David Taylor Gonzales

Get Out and GO

I have two kids. My youngest, a boy, hasn’t slept great since he was born in March of this year. During my wife’s pregnancy, I was averaging 8 hrs 35 minutes of sleep per night, waking up at 6 AM to train and eating three high protein/high carb meals everyday. I was able to be home in the evenings and not have to worry about rushing out the door to run or disappear into the basement to lift. I was more present, had higher energy, and felt great about our family schedule.

Then, something amazing happened. My son was born at 4:27 AM on March 7th…..and I haven’t had a great night’s sleep since. It’s not all doom and gloom, but the days of waking up early to train are long gone. I’ve been night running for the better part of 3 months. It’s exhausting. Putting on my running shoes at 9 PM is as big a mental challenge as the run itself. I’m averaging 6 hours 40 minutes of sleep per night. That may sound like plenty to some of you, but keep in mind, these are not uninterrupted hours of sleep. Getting out of bed at 7:15 AM is a slog. My morning routine is shot. I have just enough energy and time to get my daughter out of her crib, change her, make the coffee, eat my egg whites, make a sandwich, and rush out the door. I haven’t shaved in two months (thankfully Lane likes the scruffy look).

Anyway, back to training. We are twenty one away. I put thirty miles on the legs last week and I feel good overall. My body has definitely had more trouble adjusting to the increased mileage but outside of some left ankle soreness, everything else feels ready to roll. So far I’ve logged 11 easy miles at the time of posting this blog (Wednesday). Tonight is a 50 minute anaerobic workout. 15 minute warm up, 6 intervals of 1:00 @ 6:05 pace, 3 minute recovery pace in between and 10 minute cool down. These anaerobic workouts always kick my butt. After that, I’ve got bible study with the boys at 7 PM. If I stick with my Garmin plan this week (never a guarantee) I’ll put around thirty three miles on the legs this week.

It’s an amazing thing to look back on where I was a year ago. I completed my first half marathon in April of 2024 (9:49 avg pace). I was incredibly proud of myself. Prior to that I had never trained for an endurance event of any kind. I remember how proud I was when I hit twenty miles in a single training week, and how incredible it felt to have my name called out when I crossed the finish line in Kansas City. When I decided to train for this marathon (Bass Pro Marathon November 2, 2025) I set the goal to break 4 hours (9:09 pace). Admittedly, it’s a totally arbitrary goal, but the idea of running that far and that fast (I ran 16 miles at 9:55 pace in September 2024) felt just scary enough and outrageous enough to pursue.

I’m monitoring my body fat percentage bi-weekly. Since I’m hybrid training, I thought it’d be good to use this training block (especially being still a long ways out from race day) to play with my weight a little bit. I bulked up to 181 pounds back in February to build some muscle but it was really hard to put mileage on the legs when I was that heavy. I’m down to 174 now and I feel a lot better. Last scan put me at 14.8% body fat. I’d like to see how I feel at 12%. Again, it’s an arbitrary number but I’m not a bodybuilder so all of this is uncharted territory for me.

Today, I’m feeling thankful that God has given my family and I good health. I took my physical body for granted for many years and now, every time I lace up, I know that I’m not running from my past, I’m running towards my future. Lane is eleven weeks postpartum and started running three weeks ago. It’s been a joy to watch her ramp back up. Whenever one of us works out, we say to each other, “Thanks for taking care of yourself.” We say it because we know that we are better parents, better partners, better friends when we take the time to get out and go.

Keep Going!