Originally published at: Anne Haug Is Still Looking To Test Her Limits - Slowtwitch News
You’d think that her 8:02:38 at Challenge Roth last year would suffice on the “testing your limits” front, but 42-year-old Anne Haug has no intention of giving up on her relentless pursuit of her potential any time soon.
“I wouldn’t say I don’t do it because I like winning, but I think I do it more for the fact I want to see where my own limits are,” Haug said during an interview at Club La Santa (she’s an ambassador for the club and spends most of the year on the island). “That’s independent of racing, and that’s why I was so motivated during COVID … I just loved to challenge myself and see how far I can get through willpower and training. And that’s kind of fascinating because you always set limits and then you break limits, and sometimes you think maybe you shouldn’t set any limits because you never know.”
Heading into the race in Roth last year Haug truly didn’t know. After being sick for much of the first part of the year, the German raced at IRONMAN Lanzarote, breaking Paula Newby-Fraser’s 29-year-old course record (9:24:39) by almost 18 minutes when she blasted to a 9:06:40 on what many consider the toughest IRONMAN course in the world. She ended up not racing at T100 San Francisco, then did the 70.3 race in Nice as an age grouper before rolling into Roth as a last-minute entry. A year earlier she’d finished second when Daniela Ryf set a new world best of 8:08:21 in Roth. Haug would break Ryf’s record by just under six minutes.
Here’s how Slowtwitch writer David Pinsonneault recapped Haug’s incredible day of racing:
Anne Haug (52:37) and Rebecca Robisch (52:39) led out the women’s swim. Laura Philipp (55:14), Svenja Thoes (55:16), and Els Visser (55:17) made up the chase pack. Robisch took the early lead on the bike, closely followed by Haug. It did not take long after that for Haug to make her move and start putting time into the rest of the field. At last year’s race, Haug biked 4:39:17. She rode more than 10 minutes faster than that time to take a commanding lead into T2. Haug made a sub-2:40 marathon look easy off of an incredibly hard ride to go on to win in 8:02:38. Philipp was the best of the rest, clocking the 2nd fastest run of the day (2:44:34) to take 2nd. Visser held on for third to round out the podium. Anne Reischmann moved up to finish 4th, after running a 2:50:09 marathon. That was enough to hold off a fast charging Danielle Lewis in 5th.
https://slowtwitch.com/news/ditlev-and-haug-set-records-at-challenge-roth/
“I honestly can’t explain it,” Haug said as she looks back on the big day. “Normally you would think to do a world record you have to have the perfect preparation. I was just so happy to be back racing and that I was able to race at all because I had been sick at the beginning of the season. And then, maybe racing without pressure and being able to just enjoy what you do gives you some wings, I don’t know. I can still not explain it. And I don’t know if I can ever repeat it. It was just the perfect day. Perfect.”
If she could have dreamed of the ultimate race, well, that’s what she experienced in Roth last summer.
Unfortunately, Haug’s dream season quickly went awry from there. She got sick after the race in Roth, but ended up on the start line at T100 London despite that and struggled through that event. Then, at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice (a race I wasn’t the only person expecting Haug to excel at), she flatted coming out of T1 and was unable to get her tire fixed. (She had a spare tube, but there was a cut in the tire and tech support was already out on the course.) Ever the consummate pro, Haug took the blow in stride.
“That was really a big bummer,” she said. “But, I mean, it’s professional sports. I was five times lucky and always got a medal at the world championship. It just wasn’t my day.”
“Freedom to Race Whenever I Feel Ready”
One change Haug has made this season is around her race schedule. As much as she loves the T100 format, she feels it is getting too difficult to excel at the 100 km and the IRONMAN distances.
“I think it’s turned like an ITU race nowadays, so I don’t see big chances to end up on the podium there,” she said. “You can’t go back and forth like it was possible to do two years ago.”
There’s also the commitment of signing a T100 contract and having to compete at six or seven of those super-competitive races.
“I’ll enjoy the freedom to race whenever I feel ready,” she said. “You just can’t fit it all in. You have to qualify, so you have to do an IRONMAN, then six or seven PTO races, and then Hawaii … my body can’t cope with that. I want to be competitive in every single race and I don’t want to compromise on that. I think I would if I went for a series (T100) with that kind of calibre. I love the fast and furious racing and, yeah, it’s a bit heartbreaking (to not compete in T100 races), but I know that I’m more competitive over an IRONMAN. I’m a professional athlete and I earn my money with racing and I have to do what’s best for me. I don’t see chances to get in the top-five at PTO races, but in IRONMAN I can still win races, so I want to do that.”
(Just so we’re clear, I don’t for a minute believe that Haug wouldn’t be competitive in the T100 Series …)
“Seeing Where My Limits Are”
Last May, just days before she broke the IRONMAN Lanzarote course record, I asked Haug, then 41, how long she could see herself pursuing life as a pro triathlete. (Boy did that ever feel silly over the next few months.) I’m still curious, though, how she manages to stay so motivated after over 20 years in the sport.
“Always I think from season to season and I want the training I put in to reflect my performances, and if I see that I can’t improve anymore, or can’t become a better athlete, or the work I put in doesn’t reflect that anymore, then it will be time for me to stop,” she said. “I still see myself as a big construction area, and there’s so many things I want to work on. And you have to work on them because the competition gets better and better. For 20 years I’ve been seeing where my limits are. I think that’s quite interesting and it keeps me motivated every single day.”
