Matt: A reluctant runner, want-to-be fighter. Part 1: For the right reasons.
At woowoo we want to get to know who inspires our community - which is why at the end of an interview we now ask ‘who-woo’. Who in your circle do we need to know about and speak to? From our recent chat with George, he mentioned another friend from back in our school days who inspires him - Matt.
George was right - we did need to chat to Matt, but we also need you to know about him too. Matt is woowoo, in so many ways… but you’ll have to read on (part 1 & 2) to find out why.
First, as always, his social link:
Firstly, how did you feel about the ‘who-woo’ shout out from George?
Honestly, I was so touched. I was a bit confused about what was going on at first and said to my wife ‘I’ve just been mentioned in an article!’ But I read the article and we reached out and reconnected with each other afterwards. We haven’t spoken since school, so to be the one that inspires him was a really nice surprise!
What makes you woo?
Part of my mindset and the way I work is that I’m always looking for a challenge. It doesn’t necessarily have to be sport related, but if I don’t have something that I’m aiming for in life I tend to wonder and feel a bit aimless and grey. So I always like to have a goal whether it’s a run that I’m doing for charity, or a 8-10 week training camp with a fight at the end - that’s my purpose, that’s what I’m training for - there’s motivation and an end game.
I can train without those things but sometimes I find myself wondering why am I running? What is the aim here? I can get in my own head and can easily tell myself I don’t need to be doing this. I need a driving force, it's very rare that I’ll do something just for the sake of doing it.
Goals help keep me motivated, keep me on track and stop me from wandering.
In your Instagram bio, you describe yourself as a reluctant runner and a wannabe fighter. How did you find your way to these sports in particular?
Well when I was a kid I tried everything but I soon came to find out I’m not musically talented, I can’t sing, I’m no good at drama… so sports was the thing that I turned to and stuck with. It started with football, I was an okay defender but you could replace me with any other kid. Then I saw a Kung Fu film on TV and thought ‘I want to be able to fight off ten dudes at once’. So my dad signed me up for a class, and although I quickly realised it wasn’t quite the same as it’s shown on TV, that was the start of my combat sports journey. I started in traditional martial arts like Kung Fu, Karate, Taekwondo but I was more interested in the combat side so started exploring boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai (the national sport of Thailand). My coaches commented on how quick I pick things up and I discovered I really like the fighting element of these sports, which not a lot of people do.
I started to compete, but with the competing and training came the running. In Thailand they say ‘no run, no fight’. In order to fight, you need to build up your cardio.
So I became a runner through having to run. Some people go out for a 5k run and end up doing 20k because they got lost in it.. That doesn’t happen to me.
I’m aware of every minute of every run. Of how far I’ve gone. I’m not a bad runner, I run in respectable times, but I don’t enjoy it and I’m not passionate about it. That’s why I call myself a reluctant runner.
More recently, I’ve been doing runs with people that have never really run that distance before or at that level. If someone says to me in conversation, ‘oh I’d like to do a half marathon’, I decide to do it with them - train with them and run with them, because now I have extra motivation/purpose. Maybe I’m doing it for charity, maybe I’m doing it for the person next to me - to keep them going. I might be reluctant but I enjoy doing it when there’s a good cause behind it.
What is the best woo moment you’ve had so far?
It has to be the Great North Run that I did back in early September with a group of friends. This group of friends aren’t runners… but one of their mums passed away due to an aggressive breast cancer and we decided as a group that we were going to run it together and raise money for Breast Cancer Now.
One of the guys in the group had said, ‘hey Matt, you don’t have to stick with me, I’m probably going to do it in 4 hours.’’ I thought if I run off and do it on my own it defeats the purpose… yes, I could get a good time, but that is not why we were doing the race. I’ve done half marathons before, but this was for a different purpose.
A month’s worth of rain fell in one day and he was in pain - there were so many reasons to quit. But, we just put our heads down and told ourselves we were going to get through it. And you know what, he didn’t stop once. As we approached the finish line, we had thousands of people cheering for us because no other runners were around…
…when we crossed the line it really felt like we’d been through something together and that we had achieved something together. It wasn’t just another run. It was something else.
It was really special and holds a separate place in my heart. It meant a lot, and it wasn't easy. My friend could have quit, there was a lot of emotion behind it all. We were doing it for charity. We were doing it for our friend’s mum.
Has this friend mentioned about doing any race since?
