those in motion

Peak Fall. Peak squad. #yesmen (at Perkasie, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGiCjVEnezVyNLoXR8h2g3l5Ge3zV0H2nBYvcA0/?igshid=8gacr9folskz

Happy 1st Birthday to my favorite little man! I hope you forever remain as happy, expressive, and curious as you are today, and I hope you’ll always know how loved you are. Thank you for bringing so much joy into all of our lives during such a turbulent year — but I can’t wait to tell you about it all someday. I love you, buddy! #theodorable #cakesmash #thisisone #sugarhigh #funcle (at Bethesda, Maryland) https://www.instagram.com/p/CE2GiBopzACnWfLPVAKqqHkUMlKF-l_HhxavNE0/?igshid=1mtqneudyzl37

There are lots of folks who are a lot worse off than me, however I’d be lying if I said today wasn’t disappointing. But whether it’s April, or September, or next year - I’m still coming for that fifth star. It’s just more time to train for a PR in (hopefully) the first-ever Fall @bostonmarathon. #HarlemToHeartbreak #26andchange (at Long Island City) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Oqc9NJZCLrloAJxMHQhSPu-qLS5IBGh8tDms0/?igshid=1fgef3unwu4dy

12 weeks + 320.1 miles = 4:10:49, a nearly 3 minute PR. . 4 @wmmajors // 4 rainy days // 4 PRs. . This one fell on the 10 year anniversary of my surgeries. So today, more than ever, here’s to remaining healthy. To trusting the training. To all the learning - how to push myself, how to get faster, what was missing, and when to just #runyourrun. Here’s to mixed feelings, and to the crew back home telling me “no mixed feelings!!” So I’m deleting all the feelings that aren’t good ones. To the reflection, to the roadmap ahead. To destination races, and missing my home turf. To #WWBD, #DSDQ, and #3653. To breaking tapes along the way, and continuing to do things I never thought possible. The bar keeps getting higher, so the work continues. It always continues. Because hard work pays off. 4 down, London and Boston to go. . #RUNtoberfest #LFG #justdidthedamnthing #sweatequity #comfortinthediscomfort #HWPO #whendoyouquit #PRSunday #strava #stravarun #NYRR #berlin42 #BerlinLegend #BerlinMarathon #AbbottWMM #chooseyourownadventure #26andchange (at BMW Marathon Berlin) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3AIrOZHHiERco30v26sRgeNj8gQ1bb4cCBn7k0/?igshid=9nvsbi2w0uo8

Still daydreaming about this weekend, this boat, these pics, those (bottomless) coolers, this celebration, these laughs, this crew, that playlist, these memories, this #minniepalooza. (at Charles River) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1FHYGGnlT8sZwXVi1sxkhjQue8ADZtsMPOdsA0/?igshid=7oqgmbeq3jen

Thanks for everything, Murray Hill - the 6 train, the movie theater, Baby Bo’s, the traffic, the East River Running Path, my Crunch, take-out sushi, the Midtown Tunnel, Sarge’s, Apel, the awesome Wimbledon doormen, Gemini diner, Waterfront with Brian, buying the green sauce in bulk, the hallway cat that greeted me every morning, and the ~10 years of tiny moments in between it all. . “There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” . #chooseyourownadventure #borobingo #LIC (at Murray Hill, Manhattan) https://www.instagram.com/jasoncsherman/p/ByIq4-MnFRJsQ7FhZuBeD7mou3Pz9ZSaLdfzjU0/?igshid=1fzdfpupf4tmn

Arigato, Tokyo, for all the Lost In Translation moments, the heated seats, the ramen and sushi breakfasts and the ramen and sushi dinners - and all the chocolate that followed. For the perfect metro and the friendly locals, the digital museum and umbrella etiquette, for making me stand to eat and sit (on the floor) to drink, for the $100 whole fish and $1 fatty tuna. For arm tattoos and (multiple) robot restaurants. But most of all, endless gratitude for the kind and colorful backdrop to another epic #shermstein chapter, and for all the photos to prove it. This one is from that time that @epstein_m and I dressed up as cartoon characters and drove go carts around Shibuya during rush hour. It was as fun as it sounds. “You, the people, have the power to make this life a wonderful adventure.” #tokyGO #chooseyourownadventure (at Tokyo, Japan) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bux3_SJHCkIK1idaimh2jyY4dMydT88jvEE46s0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7n8vli2wxi21

330 miles + 12 weeks of training = 4:13:27, an 8.5 minute PR, and an absolute euphoric feeling of accomplishment. This one is for the hard, hard work of training in the dead of winter - for not skipping a day, despite the below-zero temps. For adding strength training back to not only get past the wall, but to knock it down completely. It’s for the early mornings and late nights, for that Friday night 18-miler alone in Central Park - and for knowing there was a reason for it. Change happens when no one’s looking. This one is for (still, and always) controlling only what I can control - for knowing beyond any doubt that no race conditions can stop me. But as always - endless gratitude for the whole squad, sending me encouragement from the other side of the planet, 14 time zones away - and especially for my brother-from-another-mother, @epstein_m, for being there to hand me the all the gels and take all the photos (and eat all the ramen). 3 down, 3 to go. See you in Berlin this September. #tokyGO #tokyomarathon2019 #tokyomarathon #letsdothedamnthing #justdidthedamnthing #whatwall #sweatequity #HWPO #WWBD #DSDQ #PRSunday #strava #stravarun #NYRR #LFG #AbbottWMM #chooseyourownadventure #26andchange (at Tokyo Marathon) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuikOLVHkjYlkOtRQ16Bjf1qgxxf19C_JsVRK00/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=164oyj7aqjn2y

