PTO World #6 Kat Matthews will aim to race both the T100 Triathlon World Tour and the IRONMAN Pro Series in 2024.
The British star, who finished second at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Finland last year, shared her plans in an interview with TRI247.
Combined, the racing schedule means Matthews will have to complete three full distance events this year, along with two middle distance races and six 100km T100 events.
Also discussing her winter training, the 32-year-old revealed that she is in a good place heading into her first race of the season next month.
“It is quite reassuring not to worry about fitness”
Having picked up a win in her final race of the season in December, Matthews said she took some time off before a relaxed return to training in January, followed by some more specific work so far in February.
“My ‘winter’ training has been six weeks in Lanzarote, so not much ‘winter’ for me. I committed to racing IRONMAN 70.3 Bahrain in December and then took two weeks fully off, so it was perhaps a little untraditional for my ‘base/winter training’.
“I kept January as a more relaxed aerobic month with February now having some higher intensity. I have been pleasantly surprised that training has gone well and I am emotionally very ready to race already.
“I am not rushing into getting ‘race fit’ until the end of April, so it is quite reassuring not to worry about fitness even with the fast-approaching start of the race calendar.”
“IRONMAN is my continued focus”
As one of the contracted athletes to the T100 Tour, Matthews is obliged to race five T100 events plus the Grand Final, and is working on a schedule that will allow her to do so around her IRONMAN ambitions.
First up this season will be the T100 in Miami, with the Brit sharing that her next race will also be stateside as she opts to skip the second T100 event in Singapore.
“I will start the T100 Tour in Miami (9 Mar). I don’t plan to race T100 Singapore but instead IRONMAN Texas (27 Apr). IRONMAN Texas is the first of my planned IRONMAN Pro series schedule.
“For me, IM is my continued focus but the competition in the T100 Series is too good to miss in this first year. I plan to race the T100 series (5+1) and the IM Pro Series; 2 IMs, Nice, a 70.3 and Taupo.”
Competing for three world championship titles in 2024, could this be the year that sees Matthews take the top step, after finishing second at the 2021 IRONMAN World Championship and 2023 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship?
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