Kristian Blummenfelt:<\/strong> The Olympics, for sure. I almost got as much attention for the 7:21:12 in Cozumel as I did from my Olympic win<\/a><\/strong>. But the Olympics have been something we\u2019ve [coach Arild Tveiten and sports scientist Olav Aleksander Bu] been working towards since 2009. So it\u2019s more than 10 years of build-up. Everything we\u2019ve done, even the 70.3 races, have been with Tokyo in mind.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
But it seems like everyone has forgotten the world title<\/a><\/strong>! And I would actually say that Cozumel<\/a><\/strong> is the one that means the least for me of those three, because the world series is more challenging. I haven\u2019t had too many wins in the series, even though I\u2019ve been racing since 2013, I\u2019ve only have now three world series wins. So I\u2019d say it\u2019s more tricky than the long distance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Cozumel wasn\u2019t a championship. It was just a fast race with good conditions. So now it\u2019s about winning St. George and Hawaii. They\u2019re going to be the big milestones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
220: You still took seven minutes off Jan\u2019s record. You must take some satisfaction from that.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
KB:<\/strong> Yeah, but we\u2019re spending so much time in the lab, doing the testing, and I think in the lead-up, I probably did more Ironman-specific sessions than most of the guys who do long distance, like doing four hours race-pace on the bike and running off to 30, 35k at race pace, or even a little bit faster sometimes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
So even though I\u2019ve never done an Ironman, I felt like I\u2019d done it in training with more fatigue building into it. So it was almost like a training session because when I felt a bit rough after 17\/18k on the run, I could slow down a little bit to like 3:55 since I wasn\u2019t really under pressure.<\/p>\n
So it\u2019s going to be very different racing St. George with Jan and Gustav [Iden, reigning 70.3 champ<\/a><\/strong> and Blummenfelt\u2019s training partner]. Because then you\u2019ll have people trying to hurt you on the bike and trying to make you race bad.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
220: Still, the fact you just described Cozumel as \u2018a training session\u2019 is going to put the fear of God into a lot of Ironman athletes.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
KB:<\/strong> Yep [he says grinning from ear to ear]. That first time I was, I wouldn\u2019t say scared, but I had respect for the distance, so I played it quite safe in the second half of the run.<\/p>\n
So, with more training and a better understanding of how we can build I think, for sure, we can improve even more. Especially with the Sub7<\/a><\/strong> coming up as well, it\u2019s going to be a big year. So it\u2019s important we learn super quickly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I\u2019m lucky to work with Olav Aleksander Bu who is probably the best in the business when it comes to using sensors and the technology to make sure that we take the long distance training up to the Olympic level. Because the short- distance guys have made it more professional.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
220: What is it that sets Olav Bu apart from other sports scientists, do you think?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
$\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>