Ironman is one the most grueling endurance events in the world, the half Ironman, known as the 70.3 event consists of a 1.9 km swim, a 90 km bike ride, and a 21.1 km run for a total distance of113.0 km covered in the race, this is endurance athlete, Matt Trautman’s speciality event and one he has been extremely successful at, defending his title in East London and reaffirming himself as one of the brightest talents on the continent all in just his 3rd year as a professional ironman triathlete.
“I am still relatively new to the sport it is my 3rd year as a pro now so I am still just gaining experience and I want to get a few more wins under my belt, qualify for the World Champs which is in Kona in October so you need to gather points to throughout the season and then World Champs it is probably not going to be my year this year but just gather some more experience and then really try and get a top result next year.”Matt Trautman,ironman triathelete
Trautman finished fifth in the full Ironman last year which consists of a 3.86km swim, a 180.25km bike ride and a 42.2km run and it is something the former professional white water kayaker feels he can dominate, but the 30 year old admits it requires hours and hours of discipline to be ready for the toughest event known to man.
“For the ful Ironman you really have to put in the hours on the road, you need time on the legs, you need time on the bike, you looking at about 30 hours a week on average I’d say, you are doing some runs that are up to marathon distance in one shot and if you don’t put in the work, it is not going to happen on the day so that’s what you have to do.”Matt Trautman,ironman triathelete
The demanding event be it full or half Ironman is something that Trautman loves doing and maintains that his mantra of never giving up is what keeps him going when he is pushing his body to the absolute limit.
“I like to tell myself, never give up, that was my dad’s motto and that normally sticks with me but really the more blank you can keep your mind the better, just try not overthink anything, you know you are going to have bad patches and if you can just ride them out then you will feel better again but you don’t want to exploit those times when you are feeling good and you just got to stay consistent, stay in the zone and stay focused for the full eight hours or eight hours plus.” Matt Trautman,ironman triathelete
It takes hours and hours of grueling preparation to win a daunting endurance event like Ironman, for Matt Trautman, whether he is on the bike, in the pool or on the road, it’s all about putting together the small efforts repeatedly, day in and day out, that amounts to his success in the sport that he loves so much.
