Go to Wedding or Compete in 1/2 Ironman?

I'm going to need to see pictures of the bridesmaids.

And know the menu.

Will have to post those in Sept.

You can always go to your cousin's next wedding.

I'd do the race.

I think you can use the wedding as a rest day - then attack the HIM the next day.  Sure... alcohol, lots of food (cake) and staying up late isn't the traditional way to prep for the HIM, but I am sure you could handle it.  And yeah... 5 hours away seems like a lot... but you can use that time to sober up and sleep in the car (while your sober friend drives you).  

Everyone is happy.  no?

Go to the wedding - there are other races.

- Adam

Whoa, I didn't see that they're actually on SEPARATE DATES.

C'mon now ... man up and do both. Nobody ever sleeps the night before a big race, anyway, so just make sure you rest up well the week before.

I do. No way I'm going to a family wedding the day before a HIM that is 5 hours away. I wouldn't have fun at either event.

A man asking if he should go to a wedding?  Why?

Had it happen for my first Ironman a few years ago.  I had signed up a year in advance (have to you know) for Canada and trained, trained, trained.  Well my cousin meets the "right guy" in October and a few months later they decide to get married and you know what date they picked!

I justified it by thinking that I had been at her first two so I was probably just bad luck.  I did Ironman and they seem to be living happily ever after.  Although I still get reminded of it at family gatherings.

Go to the wedding.

But set the bike up on the trainer during the ceremony so you can at least get the bike leg completed.

I would have no regrets at all about not attending that wedding and would remind anyone who had something to say about it of her previous two weddings and how well they worked out and how IM was a much more rewarding experience. But maybe that's just me.

Wait, we're talking about a cousin? 5 hours away? Skip the wedding. If the family gives you grief, skip their functions too. It's not like it's your sister or anything.

I think that Goosedog WAS referring to the menu.

I can totally relate to this, I did a sprint the morning of my sisters wedding, it was 30 miles away from the venue. (ok its nothing like your dilema really but I did race on my sisters day and it went down well with my parents..... not).

I wouldnt  do an A race the day after a wedding. So would pick a different race, even if its not an A race, why not just do a different event ?

How do the logistics work out, do you have to register the day before ? if you do, ask if they will they allow you to register and rack on the day if you explain that you cant do so the day before coz your at a weddng ?

I assume u will drive there the afternoon/evening before the race ? i dont think anyone will want to drive 5hrs for a 7am start time,

the more i think about it, the more i think forget about it, enjoy the wedding and find a different race.

To me it depends on a few factors:

A. How close am I to this cousin? 

B. Is the half less than an hour away from my home (vs. 5 hours for the wedding)?

C. Is this cousin's first wedding? 

D. Is there an open bar? seriously, because that would add value to the wedding both in fun level (watching drunk old people try to dance to James Brown :0) and money saved on drinks 

E. Is there another race the weekend before or after that would be just as much fun as the wedding race?