Pro Tri Veteran Matt Hanson on IM Pro Series, Kona and More

Matt Hanson is a name that’s hard not to know in professional triathlon – he’s raced IRONMAN-branded 70.3 and full-distance events since 2012 and has racked up multiple top-15 finishes in Kona during over the last 12 years.

Colorado-based Hanson, 39, and his wife welcomed a baby girl early this spring. Despite adjusting to the numerous responsibilities of parenthood, Hanson still found a way to lock in a series of top-10 finishes at both full- and half-distance IM races, like seventh and sixth places at IRONMAN Texas and Lake Placid, respectively and a first and second place at 70.3 Chattanooga and Boulder.

Hanson currently sits in the top spot of the IM Pro Series rankings, nearly a full 2,000 points ahead of second place Jackson Laundry. Even so, Hanson isn’t resting on his laurels and plans on competing in IM Frankfurt before zeroing in on Kona.

ST: How has the year gone for you so far? How are you feeling at this point in the season?

MH: I’m definitely happy to be in the top spot of the IM Pro Series rankings, with only a few races to go, but the remaining races are the important ones left on the docket. So by no means am I going to say the work is done or that I don’t expect any shuffling around of the rankings.

I think that if I would have sketched out how the season went ahead of time, I would have performed better in the full-distance races and not quite as well in the 70.3s, but having two really good 70.3 scores with one of those being a win was welcome for sure. I think I surprised a few people with my win at Boulder 70.3 as well.

Overall, I’m feeling happy to be leading the series and happy to be healthy as we head down the home stretch of the series.

ST: What’s your thought process as you head toward the most critical races of the season – the most obvious one being Kona?

MH: I’m racing IM Frankfurt before homing in on Kona – and that’s largely because while most of the time a sixth-place finish in a really strong field at a race like Lake Placid would be an OK day, Trevor knocked it out of the park and with the IM Pro Series scoring system the way that it is, I don’t think my sixth place in Lake Placid is going to be able to keep me in the top five when the series is all said and done.

That being said, I’m going to Frankfurt for two main reasons, the first being that I have a great finish and I’m able to use that to kick out my Lake Placid result after Kona. The second and worst case scenario is that I have a solid finish and it means that if I get a flat tire or mechanical or something like that in Kona, it doesn’t ruin my chances of staying in the IM Pro Series top ten.

It’s a little bit of offense and a little bit of defense when you’re thinking about the overall series, I think.

Then, thinking about Kona specifically, I’m not doing a full-on month-long training camp there like I have in the past. I’ve got a baby daughter now and saying “Good luck” to my wife and then disappearing for a month wouldn’t be right.

However, I’ve found that since moving to Boulder and living at altitude, my heat adaptation has been much better. I’ll still do sessions like riding the trainer without a fan and some sauna work as well.

Realistically, if you go to Kona for a month to prepare for race day and spend the money to train there for however many weeks, you probably need a top seven or top six finish just to break even on the investment. I think that if you’re doing professional triathlon as a career, paying to work isn’t a viable path, so staying at home for the build to Kona isn’t the worst thing and it’ll alleviate a bit of stress, too.

ST: When the IM Pro Series was announced at the end of last year, what was your initial reaction? What do you think of it now in its first year?

MH: I was in Kona last year supporting my sister who raced when I first heard about the IM Pro Series. I was out on a run with Coach Julie [Dibens] when she got the email about the series and told me about it during the run.

My initial reaction was immediate excitement; the IM Pro Series is right up my alley. I’m a guy who likes to race a number of times throughout the year, which means I tend to have a few pretty good performances and a few pretty average performances. She was singing and it was just immediate excitement. Like, it was right up my alley. I'm a guy who really likes to race a number of times throughout the year.

I think the IM Pro Series gives the pro season a longer narrative for fans, which is necessary for the sport.

I also love that the series includes three full-distance and two half-distance races. I think some people may feel that three fulls is too many, so there may be some adjustments to the series if it continues. If there are adjustments to the series next year, that’s great because it means it’ll be sticking around.

I think, too, that the IM Pro Series helps create opportunities for newer pros who might go to some of the non-series races and have a better chance of finishing in the money and build some success and sponsor profiles before doing the races in the Pro Series.

ST: How has your approach to training and racing changed now that parenthood is on the table?

MH: For the first three months of my daughter’s life, my wife Ashley was on maternity leave and she was doing most of the overnight care which made it so that I could stick to a pretty normal schedule.

Once she went back to work around the fourth month, I had to make adjustments such as limiting how much I commuted up to Boulder to train due to my daughter’s sleep regressions or whatnot. It was definitely kind of a smack in the face and it made me realize that initially, I was not being realistic about my schedule.

From a racing perspective, having a kid changes the focus a little bit. Having my daughter at races is always special with the goal being that she can experience me being on the top step and hold some memories of what I once was, since I probably won’t be doing professional triathlon when she’s old enough to understand.

I also hope she is able to take some motivation from my eventual past triathlon career in some way or shape, whether it’s in the athletic field or in other aspects of whatever she wants to do in life.

ST: It’s hard to believe that today’s Matt Hanson was ever a newbie to triathlon, but what’s one story from your archive you’d be willing to share with us?

MH: The idea of doing an Ironman all started when I was challenged by a former mentor of mine to make a list of 50 goals and put a 10-year timeline on it when I was 16.

For whatever reason, I put down “Do an IRONMAN” as one of my goals I didn’t know a single person who had done an IRONMAN and think I’d probably seen the NBC special about it once. I was like, yeah, sure, let’s do that.

Doing an IRONMAN was pretty far down the list, and when I was 25 I was getting desperate to complete all 50 goals, so I started training for IM Coeur D’Alene when I was working on my masters degree.

I bought a cheap bike off of eBay for $500 and planned on being “one and done” after Coeur D’Alene, but I ended up running a three-hour marathon off the bike and qualifying for Kona and my triathlon career kind of snowballed from there.

Crowie won that day and obviously ran a lot faster than I did, but – and I’m sure he doesn’t remember this – we sat together at the same recovery table afterwards and we got to chatting about our days. He told me that I had the potential to really do something in the sport, and that’s what planted the seed to continue in triathlon.

ST: Who are the sponsors supporting you this season?

MH: I’ve been with Quintana Roo, On, and Hyperice for a long time – since 2015. Zoot is a more recent partner that I’ve been fortunate to work with. Fast Food Nutrition is another. Certified Piedmontese for protein and a few other brands too like Humango and Hickory Brands Inc.