Building Character

The Mission:  To conquer my first ever Olympic distance marathon before the end of the summer to raise money to end bullying in schools.

Biking against the wind is difficult.  Trust me on this.  Today was a 20 mile bike and at least, well, half of it was fighting an unexpected adversary.  I had to pedal alot harder just to keep moving forward at my desired pace.  And while that sucked, I couldn't help but think that on the plus side, the extra effort was making my legs stronger and that could only help me come race day.  

Since starting this quest, I've heard alot of people talk about their own bullying experiences at school.   In looking back, many people say that they thought it was just part of being a kid.  They even comment on how, perhaps, as a result of being a bullied kid they learned self reliance, independence, and an astute sixth sense regarding getting taken advantage of.  People say that it builds character.  It's as if there is this plus side to an unexpected and undesired adversary; something that makes you stronger for your life to come.

But there has to be a better way.  Even if you can positively spin bullying, we have to agree that there is a better way to promote self reliance and independence in kids than to toughen their skin by putting them down.  We have to agree that even if we convince ourselves that there are some positive byproducts to bullying, that a race fought always against the wind leads only to exhaustion and defeat.

Help me help GLSEN bring a wind of change to the national problem of bullying in our schools. 

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Songs from the Playlist - Never Surrender

The Mission:  To conquer an Olympic distance triathlon before the end of the summer to raise money to end bullying in school.

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Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a diehard Corey Hart fan.  I have every CD, album, cassette tape ever made and was a member of the international fan club.  I know.  As a child of the 80's, the song Sunglasses at Night was all the rage in 1984, my freshman year of high school.  But it was the song Never Surrender that had the most impact on a young kid looking for his own place in the world. "So when you're lost and on your own, you can never surrender.  And when your path won't lead you home, you can never surrender...Cause no one can take away your right to fight and to never surrender."  Thanks for that Mr. Hart.

The Inspiration

Sirdeaner Walker addressed Congress this week to talk about the importance of passing the Safe Schools Initiative. If passed, this would increase federal funding to start programs to educate schools and teachers on how to deal with and eradicate bullying in schools. Mrs. Walker is the mother of Carl Walker Hoover, the 11 year old boy that I talk about in my mission at the beginning of this blog.

I had been planning on tackling a triathlon for over a year now. I was going to do it last summer but could never find my inspiration. I started thinking about it again this spring. I read about Carl shortly after his suicide in April and things started falling into place. I knew then that I was going to accomplish my goal and I knew that I wanted to partner with GLSEN to raise money as a way of honoring the memory of Carl.

In my sprint distance race I thought of Carl twice - once when I got panicked in a mass of other swimmers and another biking up the hardest hill. I just kept thinking "you can do this, giving up is no longer an option". I feel like Carl is depending on me to finish what I started.

I know that Mrs. Walker will never read my blog or know about my meager efforts to end this huge problem. Perhaps it is enough to put something like this out for the collective winds of the universe to carry. I have no doubt she is well aware of the effect that Carl had on people's lives both in his life and in his death. And I am no exception.

The Race

The Mission: To conquer an Olympic distance triathlon before the end of the summer to raise money to end bullying in schools

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Ok, so I did it. The first major step toward my goal of completing an Olympic distance triathlon is completed. On June 21st i ran the Wisconsin Triterium Sprint Distance Triathlon and I couldn't be happier. What a crazy day of emotions and triumphs.

I awoke early with alot of nervous energy and got to the race site with over an hour to spare before the race start. I pulled my bike out of the car only to find that the innertube was flat! I was thanking my lucky stars that I learned how to change a tire the week before and used my skills to get it done. With the tire changed, I headed over to registration, got marked, found my place on the bike rack and set up my transition station. I learned that I was in the first wave of swimmers. I was assigned a bright pink swim cap! (awesome)

I entered the water when they announced go and started swimming. I cannot tell you how much excitement was filling my body and I had to remind myself to slow down. I swam a wide net around the buoys to avoid the clamor of the other swimmers and it seemed like I would never get around. My goal was to swim crawl stroke the entire time and to finish in 15 minutes. My breathing was irregular but I just kept thinking of the reasons why I took on this challenge and it forced me to keep my head in the water and push forward. I walked out of the water and looked at my watch - 11 minutes! I was energized at my time.

I ran to the transition zone and completely freaked out. I hadn't practiced transitions and so I just kept fumbling with my gear until I finally got my socks and shoes on and grabbed my bike. I ran my bike to the start line and started pedalling. I had biked the course before and so knew what to expect - hill after hill after hill. The myriad of other bikers around me ignited my competetive spirit and I pushed hard up every single climb. Before I knew it, they were signalling the half way mark and I was surprised. I completely forgot how much my thighs were burning. My goal was to not have to walk any hills and to finish in 1 hour. I got off the bike and headed to the transition zone in a mere 40 minutes!

I was feeling unstoppable and ready to crush the run until I actually started running and felt my legs cramp up. I had not trained any brick days and so going from bike to run was new for me. I had to run slower than I wanted to until my legs warmed up, about 1 mile. After that, I moved into high gear and began passing my competition. My goal was to not walk and to finish the run in 25 minutes. I only stopped for gatorade and finished in exactly 25 minutes.

I was ready to be done as I turned the corner toward the finish but I felt as exhausted as I thought I should. I felt as though I had done well but couldn't imagine doing an Olympic distance. Inspiration for training I suppose. I ran toward the finish line, they called my name, cowbells and applause ringing in my ears.

With so much behind me and so much more ahead, I am reminded of all of the hard work that GLSEN has done in the past to help kids have a safe school environment in which to grow as well as all of the hard work that they have left to do. There is no sprint to the finish in that race just steady efforts to pass milestones and crush goals one after the other.

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