Four Years In and a Monster Win

May 19, 2022

Matt Kerr stumbled upon triathlon in 2018 and 4 years later he crushed the age group field at the IRONMAN World Championships in St. George, Utah. And he is not done yet. He has the goal to turn professional but still has unfinished age group business including but not limited to Kona.

We sat down with him to learn more about this Surf Life Saving man.

Slowtwitch: Thank you so much for your time Matt.

Matt Kerr: Pleasure and great to connect.

ST: You just finished as the top age group athlete at the IRONMAN World Championships in Utah. Was that the goal?

Matt: The big goal was to be number one. Before all of my races I have about 4-5 goals for the event. They ascend in priority order and always number 4 or 5 is finishing the race- crossing the finish line. The number 1 goal generally is if 2-5 goals are achieved and well executed then number 1 is achieved. Which for this race was to be number 1 in the overall age group field.

ST: Did you know who the main competitors were for that overall title?

Matt: No, I had no knowledge of any possible front athletes for St George.

ST: When did you decide to go to race in St. George and was there any struggle in terms of Kona vs St. George?

Matt: I returned to NZ at Christmas for a number of races back home, I got 1 out of 3 due to COVID19. Once Ironman NZ was deferred until later in the year- St George was a viable option for me- this decision was made at the start of March. Kona in October 2022 was always in the book. The opportunity to race two world champs in a 12-month period was something that was nothing more than a fanatic opportunity in my eyes. St George to me was going to be a good learning opportunity, a fantastic stepping stone, and frankly a race to see where I sat on the world status platform.

ST: Back to how you got started. I think your first triathlon was back in 2018, and you finished in sub 4:30 in a 70.3. That is a very impressive time. How fast did you swim, bike and run?

Matt: Swim 26:22, bike 2:30:44 and run 1:26:25

ST: How much training did you do back in 2018?

Matt: 3-4 months. Swimming and running were familiar to me. In terms of riding, I’d never ridden a road bike before. This was a completely new experience for me and most of my training time was spent learning this.

ST: How does your training now compare?

Matt: It looks very different… I work closely with my coach to ensure we pinpoint accuracy and detail as best as possible in training. Training for the sake of volume and hours is no longer a thing. Today, it's all about intent, purpose and reason to be the best possible athlete I can be.

ST: Talk about your training. What is the volume and is it all outside or do you some indoors?

Matt: I do consider myself to be fairly new to the sport of triathlon – 3.5years. When I first began, I could barely string together an 8hour training week. With progress, adaptation and fitness improvements I currently hover around the 25-30 hour mark. For most age groupers this might seem on the high side. By my own admission, I love the training- I enjoy training therefore the hours to me really are irrelevant in some respect and not a direct measure of my performance. Nowadays it's about a quality training week within the hours completed.

Indoors or outdoors… great question- both! Indoor sessions for me are usually when the weather is bad or I have a session where the benefit far outweighs trying to get that session done outdoors. Usually this is on the trainer and kicking in Erg mode- it keeps you pretty honest that for sure!

ST: Who or what inspired you to even start in that first triathlon and did you have a decent bike to ride on?

Matt: My current coach, mentor and supporter- Grant Schofield. Ex professional triathlete himself. His inspiration, knowledge and commitment is something I cannot describe- it is unbelievable. The story actually goes that he and I were racing together in a local swim/run adventure race. For an old fella, he actually went pretty well. Him and I battled what was a frustrating race and he rattled me and took the win. This happened two years in a row. At the time, I thought he was a complete wanker. Turns out our relationship was formed from there. He went ahead and gifted me two bikes to get started and the coaching process began from there. We haven't looked back, we are both learning and both come a long way. He is a crucial piece to my journey, one which I could have done without.

ST: What kind of bikes were they and which one did you race?

Matt: These were both TT bikes, in fact I still ride one of them on my trainer set up in NZ. It’s been a workhorse that one. The other was an older Quintana Roo which actually right before my first 70.3 back in 2018 developed a major crack through the down tube- so actually I never raced on this. This frame is currently in Australia with sheets of carbon fibre around the crack and serves as my trainer bike!

ST: Tell us about your current race bike please.

Matt: Currently, I am on a 2019 TREK SpeedConcept. It's pretty obvious I have made some changes to this for not only performance but also comfort. That being the cockpit and running a Wattshop set up.

ST: Have you been to a wind tunnel?

Matt: No

ST: When did you arrive in the USA and how did you spend that time leading up to the race?

Matt: We arrived 3 weeks before St George and spent the majority of that time living in Cedar City. Cedar proved to be the perfect location as it was at a reasonable altitude but also close enough to St George where we could access parts of the course.

