Y’all don’t likely need to think very hard of all the disruptions that occurred for you in 2020, Covid year.  Far be it from me to gloss over the loss of life and sickness that many experienced that year, but what about just the annoying things that happened?  I remember many basketball seasons getting canceled.  I nearby town had a state-ranked team that would likely have won it all, but alas, the season was canceled, and we’ll never know.  Graduations, birthdays, weddings, funerals, church services, movies…just about every thing in every way was somehow turned on its head.  Including my triathlon season.

For me, the season starts around the beginning of May after the long winter begins to wane.  The mornings start to warm up and the sun begins to illuminate the dawn.  I love tri season, and I happily spring out of bed early in the morning to get my training miles in.  That year, about mid-way through my season, it became apparent that triathlon races throughout the country were getting canceled.  It was around July when it was finally announced that the race I typically enjoy doing would officially cancel.

I can’t say as though I was mad, but certainly disappointed.  I mean, I had done this race for 14 years straight and my streak would now come to an end.  Then, a thought…or was it a question…entered my brain.  “I can do one on my own?”

You see, in triathlon training, you do a couple ‘mock tris’.  These help you get the feel of your fitness and helps you work on your race and transitions.  But these mock tris aren’t as long as the real thing.  It’s a building block to the ultimate race you’re training for, not the race distance itself.  But why couldn’t it be? I wondered.  I swam in a friend’s pond for my open water practice.  I could do my mile swim there, then hop on my bike for the 25-mile ride, then hop off and begin my 6.2 mile run.  And thus, that became my goal.

As I approached ‘race day’, I had decided to do the race on the same day as the typical sanctioned race would’ve been.  But, there was one slight issue.  You see, August is the beginning of hurricane season in the Gulf.  And, in Ohio, sometimes if the storm hits the Gulf Coast just right, the remnants of the storm will eventually curve up and around to our state clear up north.  “What are the chances?” I thought.  Doh!

Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana on Thursday, August 27th, 2020.  The trajectory of its path meant that its remnants would hit Ohio by Saturday.  I had a decision to make.  Postpone my ‘race’, or find another day.  Postponing would certainly make a lot of sense, and would’ve made things much easier.  But, something inside me said to do it anyway.  Covid had derailed so many other things that year, I wasn’t going to let a storm affect my plans too.  I termed my race the “Screw Covid Triathlon”. And Friday evening I set out my gear.

“What are you doing?” my loving wife asked.

“Setting out my gear for my Screw Covid Race tomorrow morning.” I responded.

“You’re still doing it?  Isn’t that when what’s left of Hurricane Laura is supposed to be blowing through?”

“Ya, I think so.”

She shook her head.

“You’re crazy.”

“Thanks?”

At 6am Saturday morning, my alarm went off. I could already hear the rain pelting against our house and the wind whistling through the trees.  I wiped the sleep out of my eyes, splashed some water on my face, hopped in my truck, and drove to the pond.  The Screw Covid Race was on.

So, there I was.  Rain pelting against my face.  Wind howling through my ears.  Barely light yet, I stood on the shore of the pond, about ready to click start on my watch, I paused.  This, quite possibly, was about to be the dumbest thing I had ever done.  You see, when you turn your head for a breath while swimming, you want air, not rainfall, in your mouth.  And, when you bike, you like dry pavement and no wind.  And, when running, you want clear skies and a gentle breeze.

Yet, something inside me said, do it.  Click start on your Garmin.  Get in the water.  Start this race.  Do this hard thing.  You won’t regret it, you don’t want to go home and tell your family you got all the way to the shore then chickened out.  I wanted to prove that I could do this.  I wanted to prove to my kids you can do hard things.  I told myself: You want to do this, you want to earn the finish line.  No one can change the weather, get to work in spite of it.

So, that’s what I did.  My nerves fully engaged, I clicked start, and the race was on.  And…

2 hours, 55 minutes, and 41 seconds later…

I finished.

To say I was soaked to the bone is an understatement.  To say I was physically exhausted was even more of an understatement.  And, to say I was proud of my accomplishment, to say I was happy with my one-man victory, to say I was fulfilled with my preparation that propelled me to the finish line…also an understatement.

What about you?  No, I’m not asking if you’ve ever done a triathlon in the remnants of a hurricane, but have you done hard things?  When faced with trials and tribulations, do you cower in fear and run?  Or do you face it head on and press forward?  When faced with complex puzzles or mental challenges, do you retreat and look for the easy way out?  Or do you stay in the fight, and extinguish all possible scenarios until the solution is found?  When you encounter jagged paths or mighty mountains, do you expect others to carry you up and over?  Or do you pave your own path, blaze your own trail, and succeed on the other side?

Life is hard.  Trials come.  Tough times happen.  Yet, if we dig deep enough, if we embrace the suck, if we summon our inner strength, we can get through…we can do hard things.  And once they’re behind us, we have the confidence that we can overcome the next hard thing as well.  One step at a time, one trial after the other.

Face forward, shoulders back.  Put a smile on your face, a spring in your step.  Approach the shore of the trial.  Don’t retreat.  Step forward.  Click start.  Pursue your goal.  Accomplish your mission.

Do hard things.

And live on purpose today.