Hi All! I enjoyed doing a race report after my overall win at 70.3 Blue Ridge, and with Age Group Nationals being my other main objective of the season, it seemed fitting to write up another report. I tend to write myself novels during my TrainingPeaks comments anyway, so this definitely won't be wasted effort 🙃. My name's Matt Guenter, I am a 25 year old from Reading, PA, now living in Boulder, Colorado, working full time as an engineer for Lockheed Martin. I average 15-20 hrs/week of swim/bike/run + Strength on most weeks, and am 5'11" and 162 lbs if you're curious for power stuff.
I won't get too into the motivation/backstory leading into my race - I summed that up in my instagram post pretty succinctly. However, I will say when I raced AGNC in 2018, I realized I really wanted to win this race, and such has been the main goal since that point. I've been doing triathlon for about 6 years now, come from a water polo/swimming background, and dabbled in track a bit in high school too.
The main objective for the weekend was day one's Olympic Distance, with a regard for Day 2 only coming after Day 1 was complete. I knew with my skillset, to win this race I had to again go from the gun. The swim went pretty well, in my opinion. One week before the race, I did a 500yd time trial, at altitude from a push. I went 4:58.8, so knew that the swimming fitness was there enough to have a good swim. The time was a bit slower than I anticipated - 18:10, being almost 30s slower than last year when I know I have much better fitness - but I chalk it up to being a slightly longer course. I'm not sure if I had the fastest swim time - there are a few times ahead of me, but they don't seem to be accurate.
Swim file: https://www.strava.com/.../7592868275/overview
Bike - where I really felt like I had put the work in over the last 4 years. The goal was to average just over 300 watts, which would hopefully give me a split of around 26.8mph. I hadn't done the measurements on the course differences from last year to this year, but I figured it would be around the same time. It ended up being a bit longer and slower of a bike course, with one extra u-turn and still some bad pavement, though not as bad as 2021. I ended up averaging 296w (after taking out the final descent back to T2) and 27.0mph. I've made a lot of minor aero gains over the last year, which definitely added up to make it a faster bike split. I did end up with the fastest bike split, which was a huge accomplishment - 6 years ago, I had no idea what the difference between a TT bike and a road bike was, and now I had the fastest bike split at a national championships race.
Bike file: https://www.strava.com/.../7593652701/overview
Run - so many times when I race, I run looking over my shoulder (metaphorically and physically). With my run being the weakest leg, I'm always scared of people running me down. However, this year, I really tried to focus on just running my own race. The goal was to run 5:35s, and the first two miles were 5:25/5:32 - which had felt pretty comfortable. However, the heat/humidity (probably 85*) started to get to me. The next four miles were 5:42, 45, 43, and 48. Heat is usually my great limiter - I struggle greatly in it, and it definitely affected me here. However, running just 4s/mile slower than the plan is definitely a success - on a better weather day (like day 2), I think I would've been right around 5:30 pace.
Run file: https://www.strava.com/.../7592870897/overview
Overall, I finished with a time of 1:51:41, granting me the overall win by 3:46. It was a tough day out there for a lot of people due to the heat, but I was able to put together 3 great legs and grab the overall title.
After talking to Todd Buckingham of EMJ at the awards ceremony on Saturday night, I had little confidence that we would race on Sunday due to the expected rain & thunderstorms. I woke early on Sunday to do my typical 9:00 pace 5 minute stumble, and went outside to a downpour of rain. This did nothing to inspire confidence in the prospect of having a race, and I finished that 5 minute jog happy with winning the Olympic, but not confident in being able to go for the double. 20 minutes later, we got the alert from USAT that we would race, with the distances being cut in half. I quickly had to get back into a mental headspace of being ready to race, but the shortened distances were good for me. My best swimming/cycling/running numbers are all ~5 minutes, so the shorter the triathlon, the better for me.
After a chaotic last hour before the gun, I lined up in the first wave of the 20-29 start (it was changed to a Time Trial start, with 4 people starting every 5 seconds). The swim was pretty crazy - I used some old water polo skills to finesse my way through the 15-19 stragglers, and exited the water with a 4:07 swim split. I don't know how accurate my file is here - but I will say I was swimming pretty quickly!
Swim file: https://www.strava.com/.../7598109985/overview
Onto the 15 minute bike - with no reason to hold anything back, I put down some great power here. I averaged ~320 for the portions outside of putting shoes on/taking them off, which was good enough for a 27.7mph average and the fastest bike split again. I had a great T2 (which is much more important in a super sprint than an olympic), and took off on the run.
Bike file: https://www.strava.com/.../7598525635/overview
Motivated to get the double, and knowing that I put together two great legs again to start the run, I let loose. By the turnaround I could tell I was likely to win my AG, but the Time Trial start made things (even more) complicated trying to know what I had to do in the overall. The 30+ guys had yet to even start, so I made sure to run all the way through the finish line, averaging 5:11 for the 2.5km.
Run file: https://www.strava.com/.../7598110025/overview
I ended with another victory, totaling 29:29 to Todd's (2nd place) 30:30. It completed a truly dream weekend, as I thought I was capable of doing the double, but not this convincingly. A race report isn't the best place to thank people, but this weekend was a true team effort, from my family, to friends, to training partners who make those 6am swims just a bit better. I can say with 100% conviction that it would not have been this good, or fun, of a weekend without all of them.
