Updated: Just reposting to get us psyched for the race on Saturday. Unfortunately I won't be there this year so watching on the Internet. Enjoy the photos, and good luck to all racing!

I am going to be frank with you.

In return, I ask you to be frank with me.

I have been in the triathlon world, teaching triathlon classes and clinics, coaching triathletes from all ages and abilities, eating and selling triathlon nutrition products and doing triathlons myself for more than five years, so I’ve asked (literally) thousands of endurance athletes about why they do this sport.

It is nice to be back home. It has been a long focus and lead up to Kona and not getting the result I was after makes it a little more difficult. I was able to spend the rest of the week with my family in Kona, which was great. Spending time that was lost leading up to the race. I got to snorkel, swim, and surf with my son Kaiden.

So here it goes, it has been 2 full years since I started an Ironman and 4 years since my first and fastest at IM CDA in 2004. So I had a lot that I wanted to improve upon, and a bit of nerves since it had been so long since I had done the distance. These nerves where unnecessary due to the great training I had put into this race, so beneath my anxiousness was a new found confidence that would serve me well. My goal was to put in a solid race that I know I can produce, while staying within myself and just getting one solid IM result, so I can then jump off the cliff and get some W’s.

Most of you know the race doesn't really begin the morning you enter the water with 2,000+ other athletes. That is the beginning of the final chapter in the journey to Ironman. I won't bore you with all the details leading up to the final day of the Ironman Florida journey, but I will share some details leading into the race.