When I was in college (late 80s/early 90s) and began using computers on a daily basis, I used the same password1 for everything: SanFrancisco. I had visited many times and had always loved that city.
Fast forward a few years to the late 90s, and after starting a digital agency named Ethos Interactive, my girlfriend, my business partner, and one of our designers, went to San Francisco for an interactive conference and I fell in love with the city again, this time with my future wife.
A couple years later (1998), after our beautiful outdoor wedding, my freshly minted wife and I left Ohio for our honeymoon. Destination? San Francisco.
Earlier this summer, I posted a picture of a run past the Bay Bridge, and yes, it was a bit of foreshadowing.
I was in San Francisco to meet with a company about a potential opportunity that turned into an offer. That offer sparked a ton of thinking and late night conversations with my wife. Is this the right thing for our boys? Is this the right time for our family? Is this the right move for my career? In the end, we decided we were all-in. And that will lead to a big change for me and my family. Later this month, I’ll join Extractable, a data-driven digital agency, in San Francisco as their CTO. After many years of wanting to be there, we are making it real, and moving to the Bay Area.
As for running, I’ve decided to punt on the Columbus Marathon this fall as I don’t think it will make sense (financially) to fly back to Ohio to run a marathon. I also think that I’ll have plenty of higher priorities to attend to over the coming weeks— you know, finding a house, finding a school system, selling a house, etc.— and peak marathon training just can’t be near the top. I do plan to continue to train, and if the stars align and I can get some decent training in, I will run the California International Marathon, a race I had planned to run two years ago.