Twenty-four years of February 13ths and the pattern is unmistakable... I've been listening to my inner voice this whole time, and that voice has consistently said, "Push harder, rest later, maybe skip the workout today but definitely not tomorrow."
It started in 2001 with homework panic and the looming question of graduation. By 2002, I'd discovered Dirt World for trail hunting, and the same year I was plotting apartment searches around mountain bike access while accidentally learning Dreamweaver instead.
Then came 2004's Valentine's Day whiteout on Mount Ellen, where zero visibility meant zero photos but a strange intimacy with the mountain. The 2007 saga of the never-ending day featured vanishing pumps, breaking headlamps, and a blizzard party at Bonner. That same night I stumbled onto the term "exercise bulimia" and thought... wait, that's me?
The years rolled on, 2008 brought regeneration and a surprise Nationals invite, 2009 delivered 8,200 vertical feet of hill intervals, and 2010 featured grocery runs sandwiched between hiking and core sessions. By 2012, I was collapsing amid beeping watches and dead phone batteries, vowing to blog before sleep took me.
The 2014 reflection on brain perfusion got heavier, connecting trail access to something deeper. But 2016 brought lightness, sliding with friends and Cards Against Humanity. 2023 reminded me that home isn't stuff, it's Snuggles. That same year, TV research became the adventure. 2024's survival day peaked with a photo of Costco pillows, and 2025 found me workshopping DeepSeek jokes with ChatGPT.
The inner voice evolved from "prioritize homework" to "prioritize love," with a whole lot of trail time in between. That's growth, I think.