Every now and then, at least once a day, editor Marta Gouger gives me an assignment that makes me turn my head.

A recent Sunday was another occasion when she tasked me with heading out to Beltzville State Park to cover a triathlon.It wasn't the topic of the assignment that scared me, it was the start time of the event: 7:30 a.m.Even though I'm a dad of a toddler, I still don't like rolling out of bed at that time on a weekend unless it involves chasing a little white ball around a golf course.Still, I'm a good soldier and thought I can do this.So with the best of intentions I took the early morning drive over to Beltzville around 6:30 a.m. to get a few interviews before the starting gun went off.My luck was in full swing as the Weather Channel app indicated a cool 40 degrees outside with an annoying misty rain to go with it.I don't know how much you know about a triathlon, but it involves swimming, biking and running in that order.In my head I thought, nobody in their right mind is going to be excited about this, and I was partly correct.I found two athletes from New Jersey preparing for a full Iron Man event later this year."You would hope in mid-May the weather would be better than this, but we'll take what we can get," they said.I walked over toward the beach where another gentleman outfitted in his swimming gear peered toward the water with a "what am I getting myself into" look.The event offered three distance options; half of a regular Iron Man, an Olympic distance and a sprint."Which one are you doing?" the man asked me.Trying not to burst out laughing, I told him, "the one where I take a picture and get back in my car to turn the heat on."You're a better man than me," I added.Thinking about what awaited him for the next five-plus hours, he said, "No, I think you may be the smart one."I soon learned I wasn't alone in my thinking.Several people dipped their toes in the water and headed back up to the changing areas to call it a day before the day had even started.The race went off around 30 minutes behind schedule, though it felt much longer than that as the drizzle intensified.Standing as close to the water as I could without getting wet, I got my shot as the swimmers cautiously headed toward the first buoy.Shivering and smelling like a wet dog, I ventured back to the car in the parking lot.Finally, my luck is turning around, I thought. I get to go indoors and dump these photos on a computer and write some captions while this unpleasant weather continues.As I shut my car door, I could almost hear God laughing as the sun broke through the clouds, the rain stopped and a miserable morning transformed into a windy but much more reasonable day.The moral of the story is you win some, you lose some.Sunday, I lost.