40 & Beyond

December 02, 2019 by Stephen Hallgren in Life

I’m 40. I’ve been told I don’t look 40. I definitely don’t feel 40, in fact, I’m in better health both mentally and physically than I’ve ever been. But, I checked my birth certificate and it does indeed confirm the fact that I am 40. The clothing and hair styles of my parents in my baby photos also confirm that I was born at the end of the 70s. While 40 seems old to some, or that it indicates years of decline, I see something different. I see years of growth from my 20s and 30s that I’m excited about continuing well into the rest of my life...

The Sidewalk Walker

August 25, 2019 by Stephen Hallgren in Life

Living in a city (Albany, NY) means that when I run I’m almost always running on a sidewalk. Oftentimes these sidewalks are full of people who, for some reason or another are, walking. Since I don’t listen to anything but the thoughts in my head when I run, I’ve found that I started classifying the different types of sidewalk walkers I run across.

While some walkers are merely harmless pedestrians trying to get from one place to the next by the slowest means a human can move, other walkers can be downright dangerous…

The Run I Could Always Run

August 15, 2019 by Stephen Hallgren in Life

The sun sends down its radioactive heat while each barefoot stride splashes up cool ocean spray. The waves try to pull me into itself with every step and then tries to push me back out, like it can’t make up its mind…

Life, Love (Levers) and My Trek 820

July 29, 2019 by Stephen Hallgren in Life

It’s been over 9 years since my Trek 820 Antelope was stolen. It’s strange that after so many years I’m still hurt and angry about it. But the reality is that some punk, or punks, opened the side door of my garage and unceremoniously stole all my bicycles. I guess they didn’t steal ALL the bicycles, they were kind enough to leave my Trek SU100. The one with flat tires and every single component rusted out from winter riding and neglect.

When I was a teenager I loved bicycles. I loved fixing and tuning them. I loved cleaning them until they shined. But rather than actually riding them, I spent most of my time drooling over the bikes in the Trek bicycle catalogs. For some reason the shiny, sleek frame of the Trek 830 with its sparkling green to purple fade and its chromoly frame is what I remember the most. I had no idea what chromoly was, but it sounded futuristic and awesome at the time…

Oh 💩, Literally

July 18, 2019 by Stephen Hallgren in Life

If all you learned about running was from what you saw on Instagram, you’d think that running is only perfectly executed runs in gorgeous locations, run by beautiful people. The reality is, some runs really suck and sometimes, the entire day leading up to those runs suck. Not to mention, I look downright sweaty and gross by the end of any run.

My day at work started off with everything going wrong. When things go wrong, they usually go very, very wrong. It can quickly become a high-stress situation that can leave me feeling jittery and shaking (not to be mistaken with the affects of overdosing on coffee). After being on the phone diagnosing and fixing issues all day I finally hit a stopping point and closed my computer for the day…

My First 50 Mile Ultramarathon

June 08, 2019 by Stephen Hallgren in Life

Sometimes people work their way up to a 50 mile race, I decided to jump in head first. I honestly had no idea if I’d be able to finish or not. My mind said I could, but my fears said I couldn’t. I had put in my training time and felt confident. I knew things would be tough, turns out the race was tougher than I had even feared it might be.

My alarm went off at 3am, although I’m not sure I was actually asleep to begin with. I slept terribly and had been waking up every couple hours. Forget pre-race jitters, I was experiencing pre-race anxiety. Fortunately, despite the rough night of sleep, I was feeling pretty good, ate a bowl of oatmeal and headed over to Wachusett Mountain for the start of the race …

The Fear of DNF

April 24, 2019 by Stephen Hallgren in Life

When I run my mind likes to wander. Even though I know exactly where my feet are going, it’s always a mystery where my mind will take me and where it’ll end up. One particular day I was contemplating the meaning of life and whether I had the guts and ability to run a 50 mile ultramarathon. While I have ran a couple marathons and plenty of smaller races, an ultra is way beyond anything I have ever experienced before. All I could think of was my dead body being medivacked off the course, which then reminded me of my very first (and last) bicycle race.

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When I was in high-school I was obsessed with bicycling. I religiously read my Bicycling magazine from cover to cover, absorbing every little tip and trick. I would spend hours tuning, cleaning and buffing my Trek 830 Antelope until it gleamed. I would swap out components for newer and better ones. I spent hundreds of dollars on Paul Love Levers when they first came out (kudos if you remember these). While I could rattle off a plethora of bicycling facts, when it came to actually bicycling, the only places I rode were to the bookstore and the grocery store…

How to Survive Startup Life as a Married Old Dude with 4 Children and a Dog

June 28, 2016 by Stephen Hallgren in Life

This post started off as a slightly tongue-in-cheek Tweet that I tweeted, hoping to get a few laughs. But I quickly realized that the topic resonated with a lot of you out there and not because it’s funny. The reality is that many of you, like me, are trying to survive startup life while also balancing (and having) a non-work life. On the flip side, our significant others and family members are also trying to figure out how to live their lives within our ridiculous startup lifestyle…