Today’s record attempts weren’t *supposed* to be hard. They ended pushing me to my limit and I barely squeaked by breaking one of my two target records.

I think this day was made for me: National STEM Day AND Guinness World Record Day! I planned to break two records today: furthest distance walked balancing a baseball bat on his chin (3 km) and longest duration balancing a baseball bat on his chin (30 minutes). It was 25 degrees Fahrenheit and dark at the Boise High School track when I started. I hadn’t practiced in these conditions and it caused me an unexpected problem. I wasn’t too cold but my breath was clearly visible and every time I exhaled, instead of evaporating into the air, my breath condensed on the bottom of the bad. After a few minutes, the polished bottom of the bat got quite slick. On the first attempt, I was just over a half a mile and 10 minutes in and the bat simply slipped off the front of my chin.

I dried off, put the bat further up my chin, and tried again leaning back a little further. I also tried to breathe away from the bat which is pretty hard. leaning my head back further also made walking and balancing much harder and I suffered dizzy spells. After 3 laps and nearly 15 minutes, the PE class came out to use the track. I didn’t they were going to be outside in 25-degree weather! I had to abandon my distance attempt to make room for the class and stood off the end of the track. I was dehydrated, tired, and very dizzy from bending so far back. I also felt my chin getting slick. I had to bend my back and neck even further back and keep all balance corrections as subtle as possible so the bat wouldn’t slide off. At 25 minutes I got quite nervous and started shaking. The pain and effort made me so hot and I took off my coat and gloves. When I got to 28 minutes I knew I could do it, at 29 I became calm again. At 30 minutes I put my arms up and then relaxed into a more natural balancing position to see how much further I could go. The bat immediately slipped off my chin! I was so close to not breaking this one.

I then did  a short interview with KIVI News Channel 6 and went to work for the day.