Will of Man - Part One

WILL OF MAN

part one

By

William Scanlan

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FOR WILLIAM SCANLAN

This publication is property of William Scanlan. All rights reserved for William Scanlan. Copyright 2013.

     No part of this book shall be copied, reproduced, distributed, or transmitted without permission.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Tyler’s Journal Entry: 452

Date: October 4th

Weather: Cool, cloudy, slightly windy

Miles to go: 620

Tomorrow is the day I end this showdown with my five "friends." For three days I've tried crossing this river. For three days they've stalked me and blocked my passage across.

I sit here across from them and the only thing separating us is fifty yards of slow moving water. They just sit on their side of the river, staring at me.

I'm tired of waiting. Part of me wishes they would make a move so I don't have to. But that's alright; I've practiced MY move over and over. And tomorrow I will make it. Tomorrow if all goes to plan, there will be five corpses floating down stream and I will be across the river continuing on my way to find my family.

Dad always said, have a plan A and back it with a plan B. Well I have my plan A, a plan B, and a plan C if needed.

I've watched them as they they've watched me. I count five all together. The big one seems to be the Alpha. I'm expecting to deal with him last. I suspect the others will come for me first. I'll need to coax them in one at a time or least keep them separated enough that I can take each one out quickly and then move on to the next.

From what I know of this type; is that they are the best at working as a team. They will channel me in to where they want me, but I won't allow that. They will try to flank me from the sides, which I hope they try. They will be perfectly synchronized when closing in. But I will bust a crack in their circle of death and I will take them out one-by-one.

They may think they have me trapped in their world, but they will be in mine. The water has been my world since I was little, and I will make them pay for entering it. By getting them to come into the water, I will take away their speed and strength and give myself the advantage I need.

Tomorrow, when I'm ready, they will all die.

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 1

Date: September 6

Day: MONDAY

Weather: COOL/WINDY/CLOUDY

Training: 2 mile fartlek, 12 mile biking (155 average heart rate)

Well, this is the first of many entries I assume that I will make in this journal. My English teacher wants us to keep a journal throughout the school year. He says we can write about anything we want. I’m choosing to use it as a way to keep track of my triathlon training. I like to see my progress and I like to keep track of what works and what doesn’t

School is going well. I’ve maintained my mediocre status of being mostly invisible to the other students. But that’s OK, I have my close friends and they’re all I need. No girlfriend’s’ yet. But my day of studliness is coming. Ha.

My favorite class is math. Mr. Stoll is cool (as long as you don’t cause trouble). I enjoy algebra. Math comes easy to me. Kendrick’s in my class and so is Jax. It’s an advanced class.

My least favorite class is healthy lifestyles. Mrs. K is cool (reminds me of a hippie from the 60’s), but all we do is walk around the outside of the school for forty-five minutes. I’m used to running five miles a day for triathlon training, so this walking stuff seems like a waste to me.

Not to complain, but I’d rather be running. Most of the kids use this time to goof off or gossip. I guess it’s an easy A though. It would be pretty embarrassing to flunk a class where all you have to do is walk around the outside of the school.

Jax has been hanging with the "jocks" more and more. He rarely has lunch with me anymore or hangs out with me in the halls. I don’t get it. Jax doesn’t have an athletic bone in his body. I watch him playing basketball with the jocks and he looks silly!

Now I know I’m no jock either. I have the hand-eye coordination of a three year old and the fast twitch muscles of an eighty year old man. Fortunately for me, I have good endurance. I can go forever.

Maybe I’m just being jealous. I feel like I’m losing him as a friend. Maybe I should ask him to hang out more after school. We’ll see.

Carlos is still good ole Carlos. He’s typically clueless to so-called “social standings.” I guess that’s why I like him so much. He doesn’t care who you are as long as you’re nice. That’s cool. We spend most our time goofing around and playing video games.

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 5

Date: September 11

Day: Saturday

Weather: Cool, Cloudy, slightly rainy

Training: RACE DAY

I raced today in Tawas. This race was good and bad. The bad was the swim, since it was in Lake Huron near the Tawas pier. It's always freezing with huge waves.

