A 'Loser' Looks to Become an Ironman

An Ironman is impressive, why did you decide to do one?
A good friend ... got into it and he was like "Hey you should give this a shot." And I was like "No way, I'm a wrestler, I'm built for wrestling, I'm not made for a triathlon. And I don't want to do it." And he kind of left it at that. Then I started training for wrestling again, blew up my knee a little bit this past winter and he was like "Dude, you're getting older. You need to think about something you can do for the rest of your life. This is going to give you an outlet. " ... I was like "I don't want to do this, I'm not built for it. There's no way I could go that far on my body." ... He kept on me for a while, then he said "Will you at least go look at these YouTube videos" So I started looking at YouTube, my wife [Suzy Preston, a fellow 'Loser' contestant,] came in the office and I'm just sobbing in front of the computer. She was like "what's wrong?" and I'm like "these guys are so inspirational." ... Seeing these champions ... pushing their bodies to the limit and doing these amazing things, I was inspired. And I'll be honest, I haven't been inspired in a long time ... [Then I thought] "You know what, I think I need to do this." For two reasons, one I think I need to do it for myself to have a goal, something to work towards. But two, for other people to see you can do things, whether or not you believe you are capable of it.

Is that your main motivation showing everyone that even if you don't think you can do something, you really can?
It really is. I'm not the prototype or a professional athlete ... I'm a big guy and I'm still doing it. I finished a half-Ironman ... to prove my fitness for Kona. I just want people to see that you can do that. I want especially obese people to understand that you can use this as a mode to get healthy. Because the cool thing about triathlon is well yeah, there's a winner, there's only a few of them, but the best thing about it is finishing and doing your best.

The training is pretty intense. Can you describe a typical day?
This week I had Monday was a pretty light day, I had an hour bike ride ... then Tuesday I had an hour run and an hour and ten minute swim, then Wednesday ... I had an hour swim and 45 minute run. Today, I'll have a 3-hour bike ride, tomorrow I'll have an hour and ten minute swim and an hour and a half run. Saturday I'll run 14 miles, however long it takes, so it will probably take me about three hours or so because I'm not very fast. Then Sunday I'll go for an 80 mil bike ride, which is probably going to be around 4 and a half, 5 hours. So that's a pretty typical week ... It's really not uncommon to be around 20 hours a week or more, working out. Basically training for Kona has become a full time job, I'm a motivational speaker and author, so I work out of my house. I'm very fortunate to have the kind of time to dedicate to training, specifically for Ironman, a lot of people don't have that. You know, I got a special invitation so it's up to me that I make sure I take full advantage of that and don't let anyone down. My goal is to finish the race ... and if it's 16 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, I'll be happy. [Ed Note. Kona allows finishers 17 hours total for the race]

You're not worried about time?
Not really. The better the time is, of course the happier I'll be ... The only way I'll be disappointed is if I don't make the cutoffs and that's it. But I feel confident with my swimming and biking I'll have plenty of time to get to the marathon. That's kind of exciting too, because I've always wrestled, which is a very individual sport. And this is the same thing – you get out of it what you put into it.

What's your favorite part of the triathlon?
You know, I really love the biking but the swimming has really become ... one of my favorite parts.

Let's talk a little bit about 'The Biggest Loser.' What was that experience like?
It was pretty awesome ... I had a feeling I was going to win. I had wrestled at the University of Iowa, I knew what it was like to push yourself, I knew how to lose the weight and I knew that if I was above the yellow line that I was going to win. That's what I expected and that's how I conducted myself. You know, the winning was a pretty small part of it, looking back. I met my wife on the show, we've been married now going on three years. We have two boys, I mean it's been amazing. When I started I was angry and just kind of wandering around feelings sorry for myself, it gave me a new lease on life. I learned how to set goals again ... It teachers you that there's nothing you can't do.


Suzy and Matt in 2005

You've been able to keep the weight off when some of the other winners haven't, were you ever worried about that?
I think a lot of people, especially some of the winners that you are talking about that have gained the weight back ... they wrap their whole lives and identity up into 'The Biggest Loser'. And then when it goes away and next season wraps and you're kind of old news, you fall apart. I think having kids and getting married like I did really helped me ... I'll always be known as 'The Biggest Loser' but now in October, I'll be known as an Iron Man as well.

Are you still watching 'Loser'?
We do watch it. My wife and I are actually reality show junkies, that's pretty much all we watch, because we have such a different perspective on it. You hear someone say "oh we're going to be friends for ever" and you kind of chuckle. It's like, no, really you're not. You're not going to talk to them again after this is over.

So I take it you're not really in touch with anyone else besides your wife?
We actually talk to Seth [Word,] who was the runner-up during our season ... We just did a triathlon in San Francisco and saw a bunch of past season contestants. That was kind of neat ... Being on the biggest loser is kind of like being in high school, when you're there you're the king, the senior. Then you graduate and a new group comes up ... it just kind of moves on ... You know, we appreciate everything that's happened on 'The Biggest Loser' ... but we also have lives beyond that.

On the show you were trained by Jillian Michaels, is she as intense as she seems?
Yeah, what you see is what you get. She does have a soft side, but it doesn't come out very often. She's a great trainer. I wish I had more contact with her after the show, but she gets the job done ... she's doing something right.

I notice you're on Twitter, do you like interacting with your fans that way?
You know what? I'm still more of a Facebook person. I respond to everybody, I love it. I'm just trying to get into the whole twitter thing. I don't feel like my life's that exciting to be Twittering about. I'm not like "hey, guess what? I just mowed my yard" or "I just got a glass of water and it was cold." But with Facebook, we're very interactive ... And we started a new Web site called BodyEvolution.com, where we're going to start doing interviews each week, kind of a – we don't want to jinx ourselves – but a 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' type interview ... so hopefully we can continue to inspire people, especially families.