Yes, I can imagine that you might want some solid foods as well to hold you all of the way until 5:00 p.m. A race day nutrition plan is not a one size fits all kind of thing. You have to figure out what works for you!

Thanks, I've definitely spent quite a bit of time working on being as efficient as possible. I've made two trips to visit Jim with ERO in LA (http://www.matthansontri.com/...session-with-jimero/) and also done a lot of work with my position to be able to hold the position I am in for the entire race. I will say that in previous races I was a bit too aggressive with my bike fit and couldn't hold aero for the last hour (or more) of the race. Coach Julie made a few changes with my position during our camp in Kona this winter and it has made a world of difference. I also went to Arizona and worked with Paul Thomas for a few rides. We worked on simple things like carrying speed through, corners on rolling hills, etc...the basics that I just wasn't very good at because I do so much training alone and indoors. I found that very helpful as well. As with the swim, I've improved quite a bit here, but still think there is room for growth.

Nope, my HRM decided not to work on race day. Worked fine the day before, so not exactly sure what happened with it. I actually didn't notice until the next day when I went to analyze my race files. I didn't really spend any time looking at my bike computer during the ride and I don't have HR up on the main screen during the run. I use HR after races to learn from and analyze the day...how did I pace, did I nail my nutrition plan, how did I manage weather conditions, etc. So pretty frustrated that I don't have that data to dissect this race, but oh well!

No clue what the temp was at finish. There was a front that came in the last 10 miles on the bike, my garmin shows the temp went from 81-68 over the last 30 minutes of the ride. The wind picked up then and there was a short rain shower. Perfect timing to cool me down before the run! I crossed the finish line and immediately started shivering. People asked me why I didn't drink any of the champaign on the podium...my teeth were clenched so hard I wasn't sure I'd be able to. And if I did, I probably would have chipped a tooth since I was shivering so much! The medic was following me around through drug testing as well because evidently my lips were blue.

There were a number of reasons I decided to make a coach switch but the biggest thing was that I just needed a change. Julie has a great stable of athletes who I have learned from and been pushed by when I am able to go to Boulder to train or head to a camp. She has managed my fatigue extremely well. Julie is a very accomplished athlete and has taught me so much about racing as a pro. She is also a very humble coach and is very willing to bring in other people to help find an answer to an issue. I met with her in July of last year, talked with her athletes a bit...then researched how they had improved over the last year. It was a no brainer for me.

Yup, I'll be at 70.3 worlds as well.

Awesome race and great write up, Matt.

I am new to this and have a question about the changing tent.

What exactly did you change in the changing tent? I thought it was normal to wear a tri-suit under the wetsuit, then slip off the wetsuit and continue without the need of changing any clothes.

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"If it costs you 30 minutes at Maryland so what" -dwreal

Congratulations on a great win! I personally enjoy following you and respect your open attitude towards your fans.

My question is pretty boring I guess, but what is your go to, the workout for each discipline that you personally feel makes the biggest difference during the final 8 week push before a race like Texas?

Thanks again for taking the time out to answer questions, class act thing to do IMO.

Hey Dev, thanks for the questions and kind words....and title changed.

• Did you enjoy this bike course more or less than the old one?

I enjoyed this one 1000x more than last years! LOL. I think the 2015 course suited me a bit better overall and would have broken up the pack a little bit more and separated the field. This course was very fast this year, but it could have been completely miserable if the wind would have came up earlier. This course made the ride it more about tactics which was actually pretty fun for me at the time. Prepping a strategy for this course with the athletes in the field was definitely a challenge.

• Where do you live and do you prep for the bike mainly on the trainer?

I live in Storm Lake, IA. I do pretty much all of my riding on the trainer from November through May (we got snow last week!) but looking forward to getting out for the summer training.

• How many hours per week do you train for biggest and average week?

Average is probably around 22 hours between S/B/R. Biggest weeks was 34 at a training camp early on, but a lot of that was technique work on the bike.

• How much swimming per week?

Swim 5-6 hours per week....maybe 15-25k yds. Whatever Coach Julie tells me to do :).

• Do you train with any others or mainly solo?

Mainly solo. I did a 2 week Arizona camp in January, a 2 week kona camp in February. I'm planning a trip to Boulder in June and from there we'll see. But when I am home, I do all training solo.

• Height, weight, body fat percent, age?

I turn 32 in a few weeks. I'm 5'10 and in the 150lb range...I honestly haven't stepped on a scale in 2017. I just don't care. As long as I am getting faster, I'll let my weight be wherever it wants to be. Last time I did a body comp test was summer of 2016 and I was 5% body fat.

• What was your sports background before tri?

I wrestled until I dislocated my hip. I ran in High School and a little in college after my wrestling career came to an abrupt end.

• How did you get into triathlon?

When I was 16, I had a mentor who challenged me to make a list of 50 goals for the next 10 years. One of those goals was to complete an IM...so I signed up for one IMCdA. I had to re-learn to swim, buy a bike ($600 ebay special and I ate Ramen for a month because of it!), and figure out how to put a training plan together. It was actually a good time to start being I was living alone while going to grad school so I had a decent amount of time to figure everything out. I planned on just doing one, marking it off my goal list and calling it good, but I ended up qualifying for Kona at CdA. After Kona, I was hooked on the sport.

• When did you realize you have the genetics and drive to compete as a pro?

I earned my elite license and qualified for Kona in 2013 at IMTX, but didn't really plan on taking my pro card. I ended up with 3 flats that year in Kona and was frustrated that I wasn't able to see where my fitness was. Because of that, I decided that if I took my pro card I could race at Arizona. I was 18th in Arizona and was thrilled about it...I had a 30 minute PR and I wasn't last! It wasn't until IMTX in 2014 where I ran a 2:41 that I actually started to wonder what I could do in the sport.

