Finally got around to collating my thoughts from the race. First off, I'd like to say thank you to all of you. I was asked on my "Ask me anything about Ironman Canada" thread on Slowtwitch how winning this race compared with winning in 2009. And my answer was, in numerous ways, influenced by the extraordinary commitment that everyone on this list has shown. There are a couple particular examples that I give involving Specialized, who gave me a contract after my IMC'09 win, and Zoot, who I signed with for this year, but really, those anecdotes could have been written about any of the companies that I am fortunate to represent. I take an enormous amount of confidence into each and every race from the unfailing support that you all give me. It's a lot easier to know that a subpar or even poor result won't matter when you all were willing to stick by me when it wasn't clear if I'd ever race at a high level ever again. Here is what I wrote, and I hope it reflects how much your support means to me.

I think IMC'09 was about proving things to other people. And, honestly, IMAZ'09 was a lot of "unfinished business" on that course and also proving that Canada wasn't a fluke. I think I focused a lot on what OTHER people thought. This race, IMC'11, was really about me. Proving things to myself.

I don't know that I thought about what the winning meant too much before the race in any of those years. Generally, I try to focus on "today." I learned that from Simon Whitfield. What do I need to do TODAY. That helps keep the noise of the race from interfering with getting ready to actually do it. During the race, though, while my primary focus is on execution, there are those moments - generally the ones where I actually have a rare clear memory of some section of the race because I'm not 100% focused on racing - that you think about "other" stuff, and I those cases, I'd say the other races were very much influenced by my thoughts of other people, including the athletes on the course. And this year, it was really about me. I think I kept my focus really well during this race because of that.

Afterwards, I'd say I have the most sense of "completion" after this race. Following both IMC'09 and IMAZ'09, I struggled with "what now?" I don't feel that at all after this race. I feel like because it was such a personal journey without much regard for other people, I think it's easier to be satisfied with that performance and to shift my focus to my next task, because I'm only worried about what I think, not what other people thought, and what do they think now. As a practical example, I struggled before IMC'09 to find a bike sponsor. Afterwards, I felt like I now "deserved" to find a good sponsor, but still that was stressful because what if winning IMC didn't actually result in good sponsorship? Now, I have great sponsors who supported me even when I was laying in a hospital bed and who I have long term contracts with. So it's not about proving myself and my value to the outside world. Now it's about executing and delivering on the promise that I feel I've made to these companies. To give another example, I raced in prototype Zoot shoes and a prototype Zoot race suit. They made that stuff for me because I said, "This is what I like and what I think will help me win." So they delivered it. And so it's like, they held up their end of the bargain, now I need to hold up mine. That's sort of the opposite of after IMC'09, when it was like, I've held up my end of the bargain, now who wants to hold up theirs?  

I guess before I felt I had to *prove* I was a professional. Now I feel like I just have be a professional. And, thanks to [my sponsors] unwavering support, I have been able to make dealing with the accident something that was really only between me and myself. And that has been both hard - because sometimes it's nice to rail against "doubters" and "haters" - but also really rewarding, because it's been a huge opportunity to become a better athlete and better person for myself.

You can read a copy of my "race report" (though, like most of what I write, it's not really about the race, it's more "inspired by the race.") here

And I got some very positive and kind words on my speech at the race banquet, so I shared it with all of the triathlon media. Dan Empfield of Slowtwitch.com published it first, and you can find it here (and also on my blog):

You all should have gotten some low-resolution images that David McColm took and which I sent along with his contact info. If you didn't, and you want to get some images for media purposes, let me know, and I will resend.

Thank you, as always, for all your support. This victory is your as much as it is mine.

Best,

Jordan