Matt Sharpe: Olympian, Triathlete, The Tempo Newsletter Co-Founder
Alright. In the studio today, we have a friend and training partner of mine, Matt Sharp. I guess I feel like I've been saying that every single podcast that every guest is a friend and training partner, but I guess they kind of are. And so that's really good because it had a really interesting conversation with Matt, really, good rapport and and and good buddy. Just overall good dude.
Justin Metzler:He represented Canada at the 2021, Tokyo Olympics and has shifted his focus post Olympics to 70.3 racing and growing a business called the tempo, which is a twice weekly newsletter, which is giving you all of the juicy details of the happenings in triathlon for that week. He happens to live 2 houses down from me. We crashed his, his living situation. Jeannie and I are now neighbors with him as well in Boulder. So get to see him and, his wife, Kirsten, and their dog, Reggie, quite a bunch.
Justin Metzler:And so, yeah, really, fun to get to know him and, and his wife. Overall, good man, great for the sport. So enjoy today's episode with the man affectionately known as Sharpie. Alright. Welcome to another episode of the Endurance Matters podcast.
Justin Metzler:I'm your host, Justin Metzler, and I'm super excited to welcome mister Matt Sharp in the studio today.
Justin Metzler:Matt, how
Justin Metzler:are you doing?
Matt Sharpe:I'm good. I'm good. Super happy to be here. Super happy to be, you know, hanging out, chatting with you. It's the way I'd love to spend my Monday.
Justin Metzler:I mean, we kind of do this multiple times a week anyways on the bike. So it's it's it's pretty easy, but now, you know, we get to have the audience kind of like drop into a conversation, that we would typically have. I start off all the pods with a icebreaker. Hard hitting question.
Matt Sharpe:Okay.
Justin Metzler:So here we go.
Matt Sharpe:Okay. I'm ready.
Justin Metzler:If there was a whey protein eating contest, who could consume more in one sitting without getting their stomach pumped? You, Millie, or Reggie?
Matt Sharpe:I mean, I've seen what Millie can do firsthand, your dog. And, it's it's extraordinary for a dog her size. So, I do think I could take her down, but she would put up a good fight for sure.
Justin Metzler:Yep. A 100%. For those listening, Millie, Matt and his wife, Kirsten, were doing us a very solid favor by looking after Millie. And she got into the whey protein powder.
Matt Sharpe:She did. Although, you know, I didn't do my job of, you know, taking care of her and putting her where she needed to go. So that was on that was on me. That was on me.
Justin Metzler:That's that's just our dog, Millie, being Millie. And, you know, Reggie, Matt's dog was just big lab. You know, not a care in the world. He was looking at Millie like, what are you doing?
Matt Sharpe:It was quite the scene when we came home, but we're we're all good now, you know. We're all good.
Justin Metzler:Everyone's fine. Everyone's happy, and everyone's, back to their normal normal routine, normal normal playing. So, yeah. Matt and I had coffee this week. We're brainstorming some topics for this conversation.
Justin Metzler:And, yeah, definitely want to get into some of the things that you're working on now. But I want to go back because you were super being super Canadian and diverting the attention away from yourself. But I want to highlight some of Matt's, successes along the way. So Matt was a 2021 Olympian in Tokyo. Mhmm.
Justin Metzler:He had podium finishes at 70.3 Santa Cruz and just a couple weeks ago at 70.3 Michigan, which I was there on course watching that happen. Very impressive. And a big win on long course debut at 70.3 Boulder in 2022 where he beat me. I was 2nd place by 52 seconds, so that was obviously the best result of your career.
Matt Sharpe:It was it was the best result of my career for for sure. A win's a win, you know, and, it was a tough tough day. You made it hard for me, especially at the end when I think you were definitely coming back on me for sure. So that was a good, good battle.
Justin Metzler:Definitely. Definitely. Yeah. So that, you know, Matt, very successful triathlete. Tell me a little bit more.
Justin Metzler:I wanna hear more about kind of your journey in triathlon. Like how did you get started? Because you've been doing triathlon forever.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah, no, I haven't been doing long course triathlon for that long. But I've been in the game for, I want to say like 20 years or whatever. I mean, if you include when I did my first race, I did my first race when I was 9 years old. And that was up in, Vancouver Island. Just, yeah, they had a big series or a big kind of initiative in Canada called the kids of steel.
Matt Sharpe:And yeah, it started, started doing that, when I was 9 years old, which is crazy because I'm 33 now. So yeah, I've been, been in the game a long time. And you know, I was doing triathlon kind of just as a part of just, you know, other kid activities. I was doing swim club. I was playing a little bit of golf.
Matt Sharpe:I was doing track and field. I like to mountain bike. So, you know, just try to do as many things as possible, but then kind of, I guess, early on found a bit of, I guess, success. And, you know, when you're a kid, you just, if you're doing well at something you want to keep doing at it for sure. So eventually it just kind of went through the rungs of the sport and the rungs of kind of the high performance ladder.
Matt Sharpe:So yeah, did youth racing for a long time and jumped up to the junior racing. And, and I'm always, I was always looking for kind of that next level or that next step in the, in the competition. So, you know, would go to, what they had British Columbia summer games. So that was kind of a big step when I was a kid and then, oh, what's next? Well, you know, there's like, junior series and then, oh, okay.
Matt Sharpe:You can go to, you know, junior world championships. So I was always chasing kind of the next rung in the ladder. And, yeah, that eventually, you know, over the years went to Commonwealth games, went to, you know, elite world championships and eventually the Olympics.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. That's, I mean, very cool. How how much of, how much of that experience were you kind of like the guy in Triathlon Canada? Were you kind of, like, pegged early on as one of the dudes who could eventually make it to the Olympics? Were you kind of, like, in their feeder program, or was it really your passion for triathlon that kept you sort of like showing up year after year trying to find that next level?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. I mean, I always had a passion for for competing and pushing myself and and that always kind of, took hold, you know, when things maybe weren't going so well. But I would say, yeah, I was, I was probably a, a targeted athlete is what you would say for Triathlon Canada. Because especially, you know, where I grew up, I kind of grew up like a couple hours away from the National Training Center where Simon Whitfield, who won the 1st Olympic gold medal, for triathlon trained. And and so that also kind of, you know, made me think, oh, like, we're we're good at this or we can be good at this.
Matt Sharpe:And so, yeah, just being in that orbit kind of just kept me very engaged as well and engaged with Triathlon Canada. So I joined, I guess, the, that national training center when I was about 16, 17. And yeah, it was just kind of invert immersed in that really high performance environment from, yeah, when I was quite a young age.
Justin Metzler:Did over that time, was London sort of on your radar or Rio, or was it always kind of like a Tokyo project?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah, I I'd say like for a bit there, I was like, oh, maybe you can crack Rio and, and get on that start line. But there was a period, I mean, for a lot of time when I was coming up every year, like I would have some kind of injury. Right. I mean, part of that was just being a taller guy and growing and, and just being that, that kind of age as like a junior and, and you 23, it's, it's hard to kind of, you know, do that training volume maybe without getting, you know, a few stress, whatever is here and there, for sure. So, yeah, you know, basically before Rio, I just miss way too much, racing and training really to even be considered for that team.
Matt Sharpe:And there was a, there was a bunch of good guys ahead of me too, who I don't even know. Maybe I wouldn't have been able to challenge them anyways, but yeah, kind of, it was interesting because that whole Olympic run, I guess that which wasn't much of a run, it definitely was a huge learning time for me in terms of, you know, what it takes to yeah. Make an Olympic team. And, and at the time too, I was kind of being exposed to a very high performance training group with Olympic level athletes. So yeah, I got to see what they did every day and in and out in training, but yeah, I just, I wasn't able to stay healthy.