This is the only race I do in the Great Lakes and it's takes a lot of concentration in regards to my breathing. I have to breathe away from the direction of the waves; otherwise I get a mouth full of water. So it's all about timing.

The swim buoys always get pushed out into deeper water due to the waves and the water depth is way over my head. It's very scary and no one ever seems prepared for the conditions - Including me.

I was actually scared for my life during this one. Three people dropped from the race because of the swim conditions. Even with my wetsuit, I found myself freezing throughout the swim. Usually a swimmer can catch their breath once their body acclimates to the temperature. But with the freezing water in Tawas Bay, I could never catch mine. I was in panic mode throughout the entire swim. Needless to say, I was very happy to finish the swim phase.

The good parts were the bike and the run. The bike was on smooth roads that led out into the country. I felt strong and was able to pass many bikers. It was awesome!

The run went just as well. I was a bit tired from pushing so hard during the bike and it took about a quarter mile to get my legs moving properly. Once I felt my strength return, I drafted another strong racer throughout the run. Stayed right on his heals throughout. As we neared the finish, with about 50 meters to go, I pushed past him and over took him.

I ended up with a first in my age group (of 33) and third overall (of 255). It was one of my best races yet. Fortunately the swim proved just as hard for everyone else and the rest of the race went perfect for me. Can't wait for the next race!

Here's my schedule and results to date (I’m always the youngest, but my dad seems to be able to get me into the more adult races):

Race Schedule

January 23
                            Winter Wolf 15 miles (1:57)

March 6                            March Madness (1st solo, 4th overall)
  

March 21                            MAC Indoor tri at the MAC (2
^nd
age)

March 28                            MARCH MADNESS AR (2
^nd
)

April 25                            Steele Case Duathlon (5
^th)

April 26                            SPRING FURY (5
^th
))

May 22                                      Okemos Triathlon (1st place age!)

May 23                                          Xterra Last Stand (4
^th
age)

June 6                                          Hawk Island Triathlon (9th of 75)

July 11                                         
Waterloo Duathlon
(2nd 0f 24)

July 17-18                            Midland Triathlon (4
^th
0f 50)

July 23                                          Wells Fargo Triathlon (1st age)

July 25                                          Howell Crosstown Triathlon (11
^th)

August 18                            T-Rex Mid-Week
Triathlon (3
^rd
)

August 21                            Summer Quest 4 hour (1
^st
)

August 28                            Lansing Legislature (1st age!)

September 11              Tawas Olympic Distance (1
^st
)

September 19              Cedar Point Olympic Distance

October 23                            Breakout 24 hr

Dec 4                                          December Chill

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 12

Date: October 1

Day: Friday

Weather: Sunny, warm

Training: Doesn’t matter – I got suspended from school today.

TODAY SUCKED! I got suspended from school for three days. This is what happened; throughout the day Glenn Diceman had been tormenting me. He’s a huge kid that lives down the street from me. I used to play with him when we were kids and he used to be really nice. Well, recently he made the football team and his whole personality changed. He’s taken on that stereotypical football “jock” persona and has become a really arrogant jerk.

So today in social studies, he decides to sit next to me. I said hi and asked him how football was going. He pulls himself up close to me and get’s in my face and says he’s going to beat me up. I’m not one to back down from anyone, so I get in his space and tell him to go for it.

Mostly I was posturing for show, because I thought he was mostly joking. I didn’t think he was serious. But he was and now I had to deal with him. My town is small and I know how word gets around. I knew if I back down from him at all, I will be seen as weak and then I will have a whole team of Glenn’s to deal with.

So now I’m on the defense all day. I was looking over my shoulder, down the halls, listening for his voice, etc. I was kind of getting scared as the day went on, but I wasn’t going to show it. And besides, part of me really didn’t think he was going to do anything since we were kind of friends not too long ago.

But at the end of fourth hour I was walking down the hall when all of a sudden BAM! Glenn punches me in the arm from behind and it hurt. I turned around and there he was with this big dumb grin on his face being patted on the back by his idiot teammates.