But what\u2019s causing this seismic shift in stamina and speed? Nefarious reasons? Whenever a record\u2019s broken in endurance sport, tongues will wag. But the last professional who tested positive was Ukrainian Daniil Sapunov back in 2020 for taking EPO. So what is it?<\/p>\n
Well, as they\u2019re at the heart of this evolution, who better to ask than the Norwegians, more precisely Blummenfelt\u2019s coach Olav Aleksander Bu.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot to be disrespectful but in the past, results among iron athletes did not define peak human performance,\u201d Bu surmises. \u201cYou can say it was an extreme event in the sense that it was hard but not when it came to understanding the human body. Now I feel we are edging closer.\u201d<\/p>\n
How close? Well, Bu continues, if Blummenfelt wasn\u2019t to revert to Olympic distance next year in search of Paris 2024 gold, he\u2019d expect at least another 10 minutes chopped off the Norwegian\u2019s Ironman record of 7:21:12<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n If his legs were fresher for the sub-7hr record<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 he\u2019d won the St. George Ironman Worlds<\/strong><\/a> not long previous \u2013 and they strengthened the bike, a 6:20hr long-course would have been possible, too.<\/p>\n And, he adds, a big part of this is down to the next wave of technology whose interpretation of data\u2019s made every competitor fear the Norwegians\u2026<\/p>\n Bu\u2019s a scientist and very much sees triathlon through a physics lens. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at thermodynamics,\u201d he says. \u201cIn essence, that means to generate speed you have to convert one form of energy into another, be it by aerobic or anaerobic avenues. In the body, energy primarily comes from burning oxygen.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Moxy Sensor, which I\u2019ve used since 2015, allows us to peek inside Kristian\u2019s body and see how much oxygen is available in his muscles, and is why we use it nearly every day.\u201d<\/p>\n This, as Bu explains, is a device that measures muscle oxygenation levels. It achieves this via light-emitting diodes and photo detectors, in a broadly similar concept to how your optical heart rate monitor works. It can be used across all three disciplines, sending real-time data to, in the case of Blummenfelt\u2019s bike, his Garmin bike computer.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he\u2019s cycling, we\u2019d often attach it to his vastus lateralis [one of the thigh muscles] as that\u2019s a big muscle used during this activity. We know very precisely the oxygen concentration levels of Kristian during the work phase of intervals, the rest phases, how he might respond to altitude\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWe can then compare this data with his lactate<\/strong><\/a> profiles to target metabolic improvements far more accurately than by using a heart rate monitor. Knowing these figures helps Kristian pace his sessions, for instance. The oxygen figures are also much more immediate whereas there\u2019s a lag with heart-rate figures.\u201d<\/p>\n The Moxy is compatible with many metabolic analysers but Bu and his team use the VO2 Master. This takes the physiological insight to a deeper level because you can compare muscle oxygenation levels with data like VO2 and respiratory frequency to see just how Blummenfelt is reacting to not only the session but also the environment.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> As Blummenfelt showed in Tokyo<\/strong><\/a>, [Ironman] Cozumel and at St. George, he can perform equally well in the heat as in more moderate conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cIn theory, perhaps this shouldn\u2019t be possible,\u201d says Bu. \u201cFirstly, he\u2019s larger than his peers, which normally isn\u2019t a good thing when it comes to racing in the heat. Also, he\u2019s from the Nordics, where there\u2019s rarely any heat. In fact, he\u2019s not great in the heat until he\u2019s adapted, and that\u2019s where our protocols came in.\u201d<\/p>\n What those specific protocols are Bu refrains from telling. \u201cWe were actually ready to press publish on an article that we\u2019d written,\u201d he reveals. \u201cHowever, we realised there was a big deviation between how others and us were approaching the heat, so we\u2019ll hold off for a couple years.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Intellectual property equals competitive advantage. But that doesn\u2019t mean Bu\u2019s totally tight-lipped.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve used Core\u2019s body-temperature sensor for several years, albeit we use a research version so we have access to all the raw data that the device measures in order to indirectly measure your core temperature. We use it to evaluate garments, heat strategies and the effect of heat training.\u201d<\/p>\n This research version\u2019s designed to help validate the data interpreted from the device to more accurately compare to the gold standard and, in the process, save money. \u201cI\u2019m confident that no other team spent more money on rectal thermometers and core pills (which the athletes would also take rectally) in the build-up to the Olympics,\u201d says Bu.<\/p>\n \u201cI reckon we spent \u20ac15,000 on just a few athletes. By validating the Core data, which measures skin temperature and thermal power, again we can ensure how well our athletes are, for example, acclimatised to the heat.\u201d<\/p>\n Similar to the Moxy Sensor, Bu\u2019s athletes use Core near enough every day, the information again relayed to their Garmins. As mentioned, he won\u2019t reveal specifics about everyday training impact apart from comparing to the current training tools.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the same way that if heart rate\u2019s higher one day or power\u2019s the same but with a higher heart rate, fluctuations in core temperature can tell us if an athlete\u2019s beginning to struggle and whether we need to tone things down and be more cautious. We might have a core threshold and if they go over it, they need to quit the session.\u201d<\/p>\n Bu is more revealing about the impact on apparel.<\/p>\n \u201cOur data influenced the tri-suits that Kristian, Gustav<\/strong><\/a> [Iden] and Casper [Stornes] wore in Tokyo. You might recall it was almost see-through, and was the result of seeing how the three of them and their core temperatures reacted to different suits, materials and treatments.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were looking for the highest possible rate of heat transfer to the surroundings, which was vital in Japan. As you could imagine, it was for performance reasons and not aesthetics.\u201d<\/p>\n It worked, of course, the three of them finishing first (Kristian), eighth (Gustav) and 12th (Casper), respectively.