Going into this year I had very high expectations for myself. I want to be a National Qualifier as well as an All American. I needed to have a very good preseason to start off the year strong. At the start, thinking I was going to wrestle 174, all I had to do was focus in on lifting weights and getting as big and as strong as I could in 5 weeks. Then my plans changed a little when I found out I would actually be wrestling 165. I continued to lift my ass off and make every effort to get into better shape and better myself on the mat. I even started to lose a little weight. I am very excited to be wrestling 165 this upcomming season.
At the end of every preseason, we have what we call, here at Northern, The Wolves Iron Man Challenge. It consists of 12 laps in our pool, our timed run outdoors, and a very grueling series of weight/tire flips/ladders on the indoor track. The day before the challenge, Coach approached me and said, "You are my dark horse." With a slightly higher than average IQ of a wrestler, I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that. He went on to explain that he expected me to win the Wolves Challenge.
At first I thought, "Of course I have a shot at winning it, but last season I came in 6th, and there are a lot of great athletes on this team. Besides, he is probably telling that to everyone." Later on that day, in the locker room, I had a few different teammates approach me and say that coach had me winning the challenge.
"Wow," I thought, "Really? Thanks for the pressure Coach." Coach actually had confidence in me to be the one who is in the best shape on the team and push through and win this thing. You might be thinking it's really not that big of a deal, but to us, our team, this was a huge deal. Everyone wanted to win it! I gave this who delima another thought later on that night and said to myself, "Hell yes, I am going to win The Wolves Iron Man Challenge tomorrow.
The challenge did not start off too strong for me, I was not a good swimmer and was in the last half getting out of the pool. I put on my shoes and sprinted for the door to start the timed run. It was almost as if I got a second wave of energy about 1/4 of a mile into the run. I took off and passed 4 maybe 5 teammates before the end of the run, I was in 4th place. I got to the track and realized that I was not far behind. I passed another wolf on my first lap on the track. I then passed another on my second lap and it was down to just me and Beau.
I went outside to do tire flips and didn't even hesitate to pass him, sprinted back to the track to complete my final 2 laps and be the victor of the 2011 Wolves Iron Man Challenge. I dropped my 45lb weight on the rack and asked what my time was. 34:55. I saw Coach approaching me from the corner of my eye. He slowly put his hand on my shoulder. "What did I effing tell you?" I looked up at him. "Blake, you need to start believing in yourself more often, a little more self-confidence. You keep this up and your goals will be met." He walked away without saying another word.
It was then I realized that I could not bare the pain of the deep burning in my lungs and the aching of my worn out legs. I forced myself to stay standing and walked in a small circle until I saw Beau run up behind me dropping his weight off on the rack. "Good...job...Blake," he said between deep gasps for air.
It then hit me, I did it. I won the challenge. It felt good, but at the same time, it wasn't that big of a deal to me because I was expecting to win. I had no doubt that I could do it, and I did.
The rest of my teammates filed in one by one or in groups of two until everyone had finished. They all looked at me a little bit shocked but still impressed that I had topped the podium. It was a very good mental victory for me and gave me a little more belief in myself.
Post Challenge Interview:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1603620076#!/photo.php?v=776706602213
Next stop. National Qualifier
