March 2022 was a wake-up call. Lying in the operating room, freshly emerged from open heart surgery, I was forced to confront a reality I never expected. The surgery was to repair an aortic aneurysm – a condition ominously dubbed the “silent killer” due to its often unnoticed nature until it’s too late. The likes of Albert Einstein, Lucille Ball, and John Ritter succumbed to it, and I was nearly part of that statistic.

Despite a life filled with marathons, Ironmans, and an ultramarathon, here I was. My healthy diet, my athleticism, none of it had been enough to counteract my genetic predisposition or the stress and sleep deprivation from my tech job. The history of heart disease in my family, particularly my mother’s debilitating stroke and heart attack ten years prior, had been warning signs I chose to ignore until my own crisis made me reassess everything.

The rebirth came in the form of my daughter, Leila. At just under five years old at the time of my surgery, she inspired me to reevaluate my health and wellness comprehensively. This was not just about recovering; it was about fundamentally changing my life to ensure I was there for her future.  My race now is to optimize my health to endure to a finish line far off into the future.