Some of you may not know this but first year pro, Matt Hanson, set his second run course record this season at IM CdA. He was 5th overall, ran 2:42:07 and beat the previous record by almost 5 minutes held by Craig Alexander. His first run course record was 6 weeks earlier at IMTX where he ran 2:41:38 and beat the previous record by 5 minutes held by Jordan Rapp. He’ll be one to watch over the next few years.
Wow! Awesome job Matt. Keep it up. Thankfully no flats this race. 
Nicely done! That’s speedy!
6:10/mile, damn impressive.
That is amazing. two totally different types of races in terms of environment (Texas and IMCdA) and still throws down those runs. Will be fun to watch his career.
While not the deepest nor most competitive field, it was full of talent and still a great race to watch.
Boy, he’s moving with those paces. Pretty neat to set course records at races where some greats have raced.
And to beat their times by 5 minutes. That’s a lot!
I’ve been working with him on the swim for the past year and he’s a very talented athlete. He’s great to work with, professional and humble.
Cool to see another fellow Iowan kicking some butt. I was holding out for an Iowa 1-2-3 at Kansas, but it didn’t pan out.
Just keep chipping away at the swim and bike. The good news is that it’s probably easier to improve those. You can’t really “make” someone a top notch runner.
I didn’t get a chance to run into him at Kansas, but hopefully I will at Steelhead.
If he has a strong showing in at least 2 of the next 3 70.3’s, he might be looking decent in KPR to take a stab at Kona this year.
Obviously he has the run down. Is he getting dropped in the swim, or does the biking need work?
Obviously he has the run down. Is he getting dropped in the swim, or does the biking need work?
Looking at his splits, its’ a bit of both. He’s a little inconsistent in swim and bike. He had a descent swim at Kansas, but said he felt overheated (very possible if you not used to warmer pools or warmer WS swims) and had a slow bike time, and despite the fastest run, couldn’t close a gap that big.
CDA he was well of the swim mark, but had a descent bike, but was in too big a hole after giving up 6 minutes in the swim and 4-5 on the bike.
I think you have to remember that this is all constructive criticism, I think people want to see a runner that fast put it all together and get some big wins… I’m sure he does too. We’re incredibly hungry for a US Kona champion right now. Right now Potts and TO seem the best bet for the US.
i haven’t heard of any flats yesterday, but he had 2 flats at IMTX and 3 flats at Kona last year so research on his bike splits may be a bit skewed.
dr. hanson is a relatively new student of the sport (first triathlon in 2011) and is only 28. he is going to be fun to watch for sure.
No flats yesterday. He got kicked in the face at the start of the swim. He got a cut around his eye and it swelled quickly so his goggles didn’t fit any longer. Then he spent the rest of the swim with a constant mixture of blood and water in his google. This was the first race that he didn’t set a PR in the swim. We’ll cut him a little slack.
I think he also flatted at Kansas so that bike split is misleading.
No flats yesterday. He got kicked in the face at the start of the swim. He got a cut around his eye and it swelled quickly so his goggles didn’t fit any longer. Then he spent the rest of the swim with a constant mixture of blood and water in his google. This was the first race that he didn’t set a PR in the swim. We’ll cut him a little slack.
It’s going to slow him down in the future if he keeps taking googles into his races. Tell him to leave the laptop in the hotel, or at least back in transition - sheesh - what kind of coach are you?
twomarks
I think he also flatted at Kansas so that bike split is misleading.
I didn’t know that. I figured something was up. I must have missed that in his blog. Too bad, he’d been on the podium otherwise in that one. 4 minutes seem to be the going “rate” for a decent flat change.
So has he gotten the flat problem resolved? CDA I hear has some of the best roads of any IM event… so not a great example in that way. Isn’t he running Slowtwitch approved GP4000S’s with latex tubes with sealant?
Well hopefully Mr. bad luck here puts it all together real soon and gets a big “W”.
I stand corrected. Just double checked his race resort and he didn’t say anything about flatting at Kansas - just that he struggled in the first 20 minutes with overhearing from the swim and a high HR and low power.
I’ve been working with him on the swim for the past year and he’s a very talented athlete. He’s great to work with, professional and humble.
Is he the athlete that’s limited to 60 minute swims at the only pool he has access to
Yes and the pool is set up mainly for water aerobics so the water is usually fairly warm. He’s sent me some videos of his swimming and there is always a flock of water aerobics people in the pool at the same time. Not ideal conditions to train, but he makes it work.