There I was, staring down a long start straight into an intense left-handed turn, in the remnants of a culminated cornfield in the heart of the Midwest. I was about to embark on my first off-road race, and it was a big one: the Ironman GNCC finale in Crawfordsville, Indiana. It had just rained the day before—rain the likes of which this Californian had never seen before. I mean, it was raining in different directions. I didn’t know rain could do that. And now I was going to wade into it all.