Kat Matthews admits her mid-season break from competition has left her fighting against ‘plaguing self-doubt’ as she starts to ramp up preparations for her debut at this summer’s Challenge Roth.
One of a host of star names to sign up for this year’s race, Matthews is as excited as she is nervous about the prospect of taking part in one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the triathlon calendar.
Having won her opening two races of the season, at IRONMAN New Zealand and then the 70.3 at Geelong, the British athlete was denied the opportunity to challenge for a hat-trick of early-season victories when she suffered a puncture midway through the Texas bike leg.
Recharging the batteries
Since that disappointment, last year’s IRONMAN Pro Series winner has spent some time away from training and competing, recharging the batteries, ready for what promises to be an incredible race in Roth alongside a truly stacked cast of multisport legends.
Posting on her Instagram page, Matthews spoke of the crisis in confidence that usually arrives when she takes time away from the sport – an ‘emotional negativity’ that drives her on to achieve her great feats of success.
“It’s finally my turn to get alllll aboard 🚂 the #RoadtoRoth!!” she wrote. “I’ve been off a training schedule since IM Texas ❌️ and it has been excellent, but my self-confidence is at that awful low point when you’ve taken a break from your routine and ‘normality’ feels kinda impossible.
“I’m barely confident I could physically ride for 4hrs right now, let alone compete on a world stage. Of course… emotional negativity is very common in these periods, but despite knowing that, it is still REALLY hard to fight the plaguing self-doubt 🥲!
‘It’s going to be OK’
“Today marked the first day of a planned uninterrupted period of training prior to 🏁 THE @challengeroth (5 July 🇩🇪), and despite significant apprehension yesterday and this morning, I am finishing the day with some much-needed satisfaction.”
She finished off with the lines: “🏃♀️🏊♀️ 🚲 💭 It’s going to be ok 🙌 🧠 My aspirations are what is scaring me. How cool.”
Her aspirations, as she put it, will no doubt amount to beating her old rival Laura Philipp, who will have already returned to action at IRONMAN Hamburg and will be desperately looking to defend the Roth title that she won last year.
Of course, Philipp and Matthews have previous experience of racing one another, having battled it out in Hamburg last season when, for so long, it seemed as though the elusive eight-hour mark might be broken for the first-ever time.
Philipp beat her that day, with the winner taking the tape in 8:03:13 and Matthews just behind her in 8:05:13; it was the same story in the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice two years ago when the German again just came out on top.
‘The buzz around Roth is like no other’
Anne Haug set the women’s full-distance triathlon world record of 8:02:38 when racing at Roth in 2024, and if conditions are good this year, then there is every chance that both Matthews and Philipp will once again push each other close to the first-ever sub-eight time.
When she announced her intention to race at Roth, Matthews said: “The buzz around Roth is like no other race… I’m really excited to experience all this first-hand.”
And she put talk of records to one side when she said what matters is winning: “I’ve always wanted to race Roth; every athlete does, but what I really want is to win Roth. Records and splits are nice, but crossing the line first is what matters to me.”
With her insecurities burning inside and driving her on to be in the best possible shape ahead of her Roth debut, it would be a brave person who would bet against her achieving that dream.
