Unleash the Beast: A Journey to Rediscover the Greatness Within

By Mark D Rucker

At his heaviest, Mark Rucker weighed 386 pounds. Despite his efforts, he never managed to lose weight and keep it off, instead falling back into old habits. One fateful afternoon, he visited a theme park with his family and found he couldn't fit on the roller coasters—and couldn't share that experience with his

• Language: English
• Publisher: Silver Tree Communications
• Release date: May 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9780998171401

Book preview

UNLEASH

THE

BEAST

UNLEASH

THE

BEAST

A JOURNEY TO REDISCOVER

THE GREATNESS WITHIN

Red Letter Publishing, Austin

Unleash the Beast: A Journey to Rediscover the Greatness Within

Copyright © 2016 by Mark D. Rucker

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced, scanned, sold, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without the express written permission of the author.

Typeset by Kevin Williamson

Created in the United States of America

22 21 20 19 18 17 16 1 2 3 4 5

ISBN 978-0-9864371-7-5

ISBN 978-0-9981714-0-1 (e book)

Dedication

For my wife, Annita. This journey would not have been possible without your constant love and support. And for my children, Mason and Abby, for providing me with the inspiration to change my life.

Acknowledgements

Becoming an Ironman is a lot like raising a child—you need a village to do it. I have had an amazing group of people who helped me along on my journey and for that I am eternally grateful.

I would be remiss if I didn’t first thank my parents, John and Jane Rucker, for always encouraging me to march to the beat of my own drum and to believe that I could accomplish anything in this world.

I also need to specifically thank a few people with whom I swam, cycled, and ran countless miles with on this journey, including Ernie Peel, Casey Hill, Leo and Mona Brown, Katie Cloninger, Bill Cole, Fran Bevins, Tom Walters, Laurie Roberts, Jen Connors, Coy Martinez, and Jill Kimberlin. I also need to thank all of the members of the Bluegrass Cycling Club, Bluegrass Triathlon Club, and the UK Masters Swim Team.

I would also like to acknowledge my amazing coaches who guided me, encouraged me, and kicked my butt along the way to get me across the finish line—Susan Bradley-Cox and Beth Atnip.

Finally, I need to thank my writing coach, Cathy Fyock, for all of her guidance with this book, as well as my editor, Kevin Williamson, and all of the folks at Red Letter Publishing.

INTRODUCTION

DESIRE

INSPIRATION

VISION

KNOWLEDGE

BELIEF

DETERMINATION

CONCLUSION

PHOTOS

INTRODUCTION

I’ll never forget the bus ride back from LaGrange to downtown Louisville in 2012. I can still feel the hot summer air blowing from the open window a few seats in front of me. I can recall the constant chatter from the other people riding the bus with me that day. I can still smell the diesel fumes from the engine.

Thinking back on it now, I couldn’t tell you a single thing about any of the people with me—who they were, what their names were, where they were from. I knew one thing about them all—actually, about all of us, myself included. I knew where we were headed and I knew why. On that hot August day, we were headed back to the drop-off point for drop-outs of Ironman Louisville.

I felt like a loser, a failure. My family and friends were waiting for me. I was so embarrassed—how could I face my wife? My friends? All the people who had supported me over the past 18 months? Even worse, how could I face the people who had doubted me? Now they could say that they’d been right, that I wouldn’t be able to do it, to achieve my dream of being an Ironman. They were right and I was wrong.

That was the longest bus ride of my life.

Once I made it back to the drop-off point, my wife and friends were there. There was none of the gloom; they were smiling and cheering and supporting me anyway. At the time, that was what I needed to feel better. But it wasn’t enough. I still felt like a failure—and it was a terrible feeling I couldn’t shake.

And over the next few months, I struggled tremendously to find the drive to get back on track. I fell back into some of my old, bad habits. My thoughts became cloudy, negative, and gray more often. Worst of all, the weight I’d worked so hard to lose, in my transformation from couch potato to Ironman, had slowly begun to creep back onto my body.

I’d been down this road before, and more times than I’d like to admit. Change my eating habits. Change my exercise habits. Stick to it. Do great. And then—derail. Go back to the old ways; gain back all the lost weight and even more. It was already an old story for me, and I feared I was about to lose all of the tremendous gains that I’d made over the past 18 months.

But not this time. No. It didn’t happen. This time, things were different; I was different, and my entire approach to life was different. I had developed a method to achieve success, and I was determined to see my dream become my reality. Twelve months later, I did achieve that dream when I crossed the finish line at Ironman Louisville. I heard the Ironman announcer shout, Mark Rucker, you are an Ironman! It was one of the greatest moments of my life, and I won’t forget it as long as I live.

And now, I want to share the reason for my success with you.

* * * * *

Do you ever think back to when you were a child? Do you remember the carefree attitude that you had? No worries. No stress. No responsibilities.

Do you remember thinking about what your life would be like when you grew up? What you’d be? Who you’d marry? How wonderful it’d all be?

Do you remember when those dreams slipped away?

I certainly don’t. I dreamed of being an Air Force pilot. I dreamed of flying amazing planes really, really fast. But, over time, that dream faded. Thinking back on it now, there was no exact moment in my life when that dream faded; it just did, over time, slipping through my hands like water.

And over time, as life threw me more and more curveballs, I seemed to get farther and farther off course. It wasn’t any one big change that sent me awry; it was just the sum of years of small adjustments until one day, in February 2011, I woke up at the age of 42 weighing almost 400 pounds and afflicted with a number of health problems.

My life looked nothing like the dreams from my youth. The time I’d lived was lost and gone, and I didn’t remember how I had gotten to that point. But I knew that I needed to make a change—and so I did.

I have a feeling that you may be at that point in your own life. You may think to yourself, as I once did: how did I get here? Maybe even: Who have I allowed myself to become?

And you know what? It’s okay. It’s okay that you’re at that point, that you are where you are. We all come to moments like these, and we all ask those same questions. It may not be your health; it may be your job, or your finances, or your relationships. Whichever part of life is in tumult, you might feel a sense of despair about it.

But I have some great news for you.

You have made the decision to make a change. You have taken that first small step on a new journey. On your own power, you purchased this book and you’re reading it right now. In doing so, you are trying to steer your ship back on course, and that’s exactly what this book intends to help you do.

I’m not saying that you’ll be back on course in a matter of days, weeks, or even months. This book isn’t a scheduled program; what you need for yourself may take a year or two to accomplish. It took me four—but I did it. Along the way, I learned what I now call the Six Building Blocks of Success to help myself; apply them for yourself and you will achieve that dream that you thought had passed you by.

So congratulations on getting started—and now,