It\u2019s been a meteoric rise for the trained physio, and it\u2019s one that shows no signs of slowing up as she prepares for the world champs and then a sub-eight-hour long-distance triathlon attempt<\/a><\/strong> as part of the Sub8 Project.<\/p>\n Here, Matthews speaks to 220<\/em> about some of the key moments in that journey and opens up on her hopes and expectations for this weekend\u2019s race in St George.<\/p>\n The thing that inspired me about middle-distance [racing] was there didn\u2019t appear to be any ceiling. You could just keep getting better and you always had access to the very top.<\/p>\n You didn\u2019t have to be selected or jump through any hoops. The better you were, the higher you got to race. So you always raced against the professionals and then you could compare yourself. The thing that motivated me about the pro-license was that you were then racing in the professional field against the very best.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the reason I wanted to do it. Not because I wanted to be a professional athlete. It\u2019s still [the same] now, to be honest. It\u2019s still just to race the best, not to have it as a career. That doesn\u2019t motivate me \u2013 I mean, it does a little bit now because I\u2019ve spiralled a little bit, but yeah, it was just about seeing if I could get those percentages to get a pro licensed so I could race professionals, and I got it in that first race.<\/p>\n It was my last race as an age-grouper. It was the only race I did [as an age-grouper] with a professional field. We started eight minutes behind the professional women and I ran past all of them but one, so yeah, it was quite cool.<\/p>\n Middle-distance was what I was excited about in 2019, but I watched some of my army mates doing Ironman Estonia in 2019 and thought, well, if they can do it, I can do it. So I entered an Ironman.<\/p>\n Since I did that first Ironman I basically got hooked on the Ironman distance instead of the middle distance.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> I was still just focusing on Ironman and thought, \u2018oh no, I\u2019m definitely better at Ironman than I am at middle-distance\u2019. And I had a couple of people tell me that, you know, you\u2019re obviously good at Ironman, don\u2019t worry about middle distance.<\/p>\n So in 2021 I was only going to do Kona, which was in October. The [the Ironman 70.3 World Champs<\/a><\/strong>] were three weeks earlier so I wasn\u2019t going to bother doing them, even though I\u2019d qualified.<\/p>\n Then obviously Kona got cancelled<\/a><\/strong>, but I had a really great race at the Collins Cup<\/a><\/strong>, so I thought, actually, maybe I could be quite competitive at the middle distance. George Goodwin offered me a bedroom in [his group\u2019s] house that was already organised and I flew out the next day. It was like, why not give it a go?<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t really run when I got there, because I was still nursing a running injury. But when I say injury\u2026 with the physio head on, I\u2019m constantly managing niggles and rather than letting them affect my races, I\u2019m just constantly managing them before they get to a full-on injury.<\/p>\n I had a bit of confidence, I guess, but went into the race with no real expectation because I hadn\u2019t done the run training \u2013\u00a0it was up and down on massive hills on the run. I didn\u2019t have the best performance on the day, but my swim and bike was good and then to come forth was like a gift.<\/p>\n Yeah, I really do. Personally, it\u2019s way more fun. I\u2019ve done one flat course before and it was so dull. Mentally it was like the hardest challenge. I think, being a more powerful athlete and technically skilled compared to some of the other girls, there\u2019s aspects of this [course] that I think will really benefit me.<\/p>\n I guess I showed that on the 70.3 course. This year I\u2019ve continued to get better training data-wise for the last six months, so it\u2019s really exciting for me. [I\u2019m going] into this world champs knowing I\u2019m going to be better than I was at the 70.3 world champs.<\/p>\n Obviously there\u2019s going to be a different field. Those top three girls that beat me [in the 70.3 World Championship] don\u2019t do \u2013 or aren\u2019t doing \u2013 the Ironman race, but there\u2019s another few who will be there who\u2019ve been specialising on the Ironman distances.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> I\u2019m feeling really good. It\u2019s really cool to have raced as I did in Lanzarote [where she finished first, over three minutes ahead of Anne Haug] and know that it wasn\u2019t like, whoa, where did that come from? Am I ever going to be able to do that again? It was exactly as I planned. So that\u2019s given me a lot of confidence.<\/p>\n I\u2019m never 100% sure I\u2019ll feel on race day. I\u2019m still nervous about the swim start, the swim, who I\u2019m going to swim with, whether I\u2019ll be a few minutes down, how hard I\u2019ll have to work at the start of the bike\u2026 but overall, yeah, I\u2019m really excited. I guess there isn\u2019t this sort of apprehension and tension that perhaps Kona holds, because the environment isn\u2019t so extreme.<\/p>\n A key thing at the 70.3 worlds was that I went into it thinking that top five was amazing and I was running along [in fourth] thinking cool, I\u2019ve already succeeded. I don\u2019t even need to try any harder. And I\u2019m not saying that I could have tried harder, but I didn\u2019t have anything to work for.<\/p>\n So I spoke to a sports psychologist last year\u2026 I want to be in the race and genuinely think that I can win. It\u2019s taken a few months to try and get that idea into my head, but no, when I\u2019m on the start line, I\u2019m going to try and win the race.<\/p>\n Obviously it\u2019s my debut at the Ironman World Champs, but I\u2019m going to try and win\u2026 I\u2019d obviously be really happy with a top three \u2013 I\u2019d be gutted to miss that podium considering the shape I\u2019m in now. I think something will have had to go really wrong if I don\u2019t get to podium, which is quite cool to say.<\/p>\nKat Matthews on\u2026 making the switch from age-grouper to pro<\/strong><\/h2>\n
On how it felt to first race other pro triathletes<\/strong><\/h2>\n
On moving up from 70.3 to full-distance triathlons<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>On coming fourth in St George at the Ironman 70.3 World Champs<\/strong><\/h2>\n
On whether she thinks the St George course is suited to her strengths<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>On how she\u2019s feeling ahead of the Ironman World Championship<\/strong><\/h2>\n
On where she thinks\/hopes she\u2019ll finish on race day<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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