An integral part of that journey is her relationship with coach Dan Lorang, who has become one of the most famous endurance coaches on the planet – he is the Head of Performance/ Head Coach for the World Tour cycling team Bora-Hansgrohe, coached Jan Frodeno until his retirement and, in addition to Haug, works with Lucy Charles-Barclay and Taylor Knibb.
Lorang and Haug went to school for sports science together and found themselves in the same triathlon class. Lorang wanted to become a coach, so he started writing training programs for Haug, who, at that point, couldn’t swim. Haug distinctly remembers how motivated she was to try and break 40 minutes for 10 km – Lorang told her if she could achieve that, she could race professionally as a duathlete. At the time Haug didn’t think she could achieve even that milestone. (In case you’re wondering why I’m making a big deal of this, Haug has run 2:48 in Kona and 2:38 in Roth last year, both of which require running sub-40 min pace for an entire marathon, not just 10 km.)
“In the beginning of my career my goal was to run under 40 minutes, and now I’m the world record holder,” she said. “You never know what’s possible. And that fascinates me still, even after 20 years.”
Dan Empfield’s race recap from Haug’s 2019 IRONMAN World Championship win exemplifies just how far Haug’s running has come from those early days:
The two – Charles-Barclay and Haug – seemed running just too fast early, LCB running what looked like a 2:50 marathon pace and Haug running closer to 2:40.
As good as LCB looked, as fast as she ran, and despite the progress she made from last year to this, Anne Haug just ran faster. Just an inexorable 15sec per mile faster, like a hammer and chisel taking little chunks out of a big rock.
Thirteen minutes behind the leader was Daniela Ryf. She was that amount going out onto the run after a – for her – dreadful bike ride. She was having a somewhat better run, shaving a minute off her deficit to the leader by 7 miles into the run, and drawing closer yet by the run’s halfway point. Ryf got herself up into 7th and doubters wondered whether there was more Ryf magic to come.
Closer to the race front, watching Anne Haug run up the Palani hill, it was obvious she was going to be a handful for Charles-Barclay. Her lead was down from 8 minutes to 5. Then to 2, and then the pass came in the Natural Energy Lab.
Haug soloe’d in for a clear win. “The whole run felt amazing,” she said. “I made up 8 minutes on the first half marathon, but after the half-marathon the marathon starts. I had to focus on my own run. Race smart. Take aid at the aid stations.”
Haug’s run of 2:51:06 compares favorably to Carfrae’s run course record of 2:50:26. Her total time of 8:40:10 better her 3rd place time posted last year of 8:41:58.https://slowtwitch.com/news/anne-haug-outlegs-lucy-charles-barclay-for-kona-victory/
Once she achieved that first milestone, Haug then embarked on another dream – competing at the Olympics. She checked that off in both 2012 (she finished 11th) and 2016 (36th). Then came the move to long-distance racing. In 2017 she took on a couple of 70.3 races, then began her IRONMAN career with a fourth-place finish at the IRONMAN European Championship in Frankfurt in 2018. Later that year she would finish third at both the 70.3 and IRONMAN world championships. A year later she took the win in Kona, thanks to that dramatic run that saw her pass Lucy Charles-Barclay. Until her DNF in Nice last September, Haug had finished on the podium every time she raced an IRONMAN World Championship, including a pair of thirds at St. George and Kona in 2022 and a runner-up finish in 2023 – that year Charles-Barclay was able to hang on for the win.
The drive and determination to achieve all of that has come, in part, because many thought she couldn’t do it.
“I had a normal life before and then in university I decided I want to be a professional athlete and everyone said you can’t do it,” she said. “You can’t swim and won’t be possible to do it, especially in ITU (draft legal) racing. (They said) you won’t qualify for the Olympics because you’re way too old. It was always something I had to fight for. It was always something I wanted to do – I think it’s different than if you get pushed into sports by your parents. So, it was my decision to do it, and I know it’s a big privilege to do it. Therefore, if my career is over, I want to be able to say I’ve given everything I could.”
It’s hard to imagine how Haug could have given any more. As we’re winding down the interview, I wonder what she would be most proud of at the end of her career.
“I always had this massive panic from swimming in open water,” she said. “And I was still doing ITU racing, although I absolutely hated it. I had panic when I was in the water. And I did everything possible to get over that fear. When I look back, I am really proud that I challenged myself to the sport and continued my dream. I always wanted to race the Olympics. I always knew my strength would be long course, but I wanted to get to the Olympics.”
From panicking in the water, from desperately trying to break 40 minutes for 10 km, from being “too old” to make an Olympic team … to becoming the IRONMAN world champion in 2019, a five-time IRONMAN world championship medalist to that world-best time in Roth last year – it’s all been an incredible journey. One that doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. Haug’s not worried about figuring out the next step – she’s focused on what’s happening right now.
“I never really made plans because I never planned to be a pro triathlete and the door just opened,” she said. “I got the opportunity and I said, oh, let’s try it and see how far you can go. And I think if one door closes, another one will open. And I think if you are open minded and see what life has to offer, then you will find something. But, at the moment, I’m a pro athlete and that’s my plan A. I think if you have too many other alternatives in your head, you can’t really focus on that.”
Plan A seems to be working pretty well right now. We’ll look forward to seeing Haug begin her season at IRONMAN South Africa at the end of the month. (We’ll also post our photo shoot of her bike during the week before the race – parts of the bike are embargoed until race week!)
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