The main purpose with arriving so early was about trying to eliminate as many variables as possible going into this race. For us this was about getting time on the course, getting over the travel stress of jetlag etc, understanding and experiencing the heat and finally getting some altitude adaptations given St George was slightly high.

ST: I assume your bike and other gear survived the trip well?

Matt: Yes, no worries. It’s always a bit daunting handing your bike and gear over to the airline carriers, but what's the alternative.

ST: Was this your first time in the USA?

Matt: No, I have spent most of my USA time in CA. First time to Utah.

ST: What brought you to the USA then?

Matt: Previously and still currently I am heavily involved in Surf Life Saving. Every 3/ 4 years I would manage / coach a youth team of junior lifeguards on an educational exchange with Huntington Beach California. These trips were epic, and we would spend 2 weeks living the Baywatch dream. Seeing our local club members develop lifelong skills, international lifesaving knowledge and personal development in all areas is extremely satisfying. COVID19 soon put a halt on this but I hope to restart this very soon.

ST: Do you even still have time for surfing and Surf Life Saving?

Matt: Yes, still very involved in Surf Life Saving , and surfing as hobby and leisure.

ST: Talk about your race.

Matt: The swim was terrible. Terrible from the fact there was so much traffic to navigate through due to the staggered wave starts. The cold wasn't a factor on the day, it was really a matter of getting through the swim as fast as possible.

I knew the bike came with its challenges but again, given the fact we had spent a lot of time on the course, I was confident I knew what was coming. Consistency and being conservative yet riding to my ability was first on my mind throughout the ride. Slowly chipping away at the athletes in front was the main objective throughout the ride. Snow Canyon was hot, definitely the hottest part of the bike course. I pushed hard through here knowing this might have been the final straw for other athletes and potential gains could be made in this section. I had the matches to burn through this section – so I did.

Heading into the run, I managed to get some accurate data as to where I was sitting in the overall AG field. 6th on the road and making progress on those ahead, I knew it was just a matter of time. Tough run course with the terrain variation and not to mention the heat. I came within 2minutes of first pretty early on in the run and that differential then stretched back out to 4’ with about 8km to go. That was my time, I needed to go and make it count. I was extremely conscious of staying on top of my hydration and nutrition during this time. Other athletes were dropping pretty quick and I could see this on the course first hand.

ST: At what point did you think that the title was yours?

Matt: I had 10k in the run to go. I was 3.58 down on 1st and knew that was my opportunity to give it all and push. Every meter counted at that point and finishing the race with regrets might have got me second. I had a big mind shift to work for the position, focus on running the same pace and faster but also why I was racing. I knew I could do it but executing at that point in the race was something else.

ST: Which running shoes did you wear?

Matt: Nike Alpha’s

ST: How did you celebrate?

Matt: A large Mexican feed and a couple of Coronas. The 24hrs after the event were great, plenty of race reflections and conversations. There were a few Kiwis and Australians who hung out afterwards.

ST: You are a Kiwi but I think you reside in Australia. How soon after the race did you return?

Matt: Home for me is NZ. I like to escape our winter and spend those months in Queensland, Australia. I pretty much came straight home after St George and will head to Australia in the next 10 days.

ST: Where in New Zealand?

Matt: Home specifically for me in NZ is in the Coromandel – Tairua. A beautiful place and in fact if people ask me where my favorite place to visit is in the world – my response is home – Tairua. The freedom and accessibility to be able to do so much in the environment is beyond trying to describe. Fishing, diving, surfing, swimming with so much terrain to explore.

ST: What is next for you?

Matt: Next racing wise is IRONMAN Cairns. Post this, I will settle into a couple of training blocks through the winter months in Australia with the main prep being Kona.

ST: Will there be a lot of pressure to repeat?
Matt: Of course, there is pressure, but I think it's how that pressure is used and translated. I look forward to the challenge, and of course Kona is a different beast – but one I cannot wait to line up for.

ST: Anything else we should know?

Matt: Great blogging and connecting. My journey is different to most, different to most age group athletes and even most pros. As mentioned, I haven't been in the sport for long, I completed my first triathlon in 2018 and the approach from then to now has been extremely intentional and deliberate. I have followed a training and fueling process that is far different to the standard way of going about things. The lower carb approach is one that fits the model of endurance events and racing with the push for high fat oxidation rates. I’ve had success here and it’s not a secret- I believe this has helped enable me to get to where I am today and possibly a major variable missing from most AG athletes.

My knowledge of sport science from my teaching background, my implementation and experience in the sport, has now given me the confidence to start sharing that knowledge with other athletes. The journey of helping other age groupers achieve their goals through a coaching and mentor relationship is something I am really enjoying at the moment.

You can follow Matt Kerr on Instagram via @nz_matt_kerr