Matt Sharpe:And I think one of the biggest, that was one of the biggest, probably learning periods for me in terms of, you know, getting to where I am today was this, this whole thing where, yeah, I was getting injured a lot when I was growing up, but generally still performing quite well, but you know, it comes a time where everybody's performing well or, and you got to stay healthy. And so, you know, I realized quickly, it was like, okay, you know, what am I going to do to put myself in that position for Tokyo? And at the end of the day, you know, I had different coaches, I had different training stimulus, but I kept getting injured. So it's like, okay, well, what's kind of the constant, what's the common denominator. And at the end of the day, it was me.
Matt Sharpe:Like, you know, I was making the decision to, to do a run when, you know, my Achilles was a little sore, push through something when my shoulder was was sore. And so once I kind of figured out, oh, like, you know, I'm the reason I'm getting injured and I can kind of take control of this and make better decisions. That's when things started going, like, you know, in in the right direction.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. For sure. It takes a lot of maturity and confidence, I think, to, like, to come to that realization of, oh, the way for me to get faster is sometimes to take a step back. And
Matt Sharpe:and a lot of mistakes too for me anyways. Yeah. There was a lot. There was a lot of mistakes.
Justin Metzler:For sure. Yeah. I mean, I guess, like, how so you must have been 29 approaching 30 when you went to the Olympics?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. When I went to Tokyo, I was, yeah, 29, 30, kind of that that age.
Justin Metzler:So you had been in it in a high performance environment for almost 10 years at that point with a lot of setbacks and injuries. Was there moments along the way where you felt to yourself, okay, I just can't handle another setback. It's time for me to transition into long course, another course of career. Were there times that you felt that?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. Definitely a few a few tough moments. Kind of like I was alluding to with that injury stuff. You know, there was a time it was like I'd come off the 2015 season and, yeah, just had a ton of injuries and was basically kicked off the national team, kind of lost my funding and all that kind of stuff. And I was like, well, you know, yeah, like, if I'm gonna be able to continue this this path in high performance sport, you know, I kind of need to get my stuff together.
Matt Sharpe:And and so that's when I really kind of took ownership of that injury stuff. And and that was a huge moment for me. Just figuring that out because then once I was able to stay healthy and stay consistent, I was getting to the races and I was getting that high level experience and learning along the way as well. But just, you know, putting myself on the start line was, was the biggest thing because I had the opportunity to get the points. I had the opportunity to be on those teams and stuff.
Matt Sharpe:And so, yeah, that was probably a big moment. I would say another, you know, really tough period was kind of around when Tokyo was supposed to be. So there was, you know, for a few years, like for a few years there. Yeah. I was back kind of in the national center, national performance center in Canada.
Matt Sharpe:And yeah, there was just, I was a coach I was working with at the time and we were working with, and, you know, we had had our kind of bumps in the road along the way, but things were, you know, generally okay. But kind of, I guess through the years, the relationship, when we struggled and, and it was generally productive, but then there became kind of a turning point where it was clear, you know, this coach wasn't happy with me for whatever reason. Yeah, we definitely had had some struggles and yeah, the environment for me just, it really became untenable for me to continue to be there. And and, basically, I had to put up my hand and say, you know, I'm leaving this national performance center environment because otherwise, I'm not gonna see, you know, it through to Tokyo. I'm not gonna be able to even achieve, like, even put myself in the position to to be at the Olympics.
Matt Sharpe:And kind of around that time too, there was a separate investigation into this coach and and his behavior. And they, you know, the authorities kind of World Triathlon had contacted me and just said, Hey, can you share your experiences? And I did ultimately, you know, they asked me to open up a separate investigation. And so I did that and that was quite hard, but, I mean, at the end of the day, if it was going to prevent other athletes from going through what I did, then, you know, that was, that was going to be the ultimate thing. So, yeah, kind of had to go through this investigation a lot of the time through the heavy qualifying period for Tokyo.
Matt Sharpe:So that was, yeah, that was a difficult time. But ultimately, it felt like I was doing the right thing. And especially if not for me, for future generations. And yeah, after that, you know, all went down and, and every, the smoke all cleared, you know, the coach, he left, which was good for the organization. And it's clear today now that, Triathlon Canada is in a much better state for the athletes, and and, ultimately, that was a huge win for sure.
Justin Metzler:Yep. So just to get the timeline right, it was 2019 the investigation was going on or 2020?
Matt Sharpe:This was 2020, 2021. Wow.
Justin Metzler:So it's, like, really a hectic time with the postponement. You've got the pandemic. You've personally got an investigation, you know, with your coaching environment.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah.
Justin Metzler:And you're trying to had you you hadn't been selected for the games yet. Right?
Matt Sharpe:No. No. They really didn't want to, it it's funny. Like through the whole, you know, ultimately my ticket to getting to Tokyo and being at the Olympics was to play a team role at the games. And I like, I had no problem with that.
Matt Sharpe:For the listeners who don't understand, basically this involves like helping the targeted athlete, you know, get through the swim. Okay. You know, once they get on the bike, you know, keep them near the front of the bike packs, keep them out of trouble on the corners and in the group and stuff. Cause things can go crazy when you're out there racing. Yeah.
Matt Sharpe:So, you know, that was gonna be how I got to the Olympics. And, you know, I'd seen, you know, I was a direct result of kind of like an Olympic medal, like my journey, you know, a lot of it started from Simon Whitfield's gold medal performance. So, you know, knowing the impact of metal can have on a sport and, and, you know, just on a country in general, especially Canada, which we don't get a ton. It, for me, that was like a no brainer and I was super happy to do that. And through the way, like, you know, I did everything I could.
Matt Sharpe:Everything they asked, you know, they said jump. I said, how high? That kind of situation. You know, we did the thing. Like, we won the test event in Tokyo
Justin Metzler:Yep.
Matt Sharpe:In 2019. And and honestly, that was probably one of the most well executed races of my career. And I didn't even run. I didn't need to run because Yes. I did your job.
Matt Sharpe:I did the job on some of the bike. Yeah. Yeah. So like for me going to the Olympics, it was gonna hinge on on being a team player. And, yeah, I did everything through that period to be a team player.
Matt Sharpe:And it seemed like, especially once I was out of that, you know, I I'd said I can't be in this environment anymore. I kind of became a bit of like an existential threat because if I succeeded without being in that environment, then maybe questions would be asked about that environment. And, yeah, so they basically just made it as hard as possible for me to qualify. Knowing that I was probably the only one who was going to be able to have it on the day to be able to, to do it. So yeah, that just made it, that made it really hard, but yeah, I was able to kind of just keep my head down, you know, focus on what I can control.
Matt Sharpe:I had to go, I didn't jump through a lot of hoops kind of versus maybe some of the other athletes, you know, I always had to report into the high performance director every month. I had to send them updates. You know, I basically had to keep them aware of where I was all the time, what training I was doing, stimulus, all that kind of stuff. Whereas at the same time, you know, at the in in the performance center, there was just no accountability. You know, the coach, he ended up sending these athletes to Kona, to train because I don't know.
Matt Sharpe:It was it was hot there, but I think I think, you know, from, you know, and and we all know from from what we know in the industry, Kona is a nice place to race and have the world championships, but it's an awful place to train.
Justin Metzler:Not great training there. No. It was on road.
Matt Sharpe:So a lot of a lot of the athletes were injured out of that. And it just kind of, it was crazy to me how I was just under the, under the microscope so much when I wasn't even the guy who was supposed to win the medal. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. For sure. It seems like the priorities were maybe a little bit skewed. And Yeah. I mean, I think at the end of the day, do you look back on your entire ITU career?
