Listened to his recent video, said self coached and not swimming with the crew anymore. Does that mean only the swim or dropped Julie altogether?
He said he was swimming better at the end of this tear than the beginning, appeared justifying swimming alone was working
Tough year for him.
The things that’s a head scratcher with Matt is that he rode really really badly all year, way more than he has the last couple. He had some really good runs runs (including the Cairns sub 2:30 which was awesome), swam pretty similarly (maybe a min or 2 back from his best). But he was almost riding AG bike splits. Like losing 20’ (or more) to the lead at Roth, Placid, and even 10’ in 70.3s. Cairns that run didn’t even get him on the podium because he was buried so far on the bike. We’ve seen that Matt’s a much better cyclist than that in the past, not winning any fastest bike splits but able to generally keep the leaders in check especially on flatter sources since’ he’s pretty aero.
Agree on all of that. People were once concerned of his deficit due to his run. Nobody respects it anymore……because he isn’t a factor.
It kinda felt like he was sandbagging the bike to go for run records. If so it might be to chase sponsor bonuses, or just that finishing with a 2:28 (run record) and finishing 9th at Roth is better than a more balanced performance with no notable splits (ex. biking faster, but running a 2:35 and finishing 7th).
Feels a little like you are saying “why didn’t he just try harder,” which is funny. Seems like he was honest about where he felt his bike was at relative to his run. Race your strength right?
He has a good sized coaching team rooster, I would imagine that’s becoming more his priority.
Not saying he should try harder, just that his slow bike splits may be strategic vs. indicative of his bike fitness/potential. Looks like we are saying the same thing.
I love matt. But he races too much and needs to put on the LBS that I need to lose 
.
Haven’t watched the video, but he lives in Castle Rock and the swim is in Boulder, recently moved from Louisville or Lafayette. That is not a short drive, he’s got a kid, probably just not worth it.
I don’t think that’s the case- I can’t imagine Matt giving up 20’ on the bike just to run a few mins faster. Matt’s a competitive athlete who really wanted to do well in the pro series, why else would you race 4 IMs (actually maybe 5 with AZ) plus Roth in the same year? Matt’s also had a lot of success at the IM distance in his career and won multiple races, where yes he ran well in his wins but he rode well enough to stay in striking distance. Some of his struggles probably came from overracing and cumulative fatigue, but that usually would show up as much if not more in the run splits, where he still had some great runs.
Take IMLP which he did both his year and last year as an example- hard bike course and one where he’s always gonna lose time to the front, but it’s about managing losses. Last year, he came out in the chase group, rode 12-14’ slower than Lionel, Trevor, and Jackson ran 2:41 to finish 6th. This year, he he swam and ran within 30” of the same times as 20-24, but rode rode 26’(!) slower than the front pack of Foley, Chevalier, Marquardt, Haugenhaug to finish 11th. His ride was also over 5’ slower than the year prior when almost everyone else rode faster. Yes LP is a tough course for not as strong a cyclist, but giving up over double the time to the front of the race (and running the same time off) is a head scratcher. Clearly something wasn’t going right for Matt this year on the bike- his position and equipment setup looks solid so it’s got to be just less power. I hope that he’s able to figure it out and keep within striking distance to unleash some great runs next year!
No you are not saying the same thing. If you have evidence of him sandbagging, then provide it. Otherwise, just shut your mouth.
The only “proof” would be Matt actually saying that was his strategy; which he has not.
I’m not saying that was his strategy (again, no one but Matt knows), just citing that that is one possibility. Not sure why this gets folks hackles up; it’s a legit strategy and there are no rules against it. Example: Simon Shi actually asked his social media followers if he should up his swim yardage and focus on being first out of the water at races (i.e. “win” the swim), or be more balanced at try to finish higher up overall.
Ari has said that he is specifically gunning for the fastest Ironman run time. It is a thing.
I think if you are an athlete that only has a chance to win/podium at races where everything has to go your way and the top dawgs have to falter – the the fastest swim, fastest run card is what you have to play. You have to play to your strengths, and be realistic that a bunch of hard work isn’t going to suddenly make Sam Long into a competitive pro triathlete swimmer, and to a lesser extent the same will be true of Matt Hanson on the bike. I’m sure he can do some more specific bike work to get more progress than Sam gets in the swim, but the point is that there are only a handful of people who can consistently win, and of that group, when all the best are involved, they need everything to go right for them and wrong for everyone else to win. And Hanson isn’t in ANY of those groups any more unfortunately.
Doesn’t mean he’s not a great athlete with a solid history. But he’s no longer the podium threat unless most of the contenders aren’t there.
well it is not a thing as nobody really cared when somebody that was not a big name broke the 2.30 marathon the first time.
Clearly you dont follow Brasillian triathletes. The Brasillian fans wouldn’t shut up about it.
It has actually been a thing since all the way back in 1997 when Colin Dignum entered Ironman Canada specifically to try and run the fastest ever Ironman marathon.
I realise that you try to shut me down at every opportunity but please, try to keep up.
ok so how many posts do we have about the first sub 2,30 marathon on this forum ? 15en ? how many of them were positive like 5 .
If he was American he would have had a dedicated thread.
not even you commented on it …
Too busy telling the Sth American fans to give it a rest on the race chats.
Tim Don broke the Ironman world record in Brasil but as usual most people didn’t give him much credit because you know,those countries down there are full of cheaters……or so the story goes.
It was Lionel’s record that he broke so that was enough for people here to hate him.