Hello Gustav! Great race. You are right, most of us aren't familiar with you and your teammates (except Blummenfeld). Can you tell us about your triathlon journey thus far? How did you get into the sport, why you race, etc? Also what does a normal training week look like for you and how did you prepare for the heat of Bermuda?

Hei Gustav

As a Norwegian here in the USA it has been amazing to follow your development from juniors to world class.
Here you have some questions.

When did you start training triathlon seriously?
How many hours are you training a year?
Can you tell about the bike leg at Bermuda, was is soft before you and Kristian went for it?


Gratulerer saa mye Gustav. Jeg er sikkelig imponert av deg og dere.

First of all congratulations on a fabulous start to the season!

On Bermuda: how was the pace in corkscrew the first 9 laps? How come you and Blu held back an attack for so long(I assume not to chase down Casper S?)

On training: how much do you guys run? How much of that high tempo/quality runs?

Oh - and Herbert - I think the Norwegian ITU-crew should be interviewed for a front page article.

Congrats on the stellar race.

I'm curious between the total hours and volume (km's) that you do in training in each of the 3 sports, as I've read that Norwegians are known for putting in a lot of serious training hours.

Further, how many hard workouts do you do in a typical week in each of the 3 sports, and do you regular do brick workouts in training?

What race is up next?

Please excuse my English. I am an athlete, not an academic ;)

My triathlon journey started many years ago in 2006, but that was only one race. I really got into the sport when the Triathlon Federation in Norway invited me and many other cyclists, swimmers and runners to an open weekend camp for youngsterst in Norway in 2010. I came from a cycling background, but was also a keen runner. In the camp the leders and coaches said I had to get in a swimming club to have anything to do in triathlon. I began swimming straight after that. The next year I was taken in to the national junior team, and have been a part of the national team ever since.

A normal training week is very different from where in the season we are. We had a bit of a "famous" training week during the offseason wich we spent in the alltitude in Sierra Nevada in Spain. Here we had free training meening we could do whatever we wanted traningwise and had no plan. It was i camp in collaboration with Olypiatoppen, the Norwegian Olympic commitee. There I had three of my longest bikerides ever. One of our coaches suggested we could ride around the whole mountain. We tried to do that, but used to long time to check the map and eating. We came about 270km and 4000 altitude meters. Some days later we tried again, a bit wiser. We rode the other way, started earlier in the morning, and almost had no stops. We had two of our coaches following in a car(yes, that is dedication!!) who filled our bottles and gave us bars, candy, chips and chocolate. We only had one real stop of 15minutes at a store to but some Fanta, Coca Cola and RedBull. We made it all the way around the mountain. 305km, 6000 a.m in about 11hours and 45minutes. But that is not a normal week. We normally train 30-35 hours a week during build up to season, with a lot of anaerobic treashold, and aerobic treashold. We try to take some lactate test during our training to get the most out of every training. We have test to ensure the training is going well, and adjust if it dont.

We did not really prepare that much for the heat of Bermuda because the weatherforcast did not show super hot weather. And it turned out fine. It was cold to train in Sierra Nevada with below freezing temperatures almost every day, but we had some time in both Marbella and Bermuda before the race, and felt quite climatized to the race in good time.

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

I think I answered the traingbit of the question in my last post, but lets say 1200 hours even though I dont really count the hours that way.

I started traning seriously when I was 10 years old. Then I was all about the Tour de France. I wanted to be the best cyclist. But for triathlon it started when I was 15 years old. The I no longer mixed my cyling and triathlon training. Then it was all about the Olympics in triathlon.

Yeah, the bikeleg was pretty easy before I went for it. I think my avg. power was below 270w. I seamed that all was saving themself for the hill, pushing hard up corcscrew, and then just resting once again. I hate that kind of "racing", and it was pretty boring to just be in the pack. But there was not much i could do because I do not want to bridge the gap to my friend/team mate Casper. So my job was just to capture everyone who tried to get away. I did not have much to do... When someone was pushing hard up the hill on the 7th lap, I saw an opening to maybe get away in a breakaway. I think to have a background in cycling helps here to "see" the openings to get away. Casper had 2minutes at that point, so it was no risk for us to catch him. I was screaming at Blu, and we made i quick get away. I think the others gave up quite early, and we had a nice training session the rest of the race (meaning it was just as me and kristian had ride and run together in traning many times before)

Tusen takk! Skal prøve å gjøre Yokohama spennende også ;)

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

Stort grattis! Veldigt bra kort av er alla!


Im a bit curious how is triathlon scene and support are in Norway.
Can you tell us a bit about sponsors and how big the sport is ?

I think Herbert know how to get in touch with us :)
And since I coach all on the podium from the Bermuda race, I think I can provide some Insight in our training and how we build the team if its interesting.

Yes, that would be very interesting. Thank you very much.

How do you progress the training through a season. Does the content of tracksessions change from month to month?

How important is bike and run volume for itu guys and how long are your normal (not the 300k) longrides and longruns?

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10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40

Hei Arild

Can you tell a little about how you use technology (hr monitor, power meters, lactate) and testing in training.

Det du har gjort er utrolig imponerende. Gratulerer.

