Craig Alexander had one condition when asked if he would enter next month's Ironman Asia-Pacific triathlon championships in Melbourne.
"If you can promise me I won't get weather like that, I will be there," the Australian triathlon legend said, only half-joking.
Alexander was speaking moments after winning Sunday morning's Geelong 70.3 race, which was hit by brutally hot and windy conditions.
The three-time Hawaiian Ironman champion looked unfazed as he trotted across the finish line, but said he had suffered cramping during the bike and run legs.
The Hawaiian Ironman is renowned for its extreme heat, humidity and winds, and Alexander said Sunday's race was nearly as challenging.
"A dry and hot day in Geelong or Melbourne is as tough as it gets," he said.
The temperature reached 38 degrees before a late-morning cool change.
Alexander said he had never experienced such tough headwinds during the run leg of a triathlon.
"It was one of those courses where you needed to use your experience and run quick when you were able to do it with the wind and bear down into the wind and be as conservative as possible," he said.
Olympic medallist Emma Moffatt won the women's event by more than 12 minutes and finished 10th overall, but she was also struggling at the finish.
"The course is tough and the weather conditions out there made it really hard," Moffatt said.
"Right now I don't feel really good, but hopefully in a few days I will be able to reflect positively."
Former Olympian Courtney Atkinson was among those who failed to finish.
Alexander and Moffatt set up their wins early.
Alexander and his cycling "partner in crime" Tim Reed caught the leaders early in the bike and broke up the lead group with a hot pace.
They had the lead to themselves at the start of the run and Alexander quickly pulled away as Reed struggled on foot.
Alexander won in four hours, five minutes, 59 seconds, with Reed hanging on to second in 4:09:33.
Brad Kahlefeldt (4:10:41) passed fellow former Olympian Peter Robertson to take third place.
Moffatt showed impeccable early season form ahead of her tough overseas campaign later this year.
She will aim for the Commonwealth Games, the Olympic-distance world championships grand final and the world long-course titles.
Moffatt led by a whopping four minutes out of the water and was never threatened.
She won in 4:30:57, with fellow Australians Rebecca Hoschke (4:43:10) and Lisa Marangon (4:50:14) completing the women's podium.