Justin Metzler:I think you had this big achievement of getting to the Olympics. Do you look back fondly on your ITU experience or do you look back on maybe the the tough times and wonder could it have been
Matt Sharpe:different? No. I mean, for me, I met so many amazing people, had so many amazing experiences. I met my wife doing, world triathlon IT racing. So for me, it was all, you know, it was all an incredible experience.
Matt Sharpe:And definitely, I look back on it, with pretty much only fond memories. I, you know, my experience with Triathlon Canada at the end, yeah, it wasn't great. But ultimately, I think they're in a better place. So I look back on that experience. It was just another big learning experience and life experience for me that I'll take into the future.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. And, I mean, just having been around you quite a lot, I can sense how much pride you have for the country of Canada and the fact that you represented them at the Olympic Games, and that's something that regardless of the circumstance no one can ever take away from you and I think like that is a very cool thing to have done.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. No, for sure. For sure. I mean that was always my North Star kind of in the sport was getting to the Olympics and yeah it wasn't how I envisioned it you know I envisioned myself kind of racing for myself but yeah, I mean it to be there and have that experience. And it was a really cool project.
Matt Sharpe:Like, I really wish, you know, we had our, our, our targeted athlete, Tyler Mischuck, he was ready to win a medal for sure. He just, yeah, he got injured and that was unfortunate, but, you know, playing a role in that and and feeling like I was making a difference, like, that was that was incredible.
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Justin Metzler:You mentioned meeting your wife, Kirsten, who is also a good friend of ours, and so we know you guys pretty well. And I'm interested to hear how you guys met, on the circuit because, you know, my wife, Jeannie, and I had a similar situation kind of meeting on the circuit. And, yeah, I wanna hear a little bit more about your role in Kirsten's journey recently, but tell me a little bit first about how you guys met and how that yeah. Maybe like the short version of it.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. No. Short version. We were both training in Stellenbosch, South Africa, not, like, together, but we were both there ahead of a World Cup or World Series race or whatever in Cape Town, South Africa. And it was funny.
Matt Sharpe:She was there with, like, her USA teammates, including Kevin McDowell, who's a friend of mine, you know, from, from way back at junior and stuff. We go way back, but yes, he was, he knew I was there. So he was like, oh, you should come out for a bike ride with me and these other girls. And, yeah, one of them is Kirsten. And, I didn't really chat with her too much until the very end of the ride.
Matt Sharpe:And it was, it was pretty funny. So we rolled up together, we were riding and she, we were chatting and she's like, Oh, like you're from Canada. Like, where are you from? And where I'm from on Vancouver Island, like, you know, it's not like a big place. I mean, it's yeah.
Matt Sharpe:It's not a big place. So I was kinda like, okay. Like, I don't know if she's gonna know where Victoria is. And so I was like, like, yeah, I'm from the West Coast. Like, it's this, you know, smaller city.
Matt Sharpe:Like, you you probably don't know where it is. And she's like, she looked over at me and gave me this look. And she's like, try me. I'm from Canada. And I was like, oh, anyways, I was able to recover from that.
Matt Sharpe:And we just kind of, you know, after that and, and, and through kind of the next year, we kind of just kept in touch through messaging and all that kind of stuff. And yeah, things just kind of developed from there. But, yeah, that was a tough origin story for me, but I was able to recover.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Yeah. And then they recently well, somewhat recently got married and actually, Jeanie and I just happened to be in Hawaii the same time they were on their honeymoon. That was hilarious. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:It just, like, happened to both be in Kauai. And we went to this, like, crazy Kauai in luau. Yeah.
Matt Sharpe:That was fun. That was a lot of fun.
Justin Metzler:And we watched, like, that crazy show.
Matt Sharpe:Yep. Yeah. No. That was great. I I would go back for sure.
Matt Sharpe:Kawhi. Shout out, Kawhi. Totally.
Justin Metzler:And so that was probably a couple years ago, and, you know, you had gone to the Olympics in 2021. Kirsten had missed out on the Olympics in, in Tokyo. Yeah. And that was kind of a big drama with the USA triathlon, you know, selection process, and it seemingly always is with many federations.
Matt Sharpe:Always. Yep. That's a given. That's, like, priced in. It's always gonna be drama.
Justin Metzler:100%. And so Kirsten was on the outside looking in in Tokyo, and I think for for this year, it was obviously a big mission and a big goal for her to get to the games. And so I noticed, because we were on training camp with you guys in February, there was a big push for Kirsten to get to the Olympics in 2024 in Paris. It seemed like you had a pretty significant role in that. So I'm curious to hear, like, about what your role was, maybe what some of those conversations were between you and her or between you and her and her coaches because it seemed like it was a really big focus for you guys as a team to get her to Paris.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. I mean, like I kinda said before, you know, for me to get the Olympics, that was kind of my North Star. You know, I achieved that. I know, you know, Kirsten, like she was the alternate in Rio and that was kind of like, oh, wow. Like I'm the alternate.
Matt Sharpe:That's crazy. But then, you know, when Tokyo came around and, and she was on the outside looking in, like, that was, that was really tough for sure. And, you know, she'd helped me in a lot of ways and getting to the Olympics, as, as a partner or whatever. And so I was like, Hey, now we got to do everything we can to try and get you to the games. So part of that, you know, we hadn't really decided where we were going to live, but, you know, for her to have the best chance and have the best access to resources and everything along the way, you know, we had to be in the US so we moved to Boulder here.
Matt Sharpe:Great spot to train for sure. Great spot for her to be great people to train with. So yeah, in a lot of ways, like most of our kind of big life decisions were calibrated around, you know, what's gonna be optimized for her kind of Olympic run. Yeah. And, you know, over the years, obviously kind of I transitioned to long course racing, but the schedule and everything was a little more relaxed.
Matt Sharpe:So yeah, just, you know, for me, I kind of, when Kirsten ever needed me for training and help, you know, over those years, like I was there to help her out and, and, and do what I could and help her around the house and, and just, you know, just kind of be like a support, big support role for sure. And, and then, yeah, definitely. I think you noticed this spring and winter, Yeah, I was definitely taking a really big role in her training as like a training partner, not as a coach. She would never listen to me say anything like that, do program or anything, but yeah, I, I stepped up and just, yeah, literally there was a lot of days where, like, I had to be your main training partner because ironically, and I've seen this over the years, the closer you get to the Olympics in terms of like the time, is usually when people start to drop off or, you know, so she had a training partners who maybe weren't going to go and they were kind of pursuing their own things. So yeah, just her schedule didn't align with a lot of people.
Matt Sharpe:She had some injury stuff that just made her training a little more day to day, so harder for people to like really coordinate a time. So, you know, I was basically the on call training guy, which was, you know, great for me. Like, obviously I was fit enough to help her hit her paces or whatever, swim, bike and run. So, yeah, I mean, I think she would rather not have me there all the time, but, I was there, you know, I was, I was the, I was the one helping her out and yeah, I definitely, you know, like I talked about with being that team Canada support role, you know, for the games, being in this support role was incredibly fulfilling. And I definitely felt like I was able to help her, you know, get to the place she needed to be to get on that team.
Matt Sharpe:So yeah, it was, a lot of work, you know, a lot of, I guess, a few, I guess, sacrifices for me in terms of my training racing, but at the end of the day, that was our goal was to get her to the game. So whatever it took, that's what we were going to do. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:And for those that missed it, they were successful. Kirsten was selected to the Olympic team in Paris and competed in Paris. What was that feeling like for you guys when you got the call or the email that she got in?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. She got a call. It was funny because they said they were gonna, you know, tell the athletes on, like, the Friday and then don't think they budgeted enough time to actually go through all the criteria and stuff. So on Friday they were like, oh, we're gonna wait till Monday or something. And so, yeah, that was a very stressful weekend.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. It just, you know, you're just waiting because it's like a lot of stuff hinges on this decision, right? Like in terms of what she's going to be doing and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, there was a very stressful wait for that. And then I was like, I think she was did a swim workout and she had the her phone right beside the pool deck because yeah.
