He dives into the pool and after a little warm-up, they’re off and running. After 500 meters of swimming, he gets a mask over his nose and mouth, then a needle in his ear to draw some blood, and then he breathes air into a bag to be analyzed. After a short break, the whole process is repeated – a little faster for each of the eight times. Kristian Blummenfelt has won what is to be won, but what they have been working on since autumn 2022, no triathlete has done before him. LARGE TEAM: Even though Blummenfelt is not in the national team, there is a large team with him when tests are done in the AdO Arena in Bergen. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news He is well into day two of an extensive three-day test. A quarterly report, the coach calls it, and this is how the final plan for the Games in Paris must be nailed down. The 30-year-old from Bergen does not feel as “fresh” as he would like, he says, but they still have eight weeks to find the golden form. There are eight very important weeks. Eight weeks of hard work. – Either it goes without damage and we are ready for the starting line, or it breaks down. But you have to take the chance and dig a little, says Blummenfelt. After the impressive Olympic gold in Tokyo almost three years ago, Blummenfelt went on to win the world series in triathlon. Just a few months later, he won a full Ironman in Mexico with the fastest time ever, and has since secured the WC title in both half and full Ironman. WARM-UP: Kristian Blummenfelt gets ready for another training session. This time at home in Bergen. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news Not in Olympic form But an Olympic triathlon consists of 1,500 meters of swimming, 40 kilometers of cycling and 10 kilometers of running. A full Ironman, on the other hand, is 3,800 meters of swimming, 180 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running. The transition from being the best in the short distance to being the best in the long, and then being the best in the short again, is complex and the training is different. Or as trainer Olav Aleksander Bu describes: – It is “mission impossible”. – And that is what gives motivation, states Blummenfelt. He’s not in the shape he wants to be yet. This season he has a 10th and a 31st place in the short distances in the world series. In the ranking, he is “only” number 10. BUSY WITH DEVELOPMENT: Olav Aleksander Bu has followed Kristian Blummenfelt and other Norwegian triathletes for a number of years. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news – We spent a few extra years on the long-distance project, so we have very little time to qualify and ensure that we are “ship-shape” for the Olympics. And then we just have to be much more systematic in the process we work with, says coach Bu. Blummenfelt, former world champion Gustav Iden and Bu have broken with the national team and run their own scheme. They are all known for huge amounts of training and quite unique testing methods. Impressive test records For Bu is not just a coach. He is a qualified engineer and is passionate about development in sport. He is the man behind the countless tests that are carried out, and is also behind much of the technology. It is so advanced that “sometimes we have to invent the technology along the way”, says Bu, who has been called “Petter Smart” – with good reason. At the edge of the pool in the swimming hall in Bergen named after Aleksander Dale Oen, it almost looks like a small laboratory. There is a PC and several other “duppets” on a table and by the edge of the pool a mobile phone. The specially made mask, which measures oxygen uptake and breathing rate, is connected directly to the mobile phone, and Bu shows and explains while the student swims length after length. MEASURING EQUIPMENT: Phone with an app, which is directly connected to the mask for measuring, among other things, oxygen uptake and a lactate meter stands at the edge of the pool. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news After every 500 metres, he is quickly gone at Blummenfelt. First with the mask on, before he inserts the needle into the earlobe to measure lactate – because it is more comparable than when measuring with a finger, explains Bu. Exactly what it shows is probably not something they are too concerned about at the moment. They primarily want to compare to see how the body copes with the training, and then see what they may need to adjust. – We don’t train to get high records in tests. We want to win a competition too, says Blummenfelt. But the athlete with the insane capacity has still set test records. Because ahead of this year’s season, Blummenfelt took up around 7.8 liters of oxygen more per minute, says Bu. It is the highest number they have ever seen in the many measurements they do. Measured against weight, this would give a fitness figure, or VO2-max, of over 100. That is, roughly twice as much as a normal well-trained person. – But a high VO2 max is not necessarily favorable against competition, especially not in triathlons with a duration of less than two hours. Because even if you increase your VO2 max, that does not mean that your speed increases, explains Bu. Kristian Blummenfelt spends hours in the pool. It has made him more confident in the swimming part of the triathlon. Breathing air into bags He compares it to a car with a huge