• What keeps you motivated daily, target race outcomes, or the daily process?

I love the process. I enjoy the preparation. I believe that for some reason I have been given a gift and have the responsibility to use it for the best of my ability. There have been times in my career when I've lost the focus on the process and raced for outcome, but I've found that I race much better and am a much happier human when I stick to the process. Obviously, I have outcomes and results that I want, and do set outcome goals...but the focus is on process.

I didn't change anything in T1, just slipped out of my swim skin. In T2 I just put on my Compressport sleeves, shoes, and socks. In a full IM, you have to go through the changing tent whether you change anything or not.

Thank you! I learned something new today.

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"If it costs you 30 minutes at Maryland so what" -dwreal

Thanks for the question, Chillybil. I don't have a "go to" workout. I feel ready when I have put together a full build of consistent training day in and day out. That is my approach as an athlete and a coach. If you are relying on one workout to make you ready for the race, you really aren't ready. Things will happen and you may not execute on your "key" workout for some reason. If you put too much stock in that one workout and don't execute, then what? Do you not race? Have no confidence or doubt on race day? To me, confidence comes from putting in the work every day, not from one session.

Have you tested the compressport sleeves on the bike? I've read that they are actually faster than skin but not sure I've seen confirmation of that. I guess whether to put them on in T1 or T2 has a lot to do with race dynamics too, you probably would rather have a longer T2 than T1 as that could make it that much harder to catch a group if you needed too?

Ya, you can always teach but obv you have a very finite time frame to try to be the best athlete you can be. Coach Julie sounds like a good fit for you and, like Tim, she is a real swimmer, having been a D1 All-American at LSU. What kind of times are you swimming in practice these days, e.g., what's your best 200 and/or 500 free time in practice??? I noted in your 2016 review that you went to Oly Swimming Trials; I think that's pretty cool thing for a pro tri-guy to do. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

No, I haven't tested them yet, but you are exactly right. I can't give up any time in most T1s (although this race wouldn't have mattered since I came out alone). It is on my list for my next trip to aero testing.

Great race, excellent RR

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"if you chose it, it's not really pain"

Honestly, not really sure for 200 or 500 times. I haven't done an all out for either distance in quite a while. The wednesday before the race, I held 58/59 scy on 10x100 @ 1:30 (so with a lot of rest). On Friday, I finished with an all out 200 and went 1:46....with fins :).

Well, those are both very impressive results; a 1:46 200, even with fins, is faster than 99.9% of swimmers can do. I'll bet you could go sub-2:00 w/o fins, espec off the blocks in a masters meet, and prob 54-ish for the 100 free. Congrats on such impressive swim progress, espec as an adult!!!

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

What is your process for prepping the bike before the race? I.E. New tires & Latex Tubes, Bring bike to mechanic to assemble after flight?

I drove down, so didn't have any real assembly to do on my bike. I have my Zipp race wheels that I just use on race day and the ride before. I don't use new tires every race, I'll get a few races out of them before retiring them to training tires. Yes I use latex tubes. I had the Quintan Roo mecs go over my bike with a fine tooth comb on Thursday before the race so I knew everything was working properly.

Congrats! FYI - In South Africa this month, they had chairs set out in several rows in the open as you came into T1. A small changing tent was on the side only for those who needed it. You did not have to go into the tent. In fact, if you went in, you would come out the exact same way since they were placed up against a fence. I ran right by the changing tent on the way to the bike. You would have done the same.

Would you be able to say how big of an effect riding in a pack like you did in hr 2 has on your speed? Looking at your power file I'm amazed you could average 25.1 MPH on just 215 watts! I have a somewhat similar build (5' 10", 155 lb) and 215 watts usually puts me at around 22-23 mph on a flat course. I'll be the first to admit I'm definitely not 100% optimized aero wise but I also wouldn't consider myself a brick...finding that kind of speed on that power would be pretty incredible

I really pay zero attention to speed. There are way too many variables that will affect this: wind, road surface, hills, etc. It obviously has an effect on speed, otherwise people wouldn't do it. But I don't really know if I could quantify it on the day. Also, you need to keep in mind that Power Meters read differently. My quarq that I've been using since 2016 reads about 20w lower than the PM I used in 2015 (but is much more reliable and less affected by temp/humidity changes).

As mentioned before, I've done a great bit of aero testing the last two years...You'd be surprised at the cost of wrinkles in your suit in the wrong places or a poorly placed bottle. Also, you can't underestimate a clean drive train and smooth shifting. Between testing as well as the help of QR, Sram/Zipp, Kask, and BSG apparel, I've been able to get a very efficient fit and set up. If you are interested: http://www.matthansontri.com/...session-with-jimero/

That's Kind...but you haven't seen me attempt to go off of blocks :). There is absolutely nothing graceful about it! I doubt I'd be in the 54 range for a 100. Maybe I'll head to a master's meet sometime to find out...when I retire from triathlon :).

Congrats on another great race and I hope we can look forward to following your career for a long time. But now, to the question...

"June
– Ironman Cairns – DNF due to Bike Crash
– Started coach search, got kicked out of a camp by prospective coach (yup that really happened!), interviewed a number of other coaches, and felt fortunate that Coach Julie Dibens had a slot open on her roster..."

We want to hear the story! Don't need to know who the coach was unless you want to share. Did you have to give the trucker hat back?

Listen to the TRS podcast from before the race with Matt. He talks about it.