Mickey’s Corner: Mission Completed: The George Hood Story

Getting to Know George
Early last year, I couldn’t help but notice a new guy at our club (wearing a Marines t-shirt) working out much more intensely than most of us. After about a week or so, remembering a line that a former co-worker once told me, I walked over and said, Hey,youre making the rest of us look bad. We laughed, introduced ourselves and started comparing notes. Much to our surprise, we had gone to the same college (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) at the same time, but we had never met. His father, George E. Hood, Sr. is even the current mayor of our old college town. Over the next several months, I would learn about Georges career as a DEA Agent, his time in the Marines, and an incredible goal that he set for himself: to break the Guinness World Record of 82 hours on a stationary bike. As if the record was not enough, he was going to use the event to raise money for COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors), an organization dedicated to helping the families of police officers killed in the line of duty.
The Event
His training was just beginning - the actual event was awe inspiring. From the moment you walked into the club that day you could hear the music playing and the place looked like mission control. George was in the corner by the windows, surrounded by tables of equipment, nutritional supplements, supplies and banners of the various sponsors. He even had an extra bike for backup. There was a huge tripod with a camera so big that youd thought this was the Olympics! To the right were two video tape monitors staggered 30 minutes for accurate coverage and another camera and tripod that was filming a backup tape. In the center was the judges table, two of whom monitored every minute. This event became a media bonanza across the Chicago area, hitting all the local TV channels, talk radio, and newspapers. It has even hit some national newswires, public radio, and even a comedy skit on Saturday Night Live!

My Inspiration
Had it been a 24 year old going after it (like the previous record-holder), I might have shrugged it off. But this guy is my age! I had to ask myself, why I am giving up so easily and justifying a middle-aged spread by blaming it on “My metabolism is slowing down?” Granted, he is an ex-Marine and trained better physically, but thats all relative. After all, Im not looking to break any world records. I just want to feel fit, be healthy, look decent and live as long as I can. His commitment to performance that day was equal to that of the preparation I observed leading up to the event. The minutes ran into hours and the hours into days. Every time I had a free moment, I would think of George pedaling away. I kept asking myself, “How can he do it t 49?” He has reminded me that you need a cause, or something to get you out of bed in the morning (in Georges case it was to stay out of bed). You need to set Big Goals with Short Deadlines. And, you need to Keep (and set) Records. The same is true in our business!