Matt Sharpe:Like, you just don't know if you're gonna get a call or whatever. And I think she swam like garbage that day because, yeah, just a lot of cortisol, you know, a lot of stress. So that was a little tough. And I think it was on the drive back from the pool where, yeah, the high performance director is like, Hey, can you take a call? So I think she pulled over to some random like church parking lot or something.
Matt Sharpe:Perfect. Which now when we go by, we're like, Hey, that's fun. But yeah, she got the call and yeah, they told her that, you know, she was on the team. They told her it was a no brainer, which we were kind of like, yeah, just, you never know with selection because it's discretionary. So you don't know necessarily what way they're going to go, but yeah, they told her it's a no brainer and she's on the team and yeah, that was a very, very special moment.
Matt Sharpe:They had just, you know, for her years years of dedication and hard work and then she, you know, achieved her goal of being on the team and trying to win team USA medal.
Justin Metzler:And for you as well. I think that, you know, there had to be a big sense of accomplishment. And I think also, like, as you guys progress as a couple and, you know, you look back on your triathlon careers, you both will have Olympian, you know, next to your name. And I think that's probably an important thing for the future to both have accomplished that goal, you know?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. Definitely. Definitely. You know, at the end of the day, let's say she didn't get the nod. I I I couldn't look back and be like, oh, what more could I have done?
Matt Sharpe:Like, I feel like we really, you know, went the full distance, the full 9 yards or whatever on that. So, you know, if, if it didn't go that way, then I wouldn't have any regrets. But yeah, definitely getting that call was, incredibly special. Yeah. It just to feel like, you know, I made a difference in her lifelong dream.
Matt Sharpe:That's pretty awesome.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. That's huge. I I wanna transition a little bit to talking a little bit more about your mindset and kind of like who you are as a person. I think from the outside looking in, at least my perception is that you're like a very chilled guy. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:And that you're very relaxed.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. That's spot on. Pretty spot on.
Justin Metzler:Is that the truth or is that the, like, outside image that you're portraying to everyone?
Matt Sharpe:No. I mean, I think like everyone, you know, I get nervous. I get anxious. I get, like, worried about things, but I feel like my essence, yeah, is generally pretty chill. Like, I'm not, like, going crazy in my mind.
Matt Sharpe:You know? I don't know. I think, yeah, generally pretty pretty relaxed dude for sure. Maybe too relaxed. Maybe I should get a little more, you know.
Matt Sharpe:I don't know. I don't know. On edge?
Justin Metzler:I don't know. No. You don't want any more edge. The less edge you can have, the better, I think. Like, if there is if there is gonna be something that's gonna give you some anxieties or stress you out, like, what is that?
Justin Metzler:Where's that going to come from?
Matt Sharpe:You know, at the end of the day, you know, you're trying to be as successful as you can. So, you know, I guess like those kind of performance parameters, you know, if you're not performing, like, I'll get stressed about like, yeah, maybe not, hitting podiums in these races or whatever. Yeah, I don't know. I can't say I get like too stressed out. Like, I mean, obviously getting Kirsten on the Olympic team.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. There was a lot of underlying stress during that period. Let's not be, let's not kid ourselves.
Justin Metzler:For sure. Yeah. A 100%. And how, what are you doing if you are having, maybe it's you and Kirsten together, like what are the things that you do to bring you back to center, bring you back like to the, to earth, you know, to ground you?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. I mean, I think for us really, it's like big picture, you know, we're just, we're trying to train hard, trying to race hard. I don't think we take it as seriously or we just don't put like everything into sport. You know, we know at the end of the day, if it stopped tomorrow, you know, we'd be fine or whatever. You know, having the, having reg around always kelp or balance things out.
Matt Sharpe:The dog is always a good kind of like perspective, I guess, you know, every time you have a bad day out of training or whatever, and you come home and you got this creature that just wants to be near you and wants to see you and tails wagon. That's, you know, it keeps things in perspective for sure.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. They don't really care if you came 7 to 70.3.
Matt Sharpe:No versus
Justin Metzler:They don't care
Matt Sharpe:if you didn't hit your, you know, target watts on your Yeah. FTP test or whatever. They're just happy to see you.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. A 100%. A 100%. I'm curious to hear more about, the tempo. So this is a big project of yours.
Justin Metzler:For those that don't know, Matt does a weekly or biweekly?
Matt Sharpe:So it's twice a week.
Justin Metzler:Is that biweekly? I think biweekly.
Matt Sharpe:That is or biweekly every 2 weeks.
Justin Metzler:This is Oh, that's a good question.
Matt Sharpe:I know. I think it's I I say twice weekly because
Justin Metzler:Twice weekly.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. Biweekly, I think, is maybe once every 2 weeks, but we're definitely twice a week
Justin Metzler:twice a week. So anyways, that's a massive commitment. There's twice a week newsletter that goes out to thousands of emails. Yes.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. Yeah. We just we have just under, 10,000 subscribers now for the Tempo News. Yeah. So it's funny, I guess the genesis of this triathlon newsletter, my brother, he kind of does these, these newsletters, up in Canada.
Matt Sharpe:It's got a few local news ones for different cities. He's got like, yeah, a few irons in the fire, I guess. And you know, this is his kind of thing. So for a while, you know, back in 2022, early 2022 coming off Tokyo, he's like, oh, like, what do you think about maybe doing a triathlon newsletter? And I just didn't really have like, I guess maybe the mental bandwidth to like, think about it.
Matt Sharpe:And then kind of as time went on, I was like, like, you know, I'm getting older. Like I have a pretty good, like athletic resume, obviously had a lot of accomplishments in the sporting world, but you know, my actual resume was quite, quite thin, you know, in the pursuit of all this kind of stuff. So yeah, for me, I was kinda like, oh, well maybe this can be something, you know, kind of like my MBA in a way like, you know, a business initiative. Yeah. And so I guess from the outset, this was always kind of a, a thing to just gain experience.
Matt Sharpe:So basically, yeah, he was like, Hey, you want to do this triathlon newsletter? And it was in December, 2022 is when we launched it. And yeah, I kind of just been growing and building this newsletter and reaching a really engaged triathlon audience. Yeah, it's, it's been really fun to connect with so many different triathletes, you know, in various stages, like obviously I know, you know, there's pro athletes like yourself who subscribe and there's first timers, you know, there's long time people who maybe don't even compete anymore, but still kind of want to be engaged in the community. So we get a lot of good feedback from kind of all constituents, which is really cool.
Matt Sharpe:So it feels like, you know, we're, I guess when these people engage with the newsletter, open it up and and find something they're interested in, you know, it kinda feels cool to, I don't know, provide that.
Justin Metzler:100%. I think in a world where everything is going short form, everything is going 10 second clip, Instagram, TikTok, video format on YouTube. How how do you create a product that is maybe a little bit more old school like a newsletter and make it attractive to all sort of age demographics.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah, for sure. And, you know, at the end of the day, you're gonna be missing people. That's just the nature of our media environment. But I think what people really like about the newsletter is, and it isn't like a super long one, so it's kind of maybe the TikTok of triathlon newsletters. I don't know.
