A year ago, on August 31, 2025, I hit publish on the first Warm Current post. I had no idea if anyone would read it, let alone stick around. So first thing’s first: Thank you! Whether you’ve been here since day one or you found this newsletter last week, thank you for reading, for sharing this with people in your life, and for the comments and emails you’ve sent along the way. If you’ve never left a comment or replied to one of these, I’d genuinely love to hear from you (there’s a comment box and contact info below each post on the site). And if you know a guy who could use this, please forward it to him. That’s the most authentic way this grows.
I want to pause on this anniversary and do two things: look back at what this year has actually been, and look ahead at where I think it’s headed.
What I think you’ve taken away
If I had to guess what’s landed with you over the past year, it’s this: I’m not selling you a transformation. I’m showing you the actual work, including the parts where it doesn’t go well. There’s the time trials that didn’t validate my training. Getting told by three different people that I’m too hard on myself. A funk I was in and didn’t know why. Little of what I share resolves in tidy lessons, and that’s the point. Real growth mostly looks like showing up again the next day, it’s not a 20-second social video.
The running isn’t decoration or a foil, it’s the point. Other people will talk about how “running is like life.” I show how that’s so. When I write about intervals or injury or a race that didn’t go the way I wanted, I’m writing about the same thing I write about when I talk about marriage, parenting, or grief. The work is what matters. It’s present in nearly everything I’ve written this year, whether I was talking about Testosterone, Josh Kerr’s mile world record, or my own training.
What I know works better than the manosphere
I don’t think this is a matter of opinion at this point. I’ve got a year of evidence from my own life. Here are a couple of examples…
Effort you can’t fake beats a shortcut you can buy. Testosterone, biohacking, dominance posturing, vitamins, all of it lets a guy feel like he’s doing something without doing the internal work that leads to lasting change. I know the difference, and I’ve shown it in this newsletter.
Taking correction well is stronger than defending your ego. When three people told me I’m too hard on myself, the manosphere playbook says “defend yourself.” I didn’t. I listened and reflected. That’s a harder, but better, way to live because it allows me to accept help and make connections with people who care.
Showing up for boring, unglamorous things beats the manosphere’s lone wolf myth. Canvassing for my local party. Volunteering when a stranger from work wanted to build community. None of it was exciting. All of it mattered more than “optimizing” myself in isolation ever has.
Saying yes to connection when your instinct is to withdraw actually works. After I got rejected for a job I wanted, my gut said pull back. I said yes to a trail run and a coffee with a stranger instead. I don’t have a tidy conclusion from that yet, but I know withdrawing has never once made things better.
Where I know I’ve got more work to do
I’m not going to pretend this newsletter is finely tuned. I think I have yet to really find my voice. I think my Connect, Care, Commit, Challenge framework needs a little clarity. And many years of coaching kids and adult runners is a well I’ve barely dipped into this year. I might dip into that more.
Where it’s going…
Those are all good ideas to explore, and I will do those and more. But I’m also looking at improving the reach of this newsletter. I mentioned months ago I was toying with the idea of moving to another platform to improve the “discoverability” of Warm Current. I’m narrowing down my options on how to send you Warm Current (I’m keeping this website, tho). I am in the planning stages for adding a video element. Something very short form because I don’t want “making content” to be my job, and I’m not paywalling this newsletter to turn it into a financial thing. You can help by sharing, commenting, and when I launch accounts associated with it, following. But that’s for another day. Today is for a pause to reflect.
Thank you again for a year of reading, for the emails, and for allowing me to trust you with some pretty vulnerable stuff. If this newsletter has meant something to you, the best thing you can do is share it with one person who might benefit from seeing it. Maybe you have a son or nephew or a colleague with whom it resonates. Subscribe if you haven’t. Send me email at frankfield@protonmail.com with comments or ideas. And if you want to help cover the cost of keeping the lights on here, you can always buy me a coffee. Here’s to year two!
