Overwhelmed ...

Total miles run since entry to NYC marathon/this year: 100.16/421.76
Total miles swam since entry to marathon: 1.38
Total miles biked since entry to marathon: 20.65
Exercise calories burned since entry/this year: 15,268/76,290
Weight: 198.5
Beers in last 24 hours: 2
Total raised towards goal: $4,348

I remember the day in that photo to the right very clearly. It's the kind of day you can't forget. Suddenly, the carefree life of caring only for yourself is gone. Nothing is ever the same from that day, forward. And yet, when you're sitting there, holding that child in your hand, you cannot even begin to comprehend just what will change, nor to what scale it will change. Just look at how young I look in that picture – like a kid.

Twenty months later – 20 months of broken sleep, arguments that never would have occurred without a child, internal struggles with every little decision of child-rearing, the added pressure of knowing that your decisions at work not only affect you, but this little helpless being, it's safe to say I've aged, I've gotten wrinkles, I've gotten tired, I've gotten stressed, I've grown up – probably faster than in any other period of my 30 years. Kids make you grow up: fast. There ain't no two ways about it.

What that last paragraph fails to encompass is the sheer joy that children can bring – a simple smile from your child can do more to wash a day of stress and aggravation than anything I've ever encountered. Each thing they learn – every word, every physical action, every facial expression, is a cause for some little celebration.

But it's still a lot of work.

Throw that on top of a job with increasingly intense demands, a marathon, fund-raising issues, an old home in constant need of some sort of repair, the normal curveballs life throws you and a second child on the way and, well, I'm simply overwhelmed with life. I've reached a breaking point. This morning, I wished I could just run away from it all. Pack my bags up and leave it all behind – but instead by noon I have 11 phone calls and 120 e-mails to return. Oh, being the editor of a magazine and a jack of all trades is just grand – until you realize that in the process of making yourself the can-do guy that anybody can turn to for anything, you've turned yourself into the can-do guy that everybody turns to for everything.

Now, don't take this as a complaint. Just take it as me airing out my mind – because with all those people who care, and call, and place demands comes a life that is very busy, full of incredible opportunity, lots of people that love me (and therefore a lot of life) and a lot of opportunity. I'm truly, truly blessed. I just need to sift a little bit of the junk out and make more time for the things that are really important – like friends and family. Today is my sister's birthday, and I couldn't even make it to her impromptu celebration. But, now, I think I might, just for a little bit.

You know, I had a really nice Labor Day weekend, by the way. Heidi and Beckett and I went to her dad's place in Seal Beach, California. He lives a block from the beach. Seal Beach is a wonderful California town, probably my favorite, mostly because it seems stuck in the 1950s. Despite a median home price of about $1,500,000, it is incredibly unpretentious. Why? A lot of people who bought in the '50s still seem to live there ... so the yuppification process is taking place more slowly.

We took Beckett to the Aquarium of the Pacific, which he loved and spent two days walking and going to the beach, which Beck also loved. The air temp was in the high 80s, the water in the low 70s ... it doesn't get much better than that.

I hope all your holiday weekends were as equally fruitful and fun. Miss you all very much.

As always, donations are still being accepted. We are still about $10,000 from our goal – and time is running out. If you'd like to contribute, please click here

Registration number is TFK06
Last name/Team name is TEAMPHOENIX

Thank you again for all your help and support. Talk to y'all soon. – Ed