Matt Sharpe:But it's definitely more concise. You know, people can, can get in and get out, you know, in a in a few minutes. If they don't have to read it all really, if they wanna just check out the news or, we have lots of training tips and kinda like cool links, funny little reels as well. Just maybe to brighten the morning or something. Yep.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. Like, yeah, we're not going to hit everyone, but I think people really like having a lot of the triathlon world in one place. As we know in our kind of very fractured media environment, it's hard to kind of get, like, there's no more newspaper, really. Yeah, totally. Like things are all over the place.
Matt Sharpe:You know, you gotta go all these different Instagram, whatever, TikTok and get your whatever information. So I think people having kind of like a central source for info, we try not to be too biased one way or the other. I don't know how you don't have some bias when you have a human involved. Sure. Yeah.
Matt Sharpe:But yeah, people generally just seem to enjoy the content and get a lot of value out of it. I think writing is a bit of a strength of mine. So I think, you know, being able to do that and and I've been obviously working on that for a while. Yeah, just a lot of good feedback that way. So I think just having that central access point is is good for people.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I think, you know, it's a really great newsletter if you haven't checked it out. I I know that Matt works very hard on it. I I think when you're doing something twice weekly, I mean, you say that it's short, but it's still longer form than a lot of things you can be doing in the media world. How much time a week are you putting into the tempo and sort of when you're thinking about, okay, I've got my training to do.
Justin Metzler:I maybe have to still support Kirsten at some level as a partner and and maybe as a training partner to a degree. How much other time throughout the day are you saying, hey, I really gotta buckle down and write the tempo today?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. It's honestly like some days it's like, woah, that was easy. And some days it's just you're just grinding because some days, like, there isn't, you know, interesting news or you kind of have to like find the stories that are out there that maybe aren't being told as much. And yeah, it's, it's definitely honestly a pure number. I mean, the days that I do write the newsletter, it's probably 4 hours at least, of, like, dedicated time, working on it.
Matt Sharpe:But then, you know, at the end of the day, I love the sport. I'm always consuming content around the sport. So I'm always on in terms of like gathering information. But, yeah, when I'm sitting down to it, yeah, it's definitely an 8 to 10 hour a week kind of thing, but I kind of have to put in that time to, you know, make it as good as it can be. Yeah.
Matt Sharpe:And I think the readers I think they definitely appreciate, you know, the time that's put into it. And and and at the end of the day, if I'm not making something that is worth their time, then they don't they don't open it, you know? So, yeah, I gotta put the effort in because, you know, it's gotta be worth it for people to read. Like, I think about, like, when I open an email, when I engage with something like, you know, I'm pretty ruthless about what I engage with. So I gotta have that same, level for me, I guess.
Justin Metzler:Have you been able to draw a correlation between how much time and effort you may be put into a certain newsletter versus the actual viewership? Like, that's maybe not a a super quantitative. There's maybe not a way to quantify that a 100%, but, just from what you've seen, are you, like, oh, if I really work hard on this one and write super well, you know.
Matt Sharpe:I feel like it's more, like, when interesting things are going on in the industry and people are a little bit more kind of engaged, and they wanna understand why things are happening. So, you know, when the T100 releases their schedule, they they wanna know, okay, like, I gotta go read about this, but then why are they going to these places? Obviously, we got Ironman World Championships coming up pretty soon. So, I think more of the readership will be definitely looking into what's going on with Kona and, you know, just all around the split and stuff too. People want more information on that and then the who, what, where and why.
Matt Sharpe:So yeah, definitely when things it's not necessarily maybe like when I do, you know, maybe a better newsletter, a lot of times it just depends on what's going on in in the triathlon world at large.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Sure. That's good. I mean, I think if you could show up and be consistent with the product that you're delivering and let the market sort of dictate what you can write about, I mean, there's gonna be ebbs and flows in any sort of media, you know, product that you're creating, especially something that is gonna have a certain element of creativity, but you can only work with what you can work with. You know?
Justin Metzler:You can only make up so many stories if there's not actual news happening, especially if it's twice a week.
Matt Sharpe:We definitely recycled content too before, so that's okay. You're allowed to do that. Yeah. Not everybody sees it the first time. Yeah.
Matt Sharpe:100%. 100%. I would say one of the things that, you know, it's been super interesting, like with, you know, with training, you're not trying to hit a home run every day. Like we go out and basically get like base hits every day. Maybe a double, doubles are nice.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah.
Justin Metzler:For sure.
Matt Sharpe:And it's the same with the newsletter. Like I, I gotta go out there. I'm not gonna expect myself to hit a home run every once in a while. You get that one. That's like, Oh yeah.
Matt Sharpe:That was great. But yeah, day to day, mostly it's just base hits and and but obviously compounds over time and and it's very analogous to training. So I think having that sporting background has really served me well in this kind of media, initiative and and kind of entrepreneurial initiative. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:A 100%. I mean, like anything in life, if you are consistent with it, it'll grow over time. You get better at it. Hopefully, I'm getting a little bit better at these podcasts.
Matt Sharpe:You're crushing it. You're crushing it.
Justin Metzler:You know, so Matt is obviously very in tune. You're very in tune with what's going on in the sporting world. Like you said, you're pretty switched on to the happenings. And so I'm curious to get your perspective a little bit on the current state of the sport from a very insider perspective. Like, what how do you perceive generally the current state of triathlon?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah, it's funny. I mean, I think big picture, you know, when COVID happened, that was a huge hit to obviously triathlon and, and, and every other kind of like, I guess, endurance sport industry. You know, triathlon has been kind of climbing its way out of it, but I feel like there's a lot of kind of green shoots in areas. Like I talked to race directors, I talked to folks in the industry and yeah, they're kind of seeing like this kind of return to normalcy. And you know, one of the things that I guess I'm watching for kind of maybe medium term, maybe the next 5 years or so, I really believe, there's kind of a bit of a demographic wave coming.
Matt Sharpe:So I think we all have seen, you know, a lot of these like run clubs, the rise of the run clubs and the running boom that's going on, right now. And, and I do believe in, in, you know, people get into running and then, you know, they do the whatever marathons and stuff and then yeah, they kind of look for the next thing. And I think triathlon, if it positions itself, right. If it's ready to accept, you know, it could definitely be a huge part of what the next thing is for these folks. So, and it's similar actually, to kind of the seventies, there was a big running boom.
Matt Sharpe:And then I would say in the eighties is when triathlon really took off. And yeah, I think our cohort, the millennials, you're going to see a lot of them kind of looking. Yeah. There's, they're doing running now, but they're looking for that next thing. So I think, yeah, in the next 5 years or so, you know, maybe if things are a little slow now, just wait because I think they're gonna pick up again and yeah, these, these, you know, Ironmans, local race directors, everybody just needs to be ready for, the wave that's coming.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah.
Justin Metzler:And maybe this is me being a little bit naive to what's happening in the actual business world, but at least the people who I know who are in, like, the the millennials in the traditional business sense, a lot of them have transitioned to this, like, sort of remote work situation. And I think the biggest barrier from my perspective for age groupers is just time. Because the difference between preparing for a 5 k or a marathon even is a lot different to preparing for an Ironman Triathlon. I feel like the investment of time and training has to go up to a certain degree. You can't get by with 5 hours of training a week for an Ironman.
Justin Metzler:So maybe there is gonna be this boom. I'm very hopeful that there is gonna be this boom, like you're saying, with millennials who are maybe have a high percentage of them that maybe work from home or have a hybrid work schedule where they can implement a little bit more training and take on a bigger goal. What do you how do you feel like the so, I mean, you obviously feel positively about the state of triathlon as a whole. How do you feel like it may be diff it differs from the age grouper perspective versus the professional
Matt Sharpe:perspective? Yeah, I think for, for age group athletes, you know, there's a good amount of, of races still out there. I know, a race director I've been talking to somewhat recently, you know, he said this is his best year for participants and participation. So yeah, I think for the age grouper side, yeah, there's just, I think, like I was talking about, you know, with this millennial cohort and like you were saying, you know, they're having kids and, and, and really getting to the heavy part of their careers. I think these, I think one of the things that folks need to do to reach these, these people is, to kind of meet them where they are.