Well, straight after the race he said he’s never doing anything like that again… but everyone gets that after a big challenge, it just takes time to come back around to it. The beauty of running, or any of these events, is yes it’s painful, but there’s such a real sense of achievement which is a bit of a drug in itself. Knowing your hard work, sweat and tears paid off into something - you get the medal, or you get your hand raised in the ring or whatever it is, and you walk away from it for a while, but you get the itch and come back to it.
So the other day he messaged me saying he is thinking about doing the run again next year.
What is the toughest woo you have done so far?
I completed my first full marathon last year and my motivator was the charity I was raising money for. I was so happy I did it, but it broke me. I got to 35k and my legs were gone. I remember seeing the finishing line - there were people cheering me on and I was already starting to get the high and adrenaline from completing it… But when I crossed the line I broke down into tears. And I maybe hadn’t cried for about 6 years before that, I just got so emotional.
What were those emotions? Where do you think they came from?
It’s because I wanted to stop so bad. I’m not a natural runner, and I was in real pain. I saw other people stopping, or walking - which there is nothing wrong with, but I had told myself I was going to run it all. I was tired, and I knew from my pace that I still had some time to go. I knew that I’d be disappointed in myself, and that I’d be letting other people down.
I was running for Exeter Leukaemia Fund which is a great charity, but they are quite small which meant I got to know the people involved quite well. And the manager of my gym at the time, had had leukaemia the year before. So there were real people I was running this for. There was a real fight between wanting to quit, but knowing I couldn’t because of these people.
So when I finally got to the finish line, it all just came out. You often hear people in sports say they leave a bit of themselves out there, and that day I definitely did. I gave a lot of myself to it, and it took a lot out of me.
But, the feeling of accomplishment was crazy. I can now say I have run a marathon - I’ve always wanted to say that… I guess sometimes to achieve things, you’ve got to leave a bit of yourself out there.
Although it did take me a while to come back to running after that…
Do you have any woo’s lined up, anything coming up we need to know about?
Not at the moment, no… I mean, I guess I have a child coming, so… a child!
In my last fight I injured my hand a bit (the guy had a big head), so I’m taking a bit of a break but hopefully I’ll have a fight again early next year. And I’d like to do another half marathon at some point next year. What that will be, and who that will be with I haven’t quite decided. I haven’t picked my next victim yet, but I’ll find someone… actually Becca, you mentioned you don’t like running?
I think I'll be busy next year…*
*Matt said I had to leave this part of the interview in
Haha. So, nope, nothing on the horizon yet, but early next year, maybe a fight, maybe a run.
What is your dream woo?
I actually don’t really have a dream fight or race really, but I’ll tell you what my next big goal is…
And actually, someone has done what I normally do to them, but back to me. So, my brothers in law want to do a triathlon next year and they want to drag me along.
Running - I’m fine at. Reluctant but fine. I can run long distances fairly well.
Biking - I don’t cycle much. I don’t even own a bike at the moment. I can cycle but I’d have to train.
Swimming - I’m an awful swimmer. I won’t drown, but I am a horrendous swimmer. I went swimming with a friend who recorded a video of me… I thought I was super streamlined, but in reality my arms were slapping all over the place. He asked me when I was breathing, and I couldn't tell him.. Maybe under the water?
The idea of doing them one after the other terrifies me but I do love a good challenge, so I guess my next big goal, or dream is to complete a triathlon.
Erm Matt, you realise you’re telling the wrong person about this goal? My family (not me, I must be adopted), love a triathlon. We have set up our WA support group for exactly this reason…
I’ll take any help I can get. I’ve never trained for a triathlon before, I don’t know what my split should be, so yeah, any help, especially with swimming I’ll take.
Nothing is in the books yet, but I have a feeling my Christmas present this year will be an entry to the triathlon. I’ll accept it and take it head on!
I don’t know if this is going off on a bit of a tangent, but part of our dream at woowoo is to be able to invest into our community: You tell us your dream is to do X race, you open up your inbox, and boom, there is your invitation from us, aka, exactly what your brothers in law are doing for you. The point is to break down any barriers (or excuses) that people might have…
I love that - I think it goes back to the idea of whenever people voice an interest in something, quite often it means they really want to do it but they are just scared. But, sometimes you need that push - OK I’m already signed up… I better start training. Or OK, we’ll do it together.
Would I ever sign myself up for a triathlon on my own? Probably not, I haven’t so far. But having someone else do it for me, means there are no excuses. So watch this space!
Click here to read ‘Matt: A reluctant runner, want-to-be fighter. Part 2: Overcoming Fear’ where we talk more about his love of fighting and the importance of a hype squad.
Interested in being a part of our WA support group? Join here!