I love being the underdog

Two and a half weeks out from Lake Stevens my first of hopefully many M-dot events and I am pumped. Training has been going really well. I am swimming well. I am swimming straight. Watts are up. Running stride is smooth. Weight is down. This last one is kind of a bad thing though as my wetsuit and speed suits are starting to feel a little too baggy. The best part is I am feeling fresh and confidant. Too many times have I approached the build towards an important races as the make or break it. If I don't do this things will go not just wrong but terrible. This time things are different. I know I am fit and going to rock the race. What I do in the prep is just a bonus. I know that the things that are going to make me succeed are not the numbers on my power meters, or the time on my watch during workouts its the other things. The sleeping right, the eating right, the stretching, staying organized and stress free.

As far as I can tell the field is going to be stacked. There are a lot of great athletes who have Lake Stevens on there Race Schedule. At first this got me pretty nervous. But now its got me excited. Bring it. This is my first chance to prove myself on an international long distance stage and I am going to make the most of it. I may not have the experience, reputation, and fan following that many of my competitors will have. But, I am fit, confidant, hungry and most importantly read to get Ugly out there. These are a deadly combination. I love being the underdog. I love turning peoples heads and having them say "Who is that guy?". When it comes to talking about upsets I think the narrator from this clip says it better than I could.

Here's the thing that makes life so interesting: The Theory of Evolution claims that "only the strong shall survive". Maybe so, maybe so. But the Theory of Competition says "just because they're the strong doesn't mean they can't get their asses kicked". That's right. See, what every long shot come from behind underdog will tell you is this: The other guy may in fact be the favorite, the odds may be turned against you. Fair enough... But what the odds don't know is this isn't a math test. This is a completely different kind of test. One where passion has a funny way of trumping logic. So before you step up to the starting line, before the whistle blows and the clock starts ticking, just remember: out here, the results don't always add up. No matter what the stats may say and the experts may think and the commentators may have predicted, when the race is on, all bets are off. Don't be surprised if someone decides to flip the script and take a pass on yelling "Uncle". And then suddenly, as the old saying goes, "We got ourselves a game"