My Blood, Sweat, and Tears!! Literally

The more days that have gone by now, which has made the weeks turn into days up until this week, I've been thinking very seriously about how far I've come to get to this point. In all honestly I really couldn't think of a great title to call this post since nothing really jumped out in my mind. However, the fact that this has been a long, hard, but satisfying journey in my 14 years of running long distances sums it up to say the least. But, Blood, Sweat, and Tears seemed like a good title due to fact that throughout the last 14 years I literally gave my blood, sweat, and tears into running. I feel it has grown me into the person I am today and gotten me through each challenge in my life. There were a lot of blood, sweat, and tears and the people that know me best know full well.

I was able to qualify for the Boston Marathon before, but I felt could have used more racing experience in the distances of the half or full marathon. After a 2 hour 34 min 53 second performance last May 2010 in Cleveland, and with my parents' encouragement to register, I am going to be running the Boston Marathon this coming Monday. I guess it's that attitude of not settling for almost anything less than what I know I'm capable of. My limits are what have driven me in the sport and gotten me to where I am in life right now despite the hardships or social differences and experiences through my childhood.
During my teenage years I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. My parents and a few other people in my family or outside of my family know this. Asperger’s Syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. These are some websites where you can read a little bit more into Asperser's Syndrome, or to be simple you can just type it under Google or Yahoo and read more upon.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/aspergers-syndrome-directory
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/mental-health-aspergers-syndrome

But, basically it's a pervasive development disorder that involves the delay of certain basic skills that involves problems with social skills, eccentric behavior, coordination, lack of empathy, unable to pick up on social cues, and difficult speech tone. At times those children or teenagers that are diagnosed are usually pre-occupied with one or few certain type of interests with being able to talk a lot about a subject or subject to their interests, having trouble figuring out another person tone of speech such as understanding a joke, and having trouble looking at somebody when talking to them, and they have a little trouble with their motor skills. Many children improve over into their teenage years but they still have difficulty reading people's behavior which makes it difficult to maintain friendship or even worse they can be bullied or teased.

However, this condition or disorder can be treated or dealt with but by simple behavioral therapy in improving communication skills, dealing with obsessive routines, learning about it from websites, assistance with motor skills, and support from loved ones.
I'm not going to lie, the rest of my teenage years, and even throughout most of my childhood had been difficult in understanding social signs and communication from other children or those who I've befriended. A lot of those kids and teachers labeled me as different or a problem child, which I wasn't. I've felt that the world was totally against me. I think basically I’ve been MISUNDERSTOOD!! I try to escape or get acceptance from my peers through sports. Of course, I played Football, Basketball, and Baseball from 2nd grade through the end of Junior High. Yet, I wasn't athletic enough to pursue getting a whole lot of playing time in either sport.

I mentioned in the 14 years of distance running article that my family moved back to Ohio when I was in the 8^th grade. My mom had taught in a Catholic Junior High/High School when we were down in Parkersburg, West Virginia. I attended that school before we left and decided to go to the Catholic High School in New Philadelphia, Ohio called Tuscarawas Central Catholic since I gotten used to attending a Catholic school even though no one in our family was Catholic! But, thinking that it was a Christian school it would be no different. I tried to not let the bad experiences from my childhood or attitude effect me while I was there my freshman year. Yet, slowly there were a couple of kids, or gang of them I should say, that tended to label me as different. Mostly it was because of the way I reacted to a couple of things or my behavior perceived me as being different.

