For the first time in nearly two years, I don’t have a race circled on the calendar. And oddly enough, I feel good about that. But just because I don’t have a big, hairy race doesn’t mean I’m standing still.
In fact, I’ve been active since August 8th, 2023 *scratching my head while I’m writing that*, a date I marked with a simple 7.4km inline skate around town (yes, I started with inline skating). That day, I made a quiet promise to myself: to stay active, to build fitness not for a finish line, but for life, as a good example for my children.
Going back to August 2023: Getting Active Started in the Swiss Alps
Technically, the first nudge to become active came a few weeks earlier. My wife and I were on a short getaway in Switzerland at our yearly 48-hour retreat while my mom watched the kids. We stayed at the HUUS hotel in Gstaad and brought a giant piece of paper, sticky notes, and pens. We spent hours mapping out our goals, not for our businesses, but for our family and relationship.
One of those goals was simple: become a more active and healthy family. That intention alone was enough to get me into the hotel pool three times, to the spa and sauna twice, and to start caring again.
It’s been 1 year, 11 months, and 24 days since that first swim. It was the official beginning.
Funny enough, as I wrote this, I went ahead and booked another trip back to HUUS. We’re going again in 1.5 weeks, but this time with a new relationship framework I’ve designed based on the learning from our previous HUUS retreat. Last time was fun but unfocused. This time, we’re going deeper and better prepared.
I’m Training Without a Target, but Still Training Hard
Even though I’m without a race date in the calendar, I’m still training hard. I’ve shifted my focus from endurance to overall fitness, which consists of lifting more, running faster, and building a stronger body.
Basically, I’m less singularly focused on distance and endurance, and more focused on feeling stronger overall. And if I had to be 100% honest, I’m a little more concerned about the aesthetics of my body, so I’m also taking progress photos, which I will share soon, I hope.
- Strength training: I’m working toward doing 3 clean pull-ups. Using eccentric methods mostly: slow, controlled descents, to build up that raw strength. It’s simple, hard, and humbling. I’m going without a program or coach, though, so I’m seeing what results that will bring.
- HIIT sessions: Once or twice a week (depending on my HRV that morning), I incorporate a 20-minute high-intensity circuit that includes sled pushes, kettlebell swings, ski-ergs, rowing machines, and farmer’s walks. These burn hard, and drain me because I go hard, so I only do them when a high HRV that night shows me I’m capable of handling the hard training.
- Threshold running: Thanks to VO2 max and lactate testing, I’m now training smarter. I’m doing more aerobic threshold runs to improve speed and fitness. This threshold training I ignored during my Snowdonia prep when it was just about time on feet, so it’s a nice difference and feels effective for now.
- Running hours: I continue to run 3–5 hours a week, mostly guided by my coach, Vale. I had a few sessions left in my training package, so we kept going. Coaching has been worth every cent, but lately, I’ve been testing whether my own accountability group can offer a similar push.
New Side Project: Building an Accountability Pod
My little experiment: The WhatsApp Accountability Group has become a small side project I’m quietly proud of.
It started with a simple insight: when I trained for Snowdonia, being surrounded by others with a big but simple goal made a massive difference. The group was not full of tough love; in fact, it was more steady support. Shared our ambitions. And sharing our mutual momentum and cheering that momentum on.
Based on the insights I gained as a participant, I launched my own podcast on July 1, 2025, as the organizer. Ten people joined. Two dropped out early, which is okay and happens. But the rest of us stayed in, and boy, we were active.
We posted our goals. We tracked our progress. We cheered each other on. Sometimes with photos of treadmills and check marks. Sometimes just a fire emoji. And sometimes with honest nudges when someone promised an update and hasn’t followed through.
Here’s what I’m seeing from running an accountability pod myself:
- There’s real hunger for this. Two people are already on the waitlist for August, and 7 out of 8 people from the first July session expressed that they wanted to extend for audyst as well.
- 8 of 10 filled out the onboarding form, and 6 people came in through my personal network.
- 4 random people joined through a single (buried) LinkedIn post.
What’s working:
- People are consistent when nudged.
- Goals are varied: meditation, reading, running, strength training, and writing.
- I’m the ring leader. The cheerleader. The instigator. And that helps.
- Weekly video check-ins have been a bit of a flop. I need to rethink the timing and the whole practice.
- For August (this month), I will incorporate some of the learnings I received from the outro reflection & Feedback form I made.
The fun part? It feels like the seed of a potential new side hustle. Hopefully, one that can be done quite passively. But if it becomes so popular, it might become an active thing, which I would not regret, and I would jump into it headfirst.
Here’s how I see it playing out if it ever turned into a business:
- Freemium: Free monthly pods → open invite, small groups, peer-led, this is the freemium funnel for the potential up-sell. And free is good because these groups should give everyone an opportunity to join a group of motivated
- Upsell: Paid group coaching → more structure, more commitment, niche-specific pods.
- Upsell: One-on-one accountability coaching → custom plans, daily WhatsApp check-ins, personal trackers.
- Upsell: Self-paced course → for people who want to DIY their most productive month ever.
Nothing official yet. But there’s something here. And I’m curious to see where it leads.
