Day 14. Indoor Training Effort.

Umeke it is called. A wooden symbol of love, warmth, right effort and the Hawaiian spirit. It is ceremoniously presented to the Professional and Age Group champions after racing the Ironman World Championships every year in Kona. It is the metaphor for champion. The best in the world. I stand in awe with each presentation, hands red from applause.

Play it back. Rewind. See the hours of training, the ambition, dedication and effort required to arrive at this magic destination. You cannot buy a place on this podium for any amount. It takes everything else, however.

Everything and all the time.

It is a full-time goal, a quest demanding overtime on a regular basis. One must become familiar, intimate and almost salacious with suffering. That is what it takes.

But please do not think for one minute that this suffering is the sole domain of the elite. Everyone who has accepted this gift of spirit and has set out to explore the 140.6, knows equally well the demands upon mind, body and spirit. It hurts us all. And the slower of us get to experience even MORE of it, because we are 'out there' longer.

So let us be clear about this.

Good effort is good fortune.