Despite this I was able to make friends with a couple of students in my class and with some of the upper classmen. Things slowly began to get more difficult with these aggressors as my sophomore year went on. A lot of instances where they would tease or try to belittle or make fun of, or try to get me fired up about something I would yell back stop it or yell back profanity at them and normally I’d get in trouble while trying to explain to the teachers and administrators what was happening. There were times I even went to them, CALMLY I might add, and tell them what was going on and they said they would look into it. From the prospective of what I gathered they may have talked to them about them teasing me but those main aggravators would also deny it or back each other up and the principal, the dean, and teachers seemed to take their word over mine. My instances weren’t the only one. I saw in my class two of my classmates get into a fight. One guy was a sprinter on the track team another was a baseball player. They were both suspended one meet and one game during the season however the ball player still got to play and he was on JV. I didn’t think that was fair. That should have showed me that the school seemed to play favorites with certain students and I felt some of these jerks were getting passes even though they were the biggest trouble makers in the school. It was really frustrating. I’d try to focus on my schoolwork which was difficult being I understood things differently than everyone else. There were times I was terrified going to school thinking, “How can we get Dustin today?” I remember one of them making fun of the way combed my hair (I used to part it on one side) so I changed to where I combed it straight down instead of parting it when I re-gel it. Everyone complemented me on new style but I think it had to do with what one of them had said about it. Despite the problems I had with the bullies or if schoolwork got to me I always had running to fall back on despite having to go out there and focus. My track season was pretty successful. I was able to be on the 4 x 800 team with a group of 3 other upperclassmen that included J.J, the man who would go on to win state in Division III in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs and Mike and Tim two mid distance guys. We were pretty good too. Our fastest time going into districts was 8:20. Our 4 x 800 was first in the IVC Conference, I was able to place 3^rd in the 1600 meters and 4^th in the 3200 meters at Conference. Our team did great all season long. However, my good run would come to a sadden halt before the district meet.

I recall the date May 21, 1998. So far in my life I can pretty much say this had to be the worst day of my life. A lot was happening that led up to what was about to happen on this day as I mentioned. It happened outside of the high school where the students hung out due to it being a warm day. I was talking one of my friends about how I was being bothered by one of my aggravators that day and she wanted him to tell her what was going on and of course he made up some BULLSHIT excuse (pardon my language) and she said to me that I have to apologize to him and he laughed at me for it. Then, I just SNAPPED, I couldn't hold it or take it any longer, the harassment by him and the rest of those A-holes have gone on long enough. I yelled threatened to kill him and called him a S.O.B. I was taken in by the dean/teachers who overheard.

I just wanted everyone to know in Caps words, that I NEVER ACTUALLY WANTED TO KILL THAT GUY, NEVER!!! This was just the reaction or the feelings I just felt, it slipped out. I would have probably wanted to beat him to a pulp first. As the end result, the principal and the dean decided to suspend me from school. This occurred 2 days before the district meet of my sophomore year. I was totally devastated by this. The 4 x800 and other events I qualified to run in were on that Saturday (1600, 3200.) I felt that could have scored a few points in those events but not yet qualify for Regional Meet, but I was a part of the 4 X 800 team and we would have a great chance of qualifying to States with the times we put up. As the end it turned out it cost the boys' team the District Title as they lost it by 3 points and those points would have mattered. I felt yet the entire team down for what I have done and felt very depressed. A lot of the parents were very upset with the way that situation was handled. I will tell you right now I'm not putting full blame on the administration ,or the tormentors. I put a little bit on myself. I should have listened to those around me who were giving me good advice beforehand on this like my teammates, coaches, my parents, and those upperclassmen who took a liking to me. A lot happened then before I got diagnosed that summer. I just feel that whole situation should have been prevented and could have as well.


The principal and dean had a change of heart and I was able to finish my final exams. Before going into the summer, my parents and I met with them and the folks of the tormentors in front of the principal for apologies. Yet, I personally believe the administration had done this because they could have been afraid of a possible lawsuit. I believe after that the damage was already done with me and Tuscarawas Central Catholic. I tried to go back junior year but could sense the feeling I didn't belong there or I wasn't welcomed. A couple of days later in the beginning of the year the teasing started again. The dean of students from I learned was a pathological liar, the way he manipulated teachers and the students to get on his side. I thought he would try to help me but that JERK lied to me and my family. I thought he was the scum of the earth. The seniors friends from the 98 class who defended me last year where gone and I felt I was left to fight my own battle. My friends in my class were related to a few of tormentors which I think put them at a conflict, and I believe deeply that the principal and teachers thought that I was the problem that those kids were acting up and causing problems - despite those pleas. The cross country and track coaches would depend me by saying that they never had any problems with me that I did what they were told and supported my teammates didn’t make the administration change their minds about me. My parents even brought in counselors who were friends of my mom's to try to explain that my Asperger’s did not deal with just me, but also with other kids if they were willing to catch the signs or understand what was going on. The fact that Asperger's was just starting to be aware after a few years made it difficult for them to understand, or maybe they just didn't want to understand. After a decent junior cross country season my parents finally got me out of Tuscarawas Central Catholic and I went to Tuscarawas Valley High School.

