Planning) There was very little wrestling history at Lincoln High School, so I wanted to create it. I arrived early and stayed late. The fitness aspect of sports never scared me—I loved to work out—but moderation wasn’t one of my trademarks at this point. So during my sophomore year, I had what I thought was a great idea. I was going to run to school in the morning. This would allow me to get in an extra workout, help me stay ahead of the competition. Wrestling had become a serious pursuit for me by this time, and as I’ve said, I approached it the way I did everything else in my life: with intent to win. I saw this running idea as a way of separating myself from the average wrestler—of doing just a little bit more than was expected of me. We lived out in the country, a good distance from school; but “it’s pretty far” was about as scientific as I got with my planning. I knew it took my mom fifteen or twenty minutes to drive to school but that was about as far as my research went.