Matt Sharpe:I think we're seeing, you know, big picture of these longer distance, full distance races. You're seeing a lot of them being cut back, but it seems like every other week you're seeing a lot of these half Ironman and middle distance races be announced. So I think they're doing a good job responding. Cause yeah, like you said, you know, time, time is a scarce resource. So you only have time, like, to train for a half.
Matt Sharpe:Like, I think that half distance is very sustainable in terms of, like, if you have a job, if you have a family, I think you can get away with not crazy amounts of time away from them. To do a half, but to do an Ironman. So that's where you're seeing, I think the Ironman distance getting cut back a bit. In terms of the pro racing, I mean, in a lot of ways, it's never been better in terms of these different series and options for pro racing. Obviously, the Ironman Pro Series, which thank you T100 for, you know, forcing Ironman's hand and making them have to come to the table to do more.
Matt Sharpe:Who knows if they would have, I don't think they would have if T100 wasn't around. So yeah, you know, the rise of the T100, you have Super Try, obviously Challenge is a huge, you know, presence as well. One of the things I think we're all kind of watching for in these next years is, you know, how it's gonna shake up with these pro entities. There's always rumblings of of, you know, angry investors and, you know, you're wondering how long can the music go on for? When's the music gonna stop?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. I just, I feel like I've got a bit more of a handle on, you know, what's going on at that level. And yeah, like you see, you know, Super Try trying to make these big inroads in North America, because they see that as a growth area for them and buying these races. But, if you look under the hood a little bit, you know, the races that they bought, the Chicago race, the New York City race, like they, you know, you see that like, oh, like these races weren't actually making that much money. So what are they going to do to, you know, spin up a better business out of this stuff?
Matt Sharpe:T100 as well. You know, they're basically creating these races, some of them from scratch, but we got lots of Las Vegas coming up. It'll be interesting to see. I'll be watching, you know, the pro race. Obviously, it's gonna be great action on the course, but I'll be watching and seeing how many folks are signed up for these races.
Matt Sharpe:What's the, you know, subscription level because for t 100, you know, if they only have 8 to 9 races a year, you know, Ironman has 8 to 9 races a weekend. Like That's crazy. Yeah. That's so you just you're kinda wondering, okay, like, how long can we keep doing this for? But I think there is still runway for these these entities.
Matt Sharpe:So, yeah, you just wanna see them succeed, but you gotta pay attention to what's going on under the hood as well.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. For sure. I think these companies also, you know, they're taking different approaches. You've got something like an Ironman who's always going to be hinged on the income of actually having participants at their races. And I think for them, the investment in the professionals actually isn't that significant in comparison to how much money they make from the age group side.
Justin Metzler:And the age group perspective is not going away. So they have this, like, pretty much bulletproof business plan, and I'm a little bit worried about something like a super tri or a t 100 that hinges on the consumability of the product. And I think it's still they're still in the beta phase. They're still in the testing phase to see if middle distance triathlon with the t 100 or super short triathlon and triathlon as a whole can be as consumable versus the investment. Yeah.
Matt Sharpe:I think and and you alluded to it earlier. Right? Like, as a society, everything is going, short term, you know, short attention span. So when these, I guess, super tries the TikTok of triathlon in a way, but, you know, these guys are looking for broadcast, you know, these broadcast entities to pick them up and earn revenue from that. But, you know, it was explained to me a while ago from one of a decent industry insider that, you know, Ironman pays NBC to be broadcast every year.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. So if the biggest and, you know, whale in the industry is having to pay for distribution, what makes you think that, you know, you're gonna be able to sell, you know, T100 to whoever Fox, I don't know. Like it just, it, to me, that doesn't add up, but I think that's why, you know, T100, when they went originally, they said we're not doing events. We can see now they're doing events. And some of them are doing quite well.
Matt Sharpe:I think, you know, they bought that London Triathlon that has over 3,000 participants. That's healthy. They have the race in Singapore. That's got a lot of participants, and they're building that up, and and that's kind of a marquee event in Asia now. They have Dubai coming up, which I also think is pretty well subscribed, and they're doing different events with that.
Matt Sharpe:So, yeah, it's just but I'm just like, is 8 enough or 8 to 10 or whatever? I don't know.
Justin Metzler:Yep. I mean, as a fan of the sport and someone whose career and your similar, I guess, we're we're very invested in on multiple platforms in the sport, I think, like, it's only positive. I think looking at it from a little bit more of a skeptics perspective, I think I'm curious to hear your take on now there's this injection of money for the professionals. There's this there's this injection of coverage. Everyone's got a YouTube channel now.
Justin Metzler:There's more sponsorship dollars coming in. Are we getting further away from the pure aspect of the sport? You you're getting more people getting convicted of doping. You're getting more people really focused on just trying to get more money, get a t 100 contract, this, that, and the other. Are we getting further away from just the fact that triathlon at one point was a very pure endeavor?
Justin Metzler:I mean, now it's becoming a little bit maybe more
Matt Sharpe:Once money's involved, the pureness kinda rub washes away a little bit. Yeah. You know, I do think the sport, it's just an incredibly positive sport, you know, healthy lifestyle. Yeah, I think there's, there's just a ton of positives there. So in terms of like the purity, like, I mean, the Olympics used to be amateur and, you know, now it's not, but it's never been better, you know, as we saw in Paris this year.
Matt Sharpe:So, yeah, I think, I mean, I still think the sport is incredible. There's just so many different, yeah, like, aspects of it, I guess. You need to talk about the media side and and whatnot, but, you know, everybody's gonna find their way and especially in the pro side, you know, you you find your way to to make things happen. And, yeah, I I, for me, I think it I think the sport is it's still growing. It's still kind of it's incredibly dynamic and that's the most important thing is if you can any way you can create interest and buzz about triathlon.
Justin Metzler:Yeah.
Matt Sharpe:In a world of NFL and all those other things, you will take it.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Yeah. 100%. And I think, like, you can look at it from a optimist perspective or a pessimist perspective. And I think, yeah, for whether you're an athlete, which we both are, or if you're a media person, like, we both are, the more opportunity from a racing perspective and the more buzz for us to talk about and have conversations about, it's only positive, you know?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. I I guess from, like, a less optimistic perspective, you know, it's never been more competitive. It's never been a more competitive environment for everything, you know. Back when triathlon was, was coming on board in the eighties and really hitting its stride, there just wasn't as many options for, you know, for athletes, I guess, out there now there's like, you know, the rise of, of ultra running, the rise of trail running. Yep.
Matt Sharpe:Gravel. Gravel. Yeah. There's pickleball. You know, you're at the end of the day, you're kinda competing with pickleball in a way.
Justin Metzler:This is the second time Matt's mentioned pickleball to me this week. I feel like he's gonna, you know, put a little pickleball section in the tempo.
Matt Sharpe:I would tear an ACL or something. I'd be the guy to do that. But yeah, at the end of the day, you have to, for every, you know, marginal consumer, these entities have to be competing hard and finding ways to engage them. So it's not an easy situation in a lot of ways, but I do think the sport has just so many positives. You know, one of the things that I think we forget about triathlon, it was such a pioneer with, you know, women's equality and and prize money and everything.
Matt Sharpe:And I think that's in our DNA and and just kind of being innovative is also in Triathlon DNA so I think with those two things I think, you're gonna have success going forward.
