Angie Anderson

I had a really strong race at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Florida as I think all of you know. I've had so many congrats from all of you.. thank you. I guess I'll write my final thoughts on the race here.

I'm struggling to feel content with my race. I know I exceeded my time goal... that's in black and white, clear as mud on paper. I thought I could hit a 4:40 for s/b/r, plus 5 - 6 min for transitions making a 4:45 a realistic goal. I finished in 4:40:07 and 7th in my age group, far exceeding what I believed I was capable of. On paper, I should be ecstatic with the event. So... what am I struggling with.

The drafting in the race was a huge issue. I've beat that to death in my race report so I don't need to re-visit it. I guess the one thing I have gained clarity on since I wrote that report is that out of the 6 women in front of me, I know that none of them could have rode any cleaner than I did. It would be easy for them to draft more than I did, but not to ride cleaner. That gives me my 7th place finish in very good conscious. I believe I earned that spot:)

The run is another issue though. If I had ran the 1:45 time and ran it solidly... meaning I committed to "running" and ran as hard as I could on the given day, I would have been satisfied with that result and run split. Where my disappointment comes is that I let the pain of racing get to me, and I broke down and walked 11 times during the half marathon. (I know it was 11 because I counted the walks on my Suunto download. It's easy to see them there as speed drops.) These walk breaks were simply because I was tired, and couldn't force myself to keep running. For me, that was a lapse in focus and commitment to race regardless of finishing time and place.

A lot of folks think that I'm 100% result and time focused... and I do work hard to do well and enjoy strong results at the end of the day. The thing that I think people miss though is that for me, finishing time is always second to execution.

For example, my best Ironman race was when I finished in 11:07 in 2007 at Ironman Canada. That is my "zen" Ironman. I can't find one minute in the day where I let myself down. I raced to my potential from start to finish. In 2008 I went faster... 11:04, but can think of several times I lost focus and my desire to race. I value the 11:07 more than the 11:04 because of how I raced. At Great White North 2009, I executed brilliantly from start to finish. My only "time loser" that day was that I couldn't get my wetsuit off... but that had nothing to do with execution. That day is my "zen" 70.3 race! It's not my fastest, but it's where I raced the best.

So, I guess I'll wrap this one up by saying that Clearwater was an amazing race on so many levels. It felt like a world championship once race day arrived... not much before. Still, I hope to go back next year as I'd like to give it a go again and take what I've learned this year to the start line. Hopefully I can find a way to get that "zen" day next year... I guess we'll find out if I make my way back.

Thanks for reading. Angie