Quitting Polymarket While I’m Ahead
In six months, I earned $ 45,500 in net profit on Polymarket. Then I blew a big chunk of it (10k+) on a bad trade, betting the Conservative Party would win the Canadian election… I misread the market and thought I was on the smarter side, and betting on the underdog. I managed the trade poorly. I wrote about it in a previous post.
But more than that, I realized something: to play this game with larger numbers and therefore bigger risk, you need time, edge, and obsession. I had two of those. I lacked time.
Polymarket rewards in-depth deep research. The kind most people won’t do (which makes the markets inefficient). The kind that requires 10 to 20 hours on a single thesis. I didn’t have the space for that. Not with everything else going on.
So I’ve folded my betting pants and hung them out to dry, and they’ve been profitable. For now.
I’m proud that I’m quitting ahead.
Goodbye Poly Whales, For Now
Next to the betting adventure, the Polymarket-themed newsletter (Polywhales) was a fun ride. 50+ subscribers in 8 weeks. A handful of DMs. A small but focused audience of serious bettors.
But with Polymarket on pause, the writing stops too.
Funny enough, new subscribers are still trickling in. The market for polymarket and betting market newsletters is still wide open for anyone who wants to build something there. It’s a tiny world, but a sharp one. If you’re thinking about it, just go for it. I’m stepping back with a smile, but will return once I come back to the markets for real.
10 Days of Silence and Pain: My Vipassana Reflections
I spent 10 days on a silent meditation retreat, Dhamma Taḷāka, here in the Netherlands. No phone. No reading. No talking. Just my thoughts, my pains, my breath, a cushion, and working through it while doing the work.
It was brutal. But the pain was transformative.
Here’s why I would highly recommend it to anyone:
- You’re stripped of all distraction.
- You follow a strict 12-hour meditation schedule.
- Pain from sitting will eventually solve the pain in your mind.
- What’s buried deep surfaces fast when you work hard.
- You learn you can’t run, just going through, because there’s nowhere to go.
- You face yourself. Fully. Relentlessly. Honestly.
However, I made a big mistake, and I arrived at the course too tired. Really tired. Life with 2-year-old twins, a demanding job, and a 100K ultra race in Wales a few weeks earlier had all caught up with me. I took many breaks during the course when I shouldn’t have. I napped a lot when I was supposed to sit.
But I made it through. And I will go again.
Next time, I’ll come rested. I’ll prepare better. And I’ll go deeper.
I look forward to what comes up next time.
On Parenting, Temperament, and Dreaming With My Kids
One book shifted something in me: Secure Love by Julie Menanno.
Recommended by our relationship therapist, it’s intended for couples, but I found it just as powerful for parents. It helped me understand a potential temperament mismatch between my daughter, Lilly, and me. To me, it currently appears that she feels things differently than I do, and potentially more intensely. And I need to meet her where she is, not where I am.
(I’m saying “it looks like it” because I’m still observing actively if there are “really” big differences or if it’s just a moment in time)
However, the principle of temperament difference struck me and opened doors in my mind.
During Vipassana, I kept thinking about how much energy I pour into my own goals. And how little I share dreams with my kids. My parents were the same: ambitious and driven, but they rarely shared their dreams with us. We had to figure it out on our own.
Things turned out fine. But I want something different. I want to dream a little harder for my kids. With them. For them.
Parenting still feels like the hardest role I’ve ever played. I try to get 60% of it right.
And I hope that’s enough.
New Role, New Energy
I’ve started a new job, still at BreachLock, but now as Special Projects Manager at the Founder’s Office. I report directly to the CEO and COO. I solve complex problems. The first big one to solve? Building a scalable Partner Channel Program from scratch for our new CTEM product.
It’s the first time in years that I’ve thought about work during vacation. On long drives through the Swiss mountains, I’d talk with ChatGPT while the kids slept in the backseat. Planning workflows. Drafting outlines. Mapping ideas.
It feels great to be this excited about my work again. Let’s see if it lasts and for how long.
The Rinderberg Ritual
I’ve been visiting the same Swiss village for over 10 years. It’s not famous. The village itself is not particularly stunning. But it has one thing I’ve always ignored: stunning mountain trails.
For the first time, I ran to the top of the Rinderberg. From our house to the highest gondola stop, and back down. 14.1 kilometers. 1,131 meters of elevation.
It took me 2 hours and 28 minutes. And 7 full days of sore legs.
I didn’t even feel that wrecked after Snowdonia.
From now on, this will be a recurring test of my fitness.
A yearly ritual. A solo check-in.
And one day, I hope to run it with my kids. (coming back to dreaming together with my kids)
And lastly, regarding enjoying the trails around Zweisimmen, I climbed my first 2200+ meters T4+ mountain peak:
Final Thoughts
This wasn’t a season of breakthroughs. It was a season of maintenance. Of quiet effort. Of recalibration.
I didn’t run a race. I stopped betting. I ended a newsletter. But I started new habits. A new job. A new way of showing up, as a parent, a partner, a friend.
Sometimes quitting is progress. Sometimes slowing down is growth.
And sometimes, the best kind of fitness isn’t about a finish line at all.
I will see you in the next one and have a good one.
