If you ever have a chance to go out to Hawaii for the week surrounding the Ironman, you should do it. It's  the biggest, baddest triathlon convention in the world, with all the greatest pros wandering around the same little town, and an incredible race to top it all off. Oh, and it's in paradise too.

With a few minutes to go, we went through the chute and got in the water. Legendary triathlete Dave Scott was racing, and I lined up right next to him. We exchanged pleasantries, and floated there waiting for the horn.

After a good early season marathon and good early season bike training, the months leading up to IM Lake Placid saw me feeling pretty good about my chances there.

A few years back, I did the 7.5 mile Potomac River Swim with a buddy and had a good time. Needing some motivation for swim training this year, I decided to give the race another go. This time around wasn’t quite as fun as the first time, but it was a good learning experience.