Afterwards, I was still upset that I felt I didn't do anything wrong to be forced out of there by the administration, but in short run of things our family lawyer sent a letter to the Diocese of Columbus explaining what was going on and to investigate into it. That along with many other problems caused many changes in that administration. My parents argued after they took me out that even though I was gone things would not get better, and of course things did get worse. Few other students were getting teased, and even one of the jerks, who of course was one of the best basketball players on the team got caught with marijuana in his locker during the season. I heard at one point the principal wanted to get him back into school. That was unbelievable just because he was the leading scorer on the team he still got into trouble. Luckily, that kid did not go back, many of those incidents caused the principal to be fired and a few teachers along with the dean’s contracts not renewed after the end of the school year. You think that things don’t happen like that in a Catholic or private school, but they do. The same problems high school kids face still occur if not handled proper I believe.

Looking back as painfully as my experience was that year from May 1998-till I left turned out to be a blessing. I could have been down but I used this as a second chance to rise above it. For a few years I had a bad perception of the Catholic Church after that. Thinking that they too are part of the universal Christian community they would be a little more understanding in handling things in the education environment, however I learned there are those few that can be quite full of themselves. But, I have really good friends that are Catholic. I don't know if they still practice their faith strongly or not but I know that every one of them had great character, they treat me with respect and I'm thankful to still call them my friends to this day. Also, looking back even if I did get a chance to run districts my sophomore year and our 4 x 800 team would have definitely gone to the State Track meet, I still think that my parents would could have gotten me out of there knowing what else was going on besides my problems at T.C.C. I was grateful to have great parents that stood by me, along with the encouragement of the cross country and track coaches, and friends I had at Tusky Valley.

To shorten the rest of my story up, my senior year turned out to be a major turning point at Tusky Valley High School. We had a great boys cross country team in which I even surprised myself by being the # 1 guy all season long. We won the district meet, and I was able to go to State Cross Country Meet as an individual, I won the 3200 Meters at the conference meet and our 4 x 800 team went to the State Track Meet. The State Track meet was at Dayton instead of Columbus at the time so it was a little bittersweet. However, being a big part of the relay and getting us to State made me feel a little bit redeemed after my experience at Tusc. Cent.Catholic. The friends I had at TVHS were great even though now I haven't talking to them in a long time. I wished I ran with those guys the year before and I wish I had another year under my coach Paul Gibson. He was very colorful guy who worked us hard but had a great sense of humor and he helped me not only as a coach but as the guidance counselor and sent out my running information to a couple of small but competitive schools thinking I can continue running and get a good education at the same time.

I ended up going to Muskingum University (then it was called Muskingum College) where my mom ended up going. From there despite some rough times and coaching changes I was able to have a lot of success running, almost made it to the National Meet in Division III, got all-conference, made a lot of great friends whom I still keep in contact today, and I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Business, History, and minor in Accounting. I ended up taking a few more classes to get Accounting major after school.
I give a lot of credit to God for what he has given me so far in my life. I've been very thankful to still have a good job, be able to run especially with great group of people in Columbus Running Company and the C-Bus Pacers, been to places and ran in races that I thought would be impossible to do a long time ago, meet some interesting people throughout the years, and be thankful to have a great group of friends and family. Despite being diagnosed with Asperger's or having signs of ADHD I been able to slowly take each challenge one step at a time. Of course I have had counseling or any other sort of therapy taken when I was younger and at one point had to take Ritalin or some other type of medicine when I was a kid. The Ritalin seemed to made me focus a little but I think dulled me. Sometimes kids can be off the walls but there are some that slowly grow into being mature or can have really good social skills. I think that can be the same with kids or young teenagers with these conditions is that they can develop the social skills or the talents to be successful adults it just may take a little time, patience, and lesson learning for it to be possible.

