I'm No Brett Favre

Hello all. I am back from the Thorpe Cup after a horrendous day of travel. My flight was supposed to go through O'Hare, but weather in Chicago caused massive delays. Ended up switching airlines and coming back to GR through Cincinnati. I left the hotel in Kansas at 5:00am and arrived in Grand Rapids at 9:00pm. Flew home in 14 hours, could have driven it in 10.

The decathlon at the Thorpe Cup was absolutely brutal. I had honestly felt pretty good and was excited for the opportunity. If it wasn't for plasticine. You see, I can now verify firsthand that a 200lb human body can float effortlessly for up to 5 inches on the stuff. I can also verify that the same 200lb man will be stopped instantaneously by mondo once the plasticine has no more real estate. I am describing my second attempt in the long jump. I landed on my head in the pit, and apparently did some damage to my foot (would have preferred damage to the head). It appears that they hired a second grader to mold the stuff to the board as it was at least half an inch thick. Tendon or ligament I don't know, but it is somewhat in the arch area. I was elated to clear a bar in the high jump, and actually managed a complete the 400m despite the better judgment of our team physician who wanted me to get an MRI. I told him three things: 1) an MRI is expensive 2) I couldn't possibly make it back in time for the 400 and 3) I did not see the team of wild horses he would need to keep me off the track. Oh, and did I mention...it was 107 deg. Day two was excruciatingly painful, and with temps in the 110's it felt as though they had transported us to the surface of the sun (meet location pictured above). I was able to hobble through what I could, but the pole vault was just impossible. In the end, however, the US team was able to defeat the Germans by a large margin and put up the second highest team decathlon score in history. SO awesome to be a part of that.

Here are some other good things that came out of the meet. I was able to go out with some of the neatest guys I have competed with in 10 years. At our first team meeting before the start of the decathlon I was selected to be the team captain. What a humbling honor (and reason to finish the meet no matter what). If I wasn't able to go out on top, at least I was able to go out well liked and respected.

Secondly, there are elements of finishing with a dec like this that is good. Good in a way that a personality like mine maybe needed...to be reminded that it is time to move on and that moving on is the right decision. It is entirely possible that I could have had a great meet had I not sustained the injury...and that would have been nice too. But maybe I would have had a bug in my ear to try and "get a little better". Not the case with me now. That was one of the most internally as well as externally painful meets ever. The foot every step and the sun and heat every minute. I am done! I am content. I am moving on. This is in many ways an answer to prayer for me.

Thanks again to everyone who supported us this year in all we tried to accomplish. What a wonderful journey. As C.S. Lewis has written, in order to know the greatest joys, you must be willing to leave yourself open to some of the greatest sorrows. We have known both over the years, and I would have it no other way. If there are things in life that you have always dreamed of pursuing, why not give it a try. There is no guarantee that the result will be what you expect, but the journey and the answer are often worth more than the prize you thought you were seeking.