Justin Metzler:Yeah, 100%. We've talked a little bit about the entities, you know, whether it's Ironman or t 100 or Super League. I wanna get a little bit more microscopic. Who is maybe one game changer or one influencer or move maker in the industry, maybe as an athlete or as, like, behind the scenes person, whether it's a coach or, you know, a media person who who is who's maybe one athlete and one media person who you're seeing as game changers right now?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. For sure. I mean, on the athlete side, you kind of have, you know, the obvious kind of, like, high level pros, the Lionel's of the world. Yep. The Lucy Charles of the world, Sam Long, super dynamic.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. Those guys, I mean, they're the people who, especially someone like Lionel, really, who are kind of bringing in folks who engaging folks who aren't already in the sport somehow. You know, people who don't even really know triathlon that well, know who Lionel is because of his story, because of his incredible media. I'm a I'm a huge fan. I think he does, you what he's doing is great.
Matt Sharpe:Bringing then, and I think he transcends the sport. So I'd say someone like Lionel,
Justin Metzler:it's an obvious choice, but it's a great answer though.
Matt Sharpe:It's, it's kind of, yeah, it's obvious for a reason. He's, he's bringing in people to the sport and that's, that's super huge. You know, I think I'm super intrigued in, I guess it, and this is kind of obvious too, but the new Ironman CEO he's been in for, I guess, most of this year now, and you can kind of see his stamp on things. So, and, and just in like these interesting areas, like I remember, I feel like Ironman, the previous guy, Andrew, they were pretty ruthless with like, you know, if things are happening in races like cancellations or whatever, in terms of like flexibility to, to treat change things and have athletes be able to, you know, you know, get another race with their previous race entry. And I feel like the customer service aspect of this new CEO and, and the engagement is just a lot higher.
Matt Sharpe:So I think I back in, I guess it was May or something, there was a crazy, this, this race 70 point 3 Morro Bay in California, this crazy currents, like half the field, I think didn't even finish or something. And pretty quickly, you know, right after that, Ironman stepped up and I think offered race entries to other races or something, you know, just something. It was a clear there's, there had been a bit of a cultural shift and, and you can see it as well. This is Scott DeRue, the new Ironman CEO. You can see kind of, yeah, him having a stamp on these events.
Matt Sharpe:There's definitely more activations with the brands. Yeah. Trying to, I guess, bring more value to these events for the participants in a lot of ways. So it's been interesting to watch what he's been doing and yeah, it seems like he's interested in pro racing as well. So yeah, I'm kind of curious to see what other initiatives he's gonna keep bringing forward and then how he's gonna make his mark even more.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. Without a deep understanding of, like, the finances of the Ironman business, it seems as though the noose whoever is on the board now or the CEO is maybe taking a little bit of a step back on just trying to meet bottom line and trying to just make the investments in the professionals, in the customer service, and all of those things with the runway of maybe a 10 year plan or a 20 year plan or something to maybe grow the sport because it really does hinge on us just getting more people into triathlon. So that requires a little bit of investment in the pros, a little bit more investment in customer service, getting good races out there, great race directors. And I mean, you meet the staff at the Ironman races. Like, they're all so good.
Justin Metzler:Yeah.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. No. Very, very good people. I mean, most people, all the people in triathlon are, are, are awesome for sure. But yeah, I think, like I alluded to before, you know, there's, I think it's coming out of COVID they've really had to, yeah.
Matt Sharpe:Step up their game in a world of gravel racing, in a world where there's tricker ball, you know, they've had to like fight hard to keep the customers and yeah, maybe that affects bottom line a little bit, but if you have that retention and they're also bringing in new data initiatives to like help retain their athletes. Cause a lot of these, a lot of triathlon athletes, you know, maybe they want to do that Ironman or do that thing and then boom, bounce to the next thing. But if you know, they can retain them and keep them in the fold longer, then that's more revenue at the end of the day.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I mean, you're competing for market share. The more you have, the better it is for everybody. Truly. So, yeah, I wanna get into the rapid fire questions here, which we always wrap up the podcast with some rapid fire questions, but I'm curious as a, a final topic to kind of touch in on how much energy and time you personally see yourself investing into your racing and sort of continuing down that path of pursuing long course, trying to get on more podiums, trying to get more wins versus growing things like the tempo, getting more involved in sort of, like, maybe the community aspect and transitioning out of professional racing being your, like, north star.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. For sure. I mean, being a pro racer and doing the newsletter, they're kind of complimentary in a few ways. So, you know, I enjoy racing, so I'm going to do it, you know, for as long as it makes sense. I think being able to grow this newsletter, grow this kind of media initiative alongside, the pro racing will just give me something to, to do pretty easily when, you know, I've decided to hang up the shoes or whatever.
Matt Sharpe:I think I've got at least a couple more years of like high level racing. But yeah, it's, it's one of those things I think, yeah, just doing them at the same time, trying to do them as well as I can and you'll see what happens.
Justin Metzler:Is there a goal that you're like, hey, in long course, I'd really like to accomplish X, you know, in short course you had the Olympics and, and, you know, you kinda had that finish line. Is there something in long course where you'll feel comfortable looking back on it when you're 45 being like, okay, I was able to accomplish that?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. I mean, I definitely need to do I've never done a full distance race, full distance Ironman or anything, so I definitely need to do one just to, check that box for sure. But it would be cool to race in Kona and have a go at that. You know, the, probably the biggest one, which is actually kind of sad now, for so long, you know, as I was growing up, you know, the Ironman in Canada, in Penticton, not too far away from where I'm from, that was just a huge presence every year. You know, everybody who did triathlon community would try and get up there for the Ironman Canada.
Matt Sharpe:And yeah, and now they don't have it in Patikin anymore. And, and that's honestly a race that I would have loved to build a season around to try and win. But yeah, they still have, now an Ironman in Canada, so it was, it'd be cool to try and yeah. Have a good, good go at that. For sure.
Justin Metzler:It's good to hear because you're nonchalant about the racing. You know, you just you're yeah. I'm just doing my best in training. You know, I'm doing what I can. And the next thing you know, Matt's running, like, has the fastest run at Michigan getting on the podium.
Justin Metzler:So, like, I can still see that fire in there and that burn. And you're good for you're good for men's professional racing because you bring Gotcha. A dynamic to the race that I think is necessary.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, if I'm on the start line, you never I mean, you never know what's gonna happen, but I always am gonna try and execute with what I have the best I can. And and I think in Michigan that other week, like, a lot of things went in my favor. I ended up getting on the podium. That was awesome.
Matt Sharpe:But, yeah, it's I love to compete. Like, I jumped in a 5 k last weekend just because I don't really have any races on the horizon for the next bit. And I just wanted to, like, get amongst it and, yeah, had a blast. So I don't know. I I do love to race at the end of the day.
Matt Sharpe:I don't like, I guess I have a pretty chill exterior, but when the gun goes off, like, I love to just get after it. Definitely. Yeah, definitely love to compete. That's gonna have to be
Justin Metzler:a whole another episode because that is such a important skill even looking at it from, like, my coaching perspective of how do you get an athlete on the start line and get them to extract a 100% of what they have on the day. If the buildup's been super clean and they're super fit and everything's going great, a lot of athletes can't even, you know, extract a 100% on the day, but it seems like every time you rock up, you're getting a 100% out of yourself.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. I actually have a kind of like a, I guess, an interesting story along those lines. So, you know, I mean, I get nervous for sure. I, I, you know, want to do well and whatnot. And, and at this one race, this is kind of like a, a changing of my mindset in racing.
Matt Sharpe:So at this one race in China, we went to, there was basically, we could have rode our bikes to the course or got on this bus, to go to the race course. And I was like, ah, I don't want to ride with my bag to the course or whatever. So, I threw my, my gear bag with everything like race suit, race shoes, blah, blah, blah, whatever, on this bus. And I rode over to the course and, and when I got to the course, it was a World Cup race. I, you know, there was like 4 or 5 buses lined up.
