Who is Matthew Shanks?
We’re all defined by many things. I’ll try to give you a picture.
I’m a husband, dad, friend, triathlete, student of life, entrepreneur, triathlon coach, and pursuer of making a better world for myself, my kids, and everyone else.
I love learning, and tend to mix up my primary focus from time to time. As of early 2018 I was an engineer, doing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to learn about how water flows over things. I first went to school for Athletic Training, in which I have a B.S. However engineering caught my mind (and it pays better), so I went back to school for a Masters in Aerospace Engineering. Then I realized that in a single day winning Kona, a pro triathlete can make more than a generous annual salary. So, I decided to be a pro triathlete. It turns out winning Kona is pretty hard though, forcing me to keep my day job. In 2018 I got married to an Army Nurse, who moves around a lot. Rather than teleworking or every few years needing to find a new employer, I came up with a new plan: be my own boss, and focus full time on triathlon. I had been doing work as a triathlon coach since 2013, as a hobby job, and in 2018 decided to take that as a career path. Racing pro triathlon is a personal endeavor of mine, a hobby, while coaching is my greater focus as well as my primary source of income… besides of course being a dependapotomus. #sponsoredbywife.
Let’s backtrack to 2001. I did my growing up in Hawaii, living there for all of my middle and high school years. There people don’t watch football. Instead, they go surfing, hiking, sailing, snorkeling, and play soccer. Oh and they do triathlons. I found my love for the sport during my years there, competing in numerous sprint and oly tris, open water swims, biathlons, off road tris, 5k’s to marathons. At 14 it wasn’t a particularly deep AG field so I easily got on the podium, but I really wasn’t anything of a prodigy. I knew I wanted to do the longer races at some point but was advised it was smartest to wait. So I waited.
Fast forward to 2012. I had been in and out of the sport through undergrad years, while balancing majors in both Athletic Training and Physics. My dad was signing up for his first IM and I figured no better opportunity for me to do the same. The Ironman distance turned out to be something I both thoroughly enjoy and am much better at. I qualified for Kona in ’12 and ’13, and in ’13 I was first American M24&U (8th place. 1stAmerican is all the way down at 8th??? Yup. Sorry America.)
In 2014 I qualified for and took my elite license, meaning that I can race in the pro category and compete for prize money. In big pro races I typically get lost in the great abyss between the pro’s way ahead and the age groupers behind. The American Triple-T and Beach2Battleship were my favorite races those years because the prizes drew a lot of competition right at my level. The best racing is when you have a number of competitors similar in ability, all gutting it out.
Big changes came in 2018-19 with a switch to full time coaching, getting married, moving across the country, and having a baby. This turmoil resulted in some serious ups and downs in my own racing. I had a few good results such as 9th place at Ironman Mont Tremblant, but many other times over these two years (well, pretty much since getting married!) I’ve had my lowest training volume compared over the past decade. All in all, I love what I do. I love my family. I’m looking forward to the future and hope to help many others get the amazing feeling of swimming, biking, and running faster than ever being capable of previously… the feeling of self improvement that drives us all in our athletic pursuits.
Keep at it,
Matthew