It’s been 2 weeks since Kona and I have finally gotten around to sorting the 1400+ photos that were taken during the trip. In the gallery above are 20 pictures from mostly before the Ironman.

In my previous post, the Ironman Kona race report, I summed up my race day as concisely as possible. What I refrained from saying earlier was the mix of emotions that occurred not only as the race unfolded, but the reflections on my performance that occupied (but not necessarily overwhelmed) my mind.

Going into Ironman Kona, I had a very strong season, with improvements in all three disciplines – off of not one, not two, but three second place finishes in the three half ironmans that I raced. I set personal bests all season long, and I wanted to keep the trend going with a strong performance on the Big Island. Aside from a personal best (non-wetsuit) 2.4-mile swim of 1 hour and 11 minutes, the 10 hour and 47 minute overall finish at Kona was no where near what I am capable of achieving. After the race, I tried my very best to learn from the experiences from the race and to not dwell on the result. (As an accountant and ‘numbers guy’, that is easier said than done)

Given the race-day conditions and knowing that I did my best definitely helped me move forward.

But what did I learn?

• there is a lot of room for improvement in my nutrition plan
• wet socks on the run exponentially catalyzed my foot blisters; I’ll be packing an extra pair of socks from now on!
• my cycling power output could have been paced more evenly

Those are just a few ways that can potentially help me improve in my next Ironman, which will be IRONMAN Cozumel on November 27th, 2016. It’s a fairly short turn around, but I intend to tweak my training and race-day strategies in order to execute a strong finish!

However, before I can set my sights on Ironman Cozumel, be sure to mark your calendars for the TCS New York City Marathon on November 6th – I will be pacing the 3:10 finishers group (7:14 min/mile).