Four weeks later - 4:24:18. Course PR by 3:24! Ended marathon season on a perfect day to cruise through the boroughs. I paced poorly today, but knew the course, knew my limits, and knew how to push them. If I’ve learned anything during these two races a month apart, it’s that I’m mentally stronger than I ever thought I could be, I can narrow my focus when faced with a challenge, and I’m determined as all hell. And that this crazy crew around me is the strongest tailwind anyone could ask for. Today - more than ever - I’m gonna do what you won’t, so tomorrow I can do what you can’t. Third marathon in the tank, and just getting started. See you in 2020 for your 50th, @nycmarathon. #letsdothedamnthing #justdidthedamnthing #sweatequity #hardworkpaysoff #HWPO #WWBD #PRSunday #strava #stravarun #NYRR #LFG #whatwall #TCSNYCMarathon #MovedMe #AbbottWMM #chooseyourownadventure #26andchange #52in28 (at TCS New York City Marathon) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpyL9VvnT_pYhcPwtNT52DdwYs2K4f0sK022hY0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=4d0eiwnpy609

May you never encounter a challenge that a creative undergarment can’t solve. I love you both so much. #DebSaysBriDo (at Park Hyatt Washington D.C.) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpfjupVnYlqVjMrmsGwQaRJaIrZTE1E-JXYUDQ0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ixzfuo0bmjwi

I never got a chance to post a picture from the trip Brian and I took this summer. Of all the traveling I’ve done, this was one of the best trips of my life. So to the kid who’s always there for random adventures with me, who will pose for insane (and far too many) pictures with me, who will do all the driving, who will switch hotels as often as I make him, who will cling to the side of a mountain in a thunderstorm with me, who will find the humor in yoga poses, who will time lapse a sunset with me at 4am wrapped in a hotel blanket on the rim of a canyon, who will sacrifice sunglasses in service of paddle boarding, who will chase sunsets and selfie-stick for hours with me, who will reliably overeat Mexican food and hike trails wherever they may be, who will get on the ground in a public bathroom to use the hand dryer on his face, who will slightly-recklessly drive through a hail storm to the airport, and who will sit in silence and soak in a moment with me that we won’t soon forget. At the start of your wedding weekend, I wish you all the random adventures you and Deb can handle for the rest of your lives. I love ya, bro. #wegrewuptogether #chooseyourownadventure (at Horseshoe Bend) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpXP8TYHFHdbElUFPxexOjdFNK3g4GdseTe1dc0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=dw7861sku360

380 miles + 112 days = 4:21:53. To setting a PR by nearly six full minutes! To negative splitting by over three and a half minutes! To exceeding my own expectations, and to rising to the moment. To feeling inspired by runners overcoming challenges far more difficult than mine - and drawing energy from them. To controlling only what I can control. To perseverance through all the elements. To managing my reps. To (many) long runs in the rain. To flat courses. To succumbing to the emotions. To approaching the wall, to seeing the wall, to passing the wall, and to conquering the wall. To the final kick, and having trained specifically for it. To being the man in the arena. And as always, most of all, to the people in my life who fill my tanks, keep me afloat, offer perspective, lift me up, and keep me moving forward. Two down - four to go. See you in Tokyo. #letsdothedamnthing #justdidthedamnthing #sweatequity #HWPO #WWBD #PRSunday #strava #stravarun #NYRR #LFG #roadtochicago #52in28 #ChicagoMarathon #AbbottWMM #chooseyourownadventure #26andchange (at 2018 Bank of America Chicago Marathon) https://www.instagram.com/p/BosNp4entKYlPdfIuh3SAFDptS0ojZj9AuiFCQ0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=bxuhhch6hf4s

Not pictured: the grooms, the hora, the photo shoots, the vows, the perfect venue, the shell crowns, the speeches, the floor plans, the tears, the hugs, the wines...and six overflowing hearts. #ANiceHayesForARoseWedding #RosesAreWed #chooseyourownadventure (at Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center)

Seventh time’s the charm - mission accomplished. 1:59:06 with PRs all over the damn place. #project159 #complete #PopularBKHalf #PRSaturday #HWPO (at Coney Island)

This was my fourth audiobook on Audible and I enjoyed it the most. It was a compelling story by an author I enjoy, it was short and to the point, and the plot wasn't too elaborate that it became difficult to follow in my ears, a bit unlike Murder On The Orient Express. William Johnson was a character who I learned to root for, and I admire his courage in the face of incredible uncertainty. I would have parlayed my experience (success?) into more recognition for myself, but it's possible that this wasn't the way in the late 1800s. I was surprised to learn this was a story based on real people - pleasantly so. However, I thought there were a lot of superfluous characters along the way, and was waiting for something more unexpected to happen utilizing them. While slightly disappointed this didn't come to be, it didn't negatively impact my experience.

Traveling solo = creative selfies. I (Ma)drid the best I could. #chooseyourownadventure #ATW41adjacent (at Royal Palace of Madrid)

Lis-bon a Portuguese trip to remember, filled with Venn diagrams, cork tricks, magical street bread men — and of course, epic travel amigos. Vamonos to Madrid! #chooseyourownadventure #ATW41 #atw41adjacent (at Lisbon, Portugal)