Matt Sharpe:I was like, oh, okay, I'll go get my bag and knocked in the first one. There's no bag on it. Knocked in the next one. No bag. I was like, okay, crap.
Matt Sharpe:3rd one, nothing. 4th one, nothing. And so all of a sudden, you know, I went from being thinking I'm a smart guy, saving my legs or whatever, to having no gear.
Justin Metzler:Yikes.
Matt Sharpe:Well, I think we were 90 minutes or so out from from the race start. And this is a world cup in China. Like, this wasn't like a backyard kind of race. Like I invested a lot to go there and train a lot and everything and oh my God, like I wasn't even gonna be able to race. I came all this way.
Matt Sharpe:So I ended up, you know, talking to the guy there who's the head of the Chinese Triathlon Federation. He made some calls, and they found it on a bus that was back at the hotel, which is whatever far away. So it, and it wasn't clear that it was going to actually come on time. So, you know, I went from this mindset of like, oh, gotta do well, want to perform to like, oh my God, I'm not gonna be able to race. And yeah, so that was very stressful.
Matt Sharpe:So I had to like, find this like, relaxed place where like, I don't know. I just believed that it was going to come. And then, yeah, so eventually the bag did come. You know, I want to say 15 minutes for the race start. So I didn't even really get to warm up that much.
Matt Sharpe:I didn't get, like, I was a scramble to set up my transition. And as we lined up, you know, for this race start, it was such a different perspective than any other race I'd ever done because I went from, you know, oh, I'm going to do this. I gotta do this, blah, blah, blah. It went to being like, oh my God, I get to race. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:I get to,
Matt Sharpe:I get to race. Like, this is amazing. I get to actually race. I had a pretty rough race. I probably was going to anyways without the bag thing, but literally from that moment on, I just had this complete shift in my attitude.
Matt Sharpe:Like I just became, yeah. Anytime I got to the start line, it was like, oh my God, like I'm here. Like I get to do this. I get to race. And I've carried that with me the whole way.
Matt Sharpe:And yeah, I think for me, just having that gratitude before you start, or even if you're nervous or you have a big goal, like just taking things back to, like, oh, I'm in this position to be able to do this. Yeah. Biggest mantra for me.
Justin Metzler:That's huge. That's huge. Alright. So I wanna get into the rapid fire questions before we wrap up here. You ready to roll?
Matt Sharpe:Ready. Rapid fire.
Justin Metzler:Alright. What is your best ever race in your opinion?
Matt Sharpe:That's that's tough. I'd say that Tokyo, test event race where did everything perfectly, executed perfectly. We won. That's big. Also, probably my favorite race is just I got on the podium at a World Cup race in Montreal, and and that was just a huge kind of life thing for me.
Matt Sharpe:So Yeah. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:Canada. I'm sure that's true.
Matt Sharpe:Canada was big. Would you
Justin Metzler:rather be sponsored by Big Maple Syrup or The Feed? Oh, that's tough.
Matt Sharpe:That's tough. I mean, now that I'm here in Boulder, probably The Feed. But if I was back up in Canada, Big Maple would be would be the the one for sure.
Justin Metzler:To say that. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Who's your favorite training partner of all time?
Matt Sharpe:Oh, that's a tough one. I feel like Kevin McDowell. He's he's we've always been together. We've had a lot of great workouts, hard yards together. Yeah.
Matt Sharpe:No. Kevin Kevin for sure.
Justin Metzler:Nice. What's the weirdest food combination that you enjoy?
Matt Sharpe:Oh. So I have this like kind of weird gross like pre race breakfast. It's overnight oats, but it's like a combo with like orange juice and milk and like honestly when I'm eating it I'm like why am I eating this? For sure.
Justin Metzler:Okay. I had a coach many years ago who made us have apple sauce and whey protein before races. Wow. That was wild.
Matt Sharpe:That's it. That's something.
Justin Metzler:Millie would love it. Tie the whole podcast full circle. What's the worst airplane leg room experience you've ever had?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. Probably like Spirit or Frontier. Just being on those planes for a guy like me. I don't know. Background.
Matt Sharpe:Give him give him the background maybe of the of the leg room.
Justin Metzler:But, like, well, Matt's Matt's always like, he's got some, like, Instagram everyone's going crazy on Instagram posting the leg the crappy leg room they get. And I think Matt started, like, a a trend here of posting leg room on airplanes.
Matt Sharpe:So it started off, I just remember like there was a period where I was traveling a ton and people were like, wow, you get to go to all these amazing places. And like, yes, it was super cool. But like most of the flights I was in the back of the bus, like just jammed in there. So I kind of wanted to show like, you know, the not so good side of of doing all the racing, traveling and stuff. And, yeah, I don't know.
Matt Sharpe:I just started posting it and like it was super painful and people just loved it. And so, yeah, since like 2018, every once in a while, like there was a phase where it was like crazy. Like every day I was getting, like, 2 or 3. Now it's kind of tapered off, but, yeah. There's still kind of the leg room, photo stuff for sure.
Matt Sharpe:Send me your
Justin Metzler:leg room. Tag me. We gotta have, like, a special, like, Discord for the 6 4 plus group because we we feel it different. You know?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. It hits. It hits.
Justin Metzler:Alright. 2 more. So you've got 70.3 world championship coming up. Big objective for you. Would you rather only ride your gravel bike in preparation or only ride your TT bike on the trainer?
Matt Sharpe:You know, I mean, if I want the best outcome, probably TT bike. But if I wanna enjoy myself the most, probably the gravel bike. It's just it's
Justin Metzler:just So which one is it?
Matt Sharpe:Well, I mean, probably TT bike. We're gonna have to go with that. Yeah.
Justin Metzler:He's gonna have to
Matt Sharpe:I still wanna compete. Like, I told you, I wanna compete. So Yeah.
Justin Metzler:He's a serious man, so he's gonna take it seriously. Alright. What's a bucket list race or triathlon travel experience that you really want to do before you're retired?
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. I mean, I've been very fortunate to travel a lot of places. Definitely one of my favorite places to race is and train and stuff is New Zealand and going to the world champs. Yeah, that's super awesome. I feel like I'd wanna go somewhere kind of different.
Matt Sharpe:I've raced in, like, Romania before. That was kinda cool to to go there. So anywhere, maybe, like, real like, they've got, like, a race in Uzbekistan now. Like, I don't know. I've never been to Uzbekistan Central Asia before.
Matt Sharpe:Like, it'd be kinda cool to go go there and do that. So, yeah, something, let's something, some crazy place like that. I don't know.
Justin Metzler:Alright. Maybe we'll have to tack tack that into my schedule too. You know, a little boys trip.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. I mean, he's back in San Diego. You can have some fun there, I think.
Justin Metzler:Yeah. I think so. Alright. Well, thanks for coming on the podcast, Matt. I had a lot of fun and really appreciate it, man.
Matt Sharpe:Yeah. Thanks for having me. It's, good good fun to be here. Happy to be here with you. Absolutely.
Justin Metzler:Alright. I really hope you enjoyed today's episode of Matt Sharp. I know I did. It was really fun to hear some of those stories. I've spent a lot of time training with the guy, but I think until you get him in this environment, you don't necessarily get to hear all of those stories because you're not asking those, like, direct questions.
Justin Metzler:So that was really fun for me. Looking forward to more episodes coming up. If you guys are enjoying the podcast, make sure to subscribe, make sure to leave a comment, share it. All of those things help us tremendously, and we will see you in the next episode. Peace.
