"300" Reasons to Kick Ass - 03/27/07

So, I saw "300" for the second time this past weekend. Great flick; I highly recommend it. What hit home this second viewing was the no fear attitude of the Spartans. It brought full circle my years as a collegiate swimmer and the fact that, as a member of the most successful dynasty in collegiate sports' history, we never considered losing. The word or any of its derivatives did not exist in our vocabulary. To consider losing at the NCAA championships would be blasphemous.

Somewhere over the ensuing two decades, I lost a piece of that killer instinct. I had thought it was fully intact until last Sunday. Something shifted inside my head and I realized that, to that point, my edge had been a little blunted. I'm not sure when it started to happen, nor do I care. What's important is that I noticed the bluntness of the blade. In a flash, the edge had been honed to its former sharpness. Clean. Ready.

A key line from the movie comes from King Leonidas, as King Xerxes' vaunted army is rushing forth to seemingly overwhelm and destroy the Spartans. He turns to his 300 men and shouts, "Give them nothing! But take from them, everything!" This is how I plan to approach - no, attack - racing this year. Every race will be a battle. I'll fear no one and give no one credit until it is earned and deserved. I'll fear no race nor any particular rider. To do so would be premature and serve no purpose but to give me an excuse for a sub-par performance or for losing. A victory may not be my crossing the line in first; it may be classified as giving the perfect lead out for one of our sprinters. Or something else, based on a particular race's goals as defined by and and agreed upon by the team.

This year should prove to be a wild, fun ride. I'm looking forward to the first test this weekend, the Koppenberg. My training shows I'm ready. The result will be what it will be. But I expect nothing less than the best.

Till later,
Nate