engine, which goes fast on a straight stretch, but which is not favorable when you have to have a lot of variation. Therefore, the plan is now for Blummenfelt to have a slightly lower oxygen uptake and a slightly lower body weight when the starting shot goes off in Paris. – If VO2 max is relatively higher than the speed, it means that you build heat faster, and you will burn more energy faster in relation to the speed at which you move. So this, like other things, must be fine-tuned to the duration of the competition and the dynamics of the race, he explains further. SPECIAL FINDINGS: Air from breathing is collected in marked bags and transported for analysis in Sweden. Photo: Hanne Skjellum / news The group also does a slightly different measurement during the tests in Bergen this week. When the aforementioned mask is off and the ear lobe is dried after lactate measurement, Blummenfelt takes a stomach move and breathes through a small tube to fill up a bag in silver foil with, yes, air. The bags are then sent to Sweden for analysis in a laboratory. Because with markers in a special sports drink, they can track and then calculate how much carbohydrates are taken up in Blummenfelt’s body under different intensities – in order to be able to optimize intake during competition. – If you manage to get in 30-40 grams of extra carbohydrates during cycling, then you have the equivalent extra energy that you can use on the last lap of the run. You always want to have as high a recording as possible, he says himself. Tobias Kristensson is an expert in nutrition and an employee in the research department of Maurten – a Swedish company that specializes in sports drinks, gels and dietary supplements with a high concentration of carbohydrates. He is in place during the three tests. – It is physiology that sets the limits. But Kristian has such a big engine so he can consume an incredible amount of energy. And at competitive speed, you consume almost only carbohydrates, and then we can get answers to what he needs for a competition, says Kristensson. NUTRITION EXPERT: Tobias Kristensson (th) is involved as a researcher on the intake and utilization of, among other things, carbohydrates during competition. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news – How many have such a plan in training and competition? – Extremely few, he replies with a small laugh. More competitive advantages In other words, there are very few coincidences in the search for the perfect form. The new and well-tested competition suit is in place, and specially adapted carbon shoes for 10 kilometer running are ready. They believe both parts can provide clear competitive advantages. – The shoes have been tested for my running stride and the speed I intend to run at, says Blummenfelt. He himself believes that he has improved at swimming, and on the bike it is still consistently good. But something that both tests, training and competitions have given a clear answer to is that the Norwegian hope must literally pick up the pace for the Olympic triathlon on 30 July. He knows that the fiercest competitors, such as Tokyo silver and bronze medalists Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde, have been faster. And coach Bu estimates that the winning time in Paris will be around 29 minutes. – And it’s fast, especially when your legs are already tired, points out Bu. COMMITTED: Kristian Blummenfelt is doing everything to recreate the Olympic feat. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news – I have to have the kick required, and run at the top speed that allows me to keep up with the best in races. That is where I have struggled the most over the past year and a half. I have been 50 seconds too slow and the speed of the race has been a little too slow, admits Blummenfelt. – Never been close The final preparations take place at altitude in France, then Switzerland. The main focus in recent weeks has therefore been running – and preferably fast running to get enough muscular stimuli on the legs. He is committed to a hard drive to get back to his best – also over the short distance. And all experience suggests that Blummenfelt’s body tends to respond quickly to training. – We are actually on a very good track, says Bu. Optimism is growing during the long hill climb in Font-Romeu, and most indications are that the coaching team has hit on the right plan. The last pieces of “the impossible task” have fallen into place. GOLD WINNER: Kristian Blummenfelt crushed the competition in the triathlon during the Olympics in Tokyo. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB – He has never been close to running at the level he is doing now. It is very reassuring for us that if he has the day, then this is even worth gold, says Bu. For Blummenfelt himself, a different way of thinking has never really been an option. – Once I have won an Olympic gold, the dream is to win again. I don’t travel to Paris to have a strong race. I travel to Paris to win, says Blummenfelt. And after the Games, the hard work continues. Then Blummenfelt will have to readjust again, in order to be ready for the World Cup in Ironman in October. The men’s triathlon competition starts at 08.00 on 30 July and will be shown on NRK1 and news TV.
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Kristian Blummenfelt’s impossible Olympic task – Sport Langlesing
