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You can't always get (the weather) you want.

Three friends of mine are in Taupo, New Zealand today to race in Ironman New Zealand. IMNZ was my first race at that distance and I will always remember it as one of the best experiences of my life.

Jen, Kathe and Maisie have trained through the winter to get to this race. They have done a lot of long workouts in rain and darkness. And today the weather gods have dealt them a crap hand. The race has been severely modified because of 45mph winds on the course. The swim was canceled due to crazy waves on a lake that's usually smooth as glass (no doubt to avoid what happened at Ironman Utah a few years back). And the bike and run legs have been cut in half. It is the equivalent of a moderate-length training day.

I am incredibly disappointed for them. Imagine how you'd feel if you had flown 6,000 miles for what you hoped would be a peak experience, only to find out race morning that the opportunity had literally blown away.

I guess we take a gamble every time we race. We stress about something for six months, it becomes our way of life, we devote loads of mental and physical energy to our preparation, it rules our social schedules and our sleep, we lay out cash for travel and registration and equipment and massages, and yet we have to accept the risk that anything can happen on race day.

It's enough to make me examine my real motivation for doing these events. I know that 90% of the reason I do these things is for what I learn in the process of getting to the start, but I don't know if I'd handle this sort of situation with serenity if I were faced with it myself.

Right now they're sending the age-group athletes off in five-second intervals. You can watch the video at ironmanlive. (Taupo is 21 hours ahead so it's Saturday morning there.)

Lake Taupo, two years ago today, more or less. This is what it is supposed to look like in the early morning.

March 3, 2006 2:27 PM