Running has been a major factor in developing all of my skills throughout the years. I think that it has been able to teach me hard work, patience, reacting, thinking on my feet, and discipline to be able for me to succeed. With that I think I've been able to focus more on studies, and engage much better in conservation. It has opened many doors that I think my parents did not think would be possible 13 years ago which I really think going to Boston this weekend is a huge thing for any runner going there to run the Boston Marathon for the first time. I believe they are very happy of what I've been able to accomplish no matter how I have placed in races.

Though, I admit I'm not perfectly normal or as you would think totally cured or would think have no small symptoms. There are some things in a conversation that tend to go over my head. There are many different kinds of conversations in certain social situations that tend to be hard for me to keep track of all at once. From what I've been able to learn that sometimes listening quite a bit instead of talking a lot. I think that there are times I believe that people may perceive me to be cocky or arrogant when I'm talking to them about a particular subject that is of interest to me. Yet, I most always try to use that conversation to learn more about others so people won't get the wrong idea about me. I believe that I've gotten a lot better at communicating than I did when I was in my early teens. Though, some social cues have been difficult. My love life hasn't been particular easy since it's hard to read what women are thinking but I think all guys would believe that to be true so I shouldn't feel to terribly bad about that. I know that day will soon come and I’ll be able to find the woman I would one day call my wife.

If I talked too much of what I have gone through or what I have been able to deal with through the years and up until now, I apologize because I tried not to make this blog become a lot about me. I just want any children, young people, or even adults that are dealing with Asperger’s, or know someone that has, or has children that have the signs of the this syndrome, learning disability, or any other type of disorder that they are not alone. I know it’s hard to deal with it or accept things trust me I had a very hard time dealing with this as child and young adult. I thought I was being labeled as different and times I cry out to God, WHY????!!! WHY DO THIS TO ME? I just want to be normal. However, as I say to all of you who are reading that over the years with time, patience, support, therapy, and a wide variety of interests I tended to look past this and use the good of what I got to try to make myself better and to be the type of person I know God wants me to be. I’ve found this to be true and learned it from running when meeting different types of people throughout the years. Everybody has their own problems, tics, or things that make them seem a little different to you or me. But, I think that’s what makes that person or persons stand out or would make them special, cause frankly if everybody were the same it would be a boring world to live, and God made everyone different but special in their own way.

In the future, I would like to use this article of what I talked about as an opportunity. To maybe speak to parents will children or teenagers that have these similar conditions of Asperger’s, or even to guidance counselors in some sort of way. Maybe even try to help them out in an anti-bullying organization of some sorts. It’s sad when you hear on the news about students whom are on the edge of suicide because of bullying and harassment. I think its encouraging to try to be a mentor of some sorts to them and that no matter what talents they have or their interests they too can reach for their goals and dreams.

I’ve feel very blessed to be running the Boston Marathon this Monday. I’ll be on the line lining up right behind elite Olympic caliber runners that we see on TV like Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot last years champ and course record holder, Ryan Hall one of the best American born distance runners just to name a few. It’s an honor to be able to run with them even though they’ll drop me like a bad habit. My goal for Boston is that I would like to PR there. To do that I would have to run a smart race and not try to get caught up in the moment from the beginning, but no matter what if I do PR or not I want to finish. Just to say that I ran in the Boston Marathon with some of the best world class runners is a dream come true. For everyone that has supported me throughout the years family, friends and those who have encouraged me this race is for all of you. This Monday I’m going to go out there not only to run because I want to, but mostly because this is what I believe was born to do!Happy Running Everyone and Thanks for Reading :)