Since I know someone will ask - no, I don't know if I will go pro just yet. There are a few reasons - not many short course racing opportunities at the pro field, want to continue refining my run, and the opportunity to perform well at Amateur Worlds, but the truth is I just haven't thought about it yet. I was fully focused on this race, and will let the next few months (including 70.3 Worlds) happen before I decide what to do next year.
Happy to answer any questions/comments - hope you enjoyed the report!
Matt Guenter
I won't get too into the motivation/backstory leading into my race - I summed that up in my instagram post pretty succinctly. However, I will say when I raced AGNC in 2018, I realized I really wanted to win this race, and such has been the main goal since that point. I've been doing triathlon for about 6 years now, come from a water polo/swimming background, and dabbled in track a bit in high school too.
The main objective for the weekend was day one's Olympic Distance, with a regard for Day 2 only coming after Day 1 was complete. I knew with my skillset, to win this race I had to again go from the gun. The swim went pretty well, in my opinion. One week before the race, I did a 500yd time trial, at altitude from a push. I went 4:58.8, so knew that the swimming fitness was there enough to have a good swim. The time was a bit slower than I anticipated - 18:10, being almost 30s slower than last year when I know I have much better fitness - but I chalk it up to being a slightly longer course. I'm not sure if I had the fastest swim time - there are a few times ahead of me, but they don't seem to be accurate.
Swim file: https://www.strava.com/.../7592868275/overview
Bike - where I really felt like I had put the work in over the last 4 years. The goal was to average just over 300 watts, which would hopefully give me a split of around 26.8mph. I hadn't done the measurements on the course differences from last year to this year, but I figured it would be around the same time. It ended up being a bit longer and slower of a bike course, with one extra u-turn and still some bad pavement, though not as bad as 2021. I ended up averaging 296w (after taking out the final descent back to T2) and 27.0mph. I've made a lot of minor aero gains over the last year, which definitely added up to make it a faster bike split. I did end up with the fastest bike split, which was a huge accomplishment - 6 years ago, I had no idea what the difference between a TT bike and a road bike was, and now I had the fastest bike split at a national championships race.
Bike file: https://www.strava.com/.../7593652701/overview
Run - so many times when I race, I run looking over my shoulder (metaphorically and physically). With my run being the weakest leg, I'm always scared of people running me down. However, this year, I really tried to focus on just running my own race. The goal was to run 5:35s, and the first two miles were 5:25/5:32 - which had felt pretty comfortable. However, the heat/humidity (probably 85*) started to get to me. The next four miles were 5:42, 45, 43, and 48. Heat is usually my great limiter - I struggle greatly in it, and it definitely affected me here. However, running just 4s/mile slower than the plan is definitely a success - on a better weather day (like day 2), I think I would've been right around 5:30 pace.
Run file: https://www.strava.com/.../7592870897/overview
Overall, I finished with a time of 1:51:41, granting me the overall win by 3:46. It was a tough day out there for a lot of people due to the heat, but I was able to put together 3 great legs and grab the overall title.
After talking to Todd Buckingham of EMJ at the awards ceremony on Saturday night, I had little confidence that we would race on Sunday due to the expected rain & thunderstorms. I woke early on Sunday to do my typical 9:00 pace 5 minute stumble, and went outside to a downpour of rain. This did nothing to inspire confidence in the prospect of having a race, and I finished that 5 minute jog happy with winning the Olympic, but not confident in being able to go for the double. 20 minutes later, we got the alert from USAT that we would race, with the distances being cut in half. I quickly had to get back into a mental headspace of being ready to race, but the shortened distances were good for me. My best swimming/cycling/running numbers are all ~5 minutes, so the shorter the triathlon, the better for me.
After a chaotic last hour before the gun, I lined up in the first wave of the 20-29 start (it was changed to a Time Trial start, with 4 people starting every 5 seconds). The swim was pretty crazy - I used some old water polo skills to finesse my way through the 15-19 stragglers, and exited the water with a 4:07 swim split. I don't know how accurate my file is here - but I will say I was swimming pretty quickly!
Swim file: https://www.strava.com/.../7598109985/overview
Onto the 15 minute bike - with no reason to hold anything back, I put down some great power here. I averaged ~320 for the portions outside of putting shoes on/taking them off, which was good enough for a 27.7mph average and the fastest bike split again. I had a great T2 (which is much more important in a super sprint than an olympic), and took off on the run.
Bike file: https://www.strava.com/.../7598525635/overview
Motivated to get the double, and knowing that I put together two great legs again to start the run, I let loose. By the turnaround I could tell I was likely to win my AG, but the Time Trial start made things (even more) complicated trying to know what I had to do in the overall. The 30+ guys had yet to even start, so I made sure to run all the way through the finish line, averaging 5:11 for the 2.5km.
Run file: https://www.strava.com/.../7598110025/overview
I ended with another victory, totaling 29:29 to Todd's (2nd place) 30:30. It completed a truly dream weekend, as I thought I was capable of doing the double, but not this convincingly. A race report isn't the best place to thank people, but this weekend was a true team effort, from my family, to friends, to training partners who make those 6am swims just a bit better. I can say with 100% conviction that it would not have been this good, or fun, of a weekend without all of them.
Since I know someone will ask - no, I don't know if I will go pro just yet. There are a few reasons - not many short course racing opportunities at the pro field, want to continue refining my run, and the opportunity to perform well at Amateur Worlds, but the truth is I just haven't thought about it yet. I was fully focused on this race, and will let the next few months (including 70.3 Worlds) happen before I decide what to do next year.
Happy to answer any questions/comments - hope you enjoyed the report!
Matt Guenter