{"id":26331,"date":"2017-02-27T03:46:35","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T11:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.trainerroad.com\/?p=26331"},"modified":"2017-02-27T19:22:24","modified_gmt":"2017-02-28T03:22:24","slug":"breaking-8-hours-with-world-class-triathlete-matt-russell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/breaking-8-hours-with-world-class-triathlete-matt-russell\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking 8 Hours with World Class Triathlete Matt Russell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"lead\">Matt Russell is one of the fastest triathletes in the world today. As he prepares to kick off his 2017 race season, there\u2019s one goal dominating his focus: to break 8 hours at the IRONMAN Texas North American Championship.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iDYm8GNDdwI\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Known for its punishing heat and humid conditions, IRONMAN Texas is a grueling event. <a href=\"http:\/\/ap.ironman.com\/triathlon\/events\/americas\/ironman\/texas\/results\/2016.aspx#axzz4ZsflWwb4\" target=\"_blank\">2016 storm conditions being the exception<\/a>, no athlete has ever finished under eight hours. Dreams of an unmitigated sub-8 finish are all the motivation the self-coached pro needs to break records this year.<\/p>\n<h2>Positioned for Success<\/h2>\n<p>To break 8 hours on a full-distance IRONMAN course would enter Matt into an elite, yet growing, group of athletes. Only 39 male triathletes, including last year\u2019s first- and second-place IRONMAN Championship winners Jan Frodeno and Sebastian Kienle, have finished IM-distance races in less than eight hours. Of those males, only three are Americans. If there\u2019s anyone poised to slide into that 40th-member and 4th-American slot, it\u2019s Matt Russell.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26337 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/matt-russell-blog-image3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"825\" height=\"400\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/matt-russell-blog-image3.jpg 825w, https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/matt-russell-blog-image3-300x145.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/matt-russell-blog-image3-768x372.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 825px) 100vw, 825px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 825px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 825\/400;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After six years of racing as a professional, 2016 proved to be one of Matt\u2019s most successful seasons. He placed 12th at the IRONMAN World Championship (08:25:52), and just five short weeks later had his best race yet at IRONMAN Cozumel (08:04:24). Last year\u2019s race performances are in big part a reflection of Matt\u2019s decision to challenge the status quo and fearlessly commit to what he\u2019s found works best for him.<\/p>\n<h2>Doing Things Differently<\/h2>\n<p>What\u2019s one way Matt sets himself apart? He races<em> a lot<\/em>. While most competitors complete 2-3 IRONMANS per year, Matt does 6-9. Early in his career, many people actually warned him against racing<em> too<\/em> much. He\u2019s thankful he never listened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore my first IRONMAN win, the week prior I did IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant in Quebec, Canada, where I finished 3rd,\u201d says Matt. Even though people told him he was crazy for flying cross-country one week after a podium finish, it was a defining moment for Matt. For one, it taught him that he races better doing back-to-back IRONMANS. And \u2014 perhaps most importantly \u2014 it taught him to always follow his heart.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><strong>\u201cIt\u2019s important for everyone to figure out what works for you and follow your heart. Thankfully I did follow my heart because if I didn\u2019t I wouldn\u2019t be an IRONMAN champion today.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Beyond his race volume, Matt trains exclusively indoors \u2014 further challenging the status quo for long-distance triathletes around the world. But why? His answer is simple: <em>marginal gains.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26336 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/matt-russell-blog-image1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"825\" height=\"500\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/matt-russell-blog-image1.jpg 825w, https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/matt-russell-blog-image1-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/matt-russell-blog-image1-768x465.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 825px) 100vw, 825px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 825px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 825\/500;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a professional you\u2019re always trying to figure out how to go one percent faster on the bike,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe\u2019re always trying to figure out where we can get those marginal gains. Having the structure added to my bike has definitely helped me.\u201d And structure he has. In his lead up to IRONMAN Texas in April, Matt is using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/?utm_source=TrainerRoad%20Blog&amp;utm_campaign=Matt%20Russell%20Winner%20Story&amp;utm_medium=Blog%20Post%2FBreaking%208%20Hours%20with%20Matt%20Russell&amp;utm_content=%22TrainerRoad%22\" target=\"_blank\">TrainerRoad<\/a> to get faster and achieve his goal of winning the North American Championship with a sub 8-hour finish.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Matt Russell on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mattrusselltri\/\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MattRussellTri\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Matt-Russell-Professional-Triathlete-Fan-Page-199949710102530\/\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0to keep up with his 2017 racing and training.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matt Russell is one of the fastest triathletes in the world today. As he prepares to kick off his 2017 race season, there\u2019s one goal dominating his focus: to break 8 hours at the IRONMAN Texas North American Championship. Known for its punishing heat and humid conditions, IRONMAN Texas is a grueling event. 2016 storm&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":26335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[359,1026,803,1027,694],"class_list":["post-26331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-training","tag-ironman-training","tag-matt-russell","tag-professional-triathlete","tag-sub-8-ironman","tag-trainerroad"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}