<\/p>\n Altitude training<\/strong><\/a> is nothing new, stimulating beneficial performance adaptations like greater capacity to carry and deliver oxygen to working muscles, and increased number and efficiency of mitochondria (the cells\u2019 energy powerhouses).<\/p>\n What is a more contemporary school of thought is the \u201caccumulation of altitude\u201d where repeated exposure to altitude raises the benchmark of those physical attributes including a higher red blood cell count. It\u2019s certainly the case with Bu and his disciples.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve spent around five months at altitude this season,\u201d he says, \u201cso more than 50% of the training time. Typically, we alternate altitude depending on where we are in the season, moving between 1,800m and 2,300m.\u201d These camps have taken place at mountainous regions like Font Romeu in the Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada in Spain.<\/p>\n Blummenfelt\u2019s not the only one remaining high in search of higher performance with three-time Ironman world champ\u00a0Jan Frodeno<\/strong><\/a> recently moving to Andorra. But whether Frodeno\u2019s team interpret, and act upon, the data with the same precision as the Norwegians, only the German team knows.<\/p>\n \u201cTo quantify the effect of altitude accurately requires something we use called the carbon monoxide re-breathing method. Basically, you use a tracer gas in your blood to find out if your haemoglobin volume and blood volume has increased or not. Not many use this and it really helps us determine when an athlete has really adapted to altitude.\u201d<\/p>\n As Blummenfelt\u2019s shown time and time again, both parties have seemingly become masters of utilising rarefied air for peak performance.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was interesting watching the Ironman World Championship and Kristian. He ran it all with a bottle, sipping away, getting it right and, fair play, because I know how wrong it can go.\u201d<\/p>\n The words of Jonny Brownlee<\/strong><\/a>, who admitted nutrition\u2019s held him back from cracking 70.3. For Blummenfelt, however, it\u2019s a different story, and one about not high-carbohydrate feeding\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to nutrition, we\u2019ve worked closely for many years with Maurten who produce drinks with hydrogels,\u201d says Bu. Hydrogel encapsulates the carbohydrates and so make it gentler on the stomach and cranks up the volume you can consume. That\u2019s the theory\u2026 that the Norwegians have taken a step further in practice.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve invested in a mass spectrometer,\u201d reveals Bu. \u201cWhen our athletes are racing or training, we ask them to breathe into a bag. We then take this bag straight to the spectrometer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can then measure how much of the carbohydrates that they\u2019ve ingested that they actually combust, because the more carbs you can actually take up from the ones that you\u2019re taking in, the less you have to rely on the carbohydrate that you have in your body.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy this is important is down to the same reason athletes try ketones<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 to preserve precious glycogen<\/strong><\/a> reserves in the body. Via spectrometry technology and the use of carbon isotopes, we have protocols that allow our athletes to race with a much higher carbohydrate uptake<\/strong><\/a> than what\u2019s previously been documented (60-90g an hour). Kristian and Gustav can go much, much, much\u2026 higher.\u201d<\/p>\n And if you can stay high over a long-course event, you can race fast at a high intensity without fatiguing unduly.<\/p>\n So there you have it, if you want to race fast, just measure your metabolism, core temperature, adaptation to altitude and carbohydrate uptake.<\/p>\n Oh, you also need a will to win that\u2019s almost psychotic. But that\u2019s for another time. For now, let\u2019s revel in a golden age of long-course racing.<\/p>\n Top image credit:<\/strong> Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images for Ironman<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section><\/body><\/html>\n By James Witts Published: Wednesday, 28 September 2022 at 12:00 am Kristian Blummenfelt breaking the Ironman and Ironman Worlds records on debut; Marten van Riel and Laura Philipp smashing the 70.3 records in Dubai in March; Alistair Brownlee storming to 7:38:48 at Ironman Kalmar in August to break the British record\u2026 yes, when it comes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":17800,"template":"","categories":[1,23],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"9"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/09\/how-kristian-blummenfelt-plans-to-win-kona-scaled.jpg",2560,1706,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/09\/how-kristian-blummenfelt-plans-to-win-kona-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/09\/how-kristian-blummenfelt-plans-to-win-kona-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/09\/how-kristian-blummenfelt-plans-to-win-kona-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/09\/how-kristian-blummenfelt-plans-to-win-kona-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/09\/how-kristian-blummenfelt-plans-to-win-kona-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/09\/how-kristian-blummenfelt-plans-to-win-kona-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By James Witts Published: Wednesday, 28 September 2022 at 12:00 am Kristian Blummenfelt breaking the Ironman and Ironman Worlds records on debut; Marten van Riel and Laura Philipp smashing the 70.3 records in Dubai in March; Alistair Brownlee storming to 7:38:48 at Ironman Kalmar in August to break the British record\u2026 yes, when it comes…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/17799"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/07\/sub7-on-cadex-tri-bike-9c584e6.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>What are thermodynamics?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
I\u2019m confident that no other team spent more money on rectal thermometers in the Tokyo build-up <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Adapting to heat<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> The white tri-suits in Tokyo were for performance reasons, not aesthetics <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/09\/men-tokyo-olympic-run-a13ecc8.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>The accumulation of altitude<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Our athletes race with a much higher carbohydrate uptake than what\u2019s previously been documented (60-90g an hour). Kristian and Gustav can go much, much, much\u2026 higher <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Higher carb intake\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/06\/leave-no-room-for-excuses-28de706.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
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