone else though. Top 25 contender maybe. Top 10 certainly not. I was “in the race.” And as I moved through life, into college and the professional world running was the constant. I graduated with a degree in architecture, played drums in bands and went through the 2008 recession. Here I am, a dad and I’m still running. Running provided that consistency.

That’s what you need being a parent. Consistency. Because most times things in life do not seem that steady. Your kids change. You change. Your goals change. You achieve some of them, but you soon find that those goals aren’t yours anymore. You have a family now: Jessie AND Vincent AND Whitaker AND (now after 6+ months) Ada. More on that later. But one thing that hasn’t changed, those late nights and early mornings of design school and waking up early to get in that quick jog. The concept is pretty much the same only now you have to keep three human beings, including yourself, alive.

Brent is a co-owner at Runologie, the only independent running store in Raleigh + one of the curators of The Size Run.