Matt Reed speaks at Boulder Triathlon Club meeting

Last night at the April Boulder Triathlon Club meeting we had a guest speaker; Matt Reed. For anyone that has been living under a rock for the last couple of years, Matt was one of three members of the Team USA Triathlon last summer in Beijing. Matt also recently won Ironman 70.3 California at Oceanside. Matt stopped by to promote a new Croc shoe that is specifically designed for endurance athletes called Prepair. The shoe is just out this month, so if you're looking for new post race shoes, stop by their website or your local shoe store to find out how they can help enhance your recovery. Matt has been sponsored by Crocs on and off for the last 8 years, which is great to see a local Boulder company supporting a local athlete. Crocs even paid for Matt's running coach to fly to Beijing this summer!

Aside from Crocs, Matt also touched on a number of subjects:
* Last year (2008) was the best and worst year of his career. The best, as he was able to fulfill a childhood goal of making the Olympics, but the worst due to the extra races he had to run to secure the 3rd team spot for USA and the poor performance in Beijing.
* He's been training for triathlon his entire life. Unlike Andy Potts who was a Michigan swimmer or Jared Shoemaker who's a runner, Matt has been a triathlete from the start.
* He's going to train for London 2012 and he's got a plan to address what he thinks went wrong in Beijing. He outlined the plan, but it's a secret for everyone else.
* He's not going to do Ironman until 2013. He indicated that the new bike sponsor deal he signed requires him to do Kona in 2013, but only after he's pursued the Olympics in 2012.
* He's going to continue doing 70.3's as the distance doesn't require substantial additional training over ITU circuit and feels that as a tall / strong athlete, he's perfectly suited to continue winning those distance races.
* How he met his wife Kelly. Ask Kelly, it's a funny story.
* When he's done racing, he's done racing. He doesn't really have any aspirations to coach and he's made his wife Kelly promise that when his career is over, it's over. He mentioned landscape architect as a possibility.
* Matt has to cute kids, Lachlan (3) and Peyton (<1). They both got Family Fan Club Triathlon Daddy t-shirts and Matt autographed one of ours.

It was really cool to meet Matt, pick his brain and hear how he trains and prepares to be one of the Michael Jordan's of the sport. You can also follow Matt Reed on Twitter.

Next up for Matt is defending his win last year at St. Anthony's Triathlon.




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