I can’t believe Kona week is actually over and now we’re in Kauai relaxing and celebrating the end of the 2017 season. The race itself was rough for everyone I think, Nate included. Unfortunately, he had a calf injury flare up the week of the race and it came back to haunt him on race day. This may sound like a #triexcuse, but actually no excuses were made and Nate took the setback in stride literally walking the entire marathon (albeit after an amazing swim and bike). We are all proud that he toughed out the race and finished, accepting that the Big Island is a gamble and he just happened to lose this time. We are still discussing his plans for next year and the potential of him going Pro to race with me for the season or trying to qualify again for Kona 2018. Both options have their benefits and drawbacks.  We’ll see what he decides once the dust settles.

As for me, the 2018 planning has somewhat begun. My first step is setting goals for next year. In 2017, my goal was to accumulate Kona points in hopes of qualifying, and I think this goal negatively impacted my attitude and ultimately my racing throughout the season. I’ve always made a point to not set outcome oriented goals, so I’ll be going back to goals that can be achieved through training hard and discipline, and are not dependent on other people.

The next month is going to be a little crazy with tons of travel, hanging out with friends, and Thanksgiving plans. I think it will be a good break from triathlon and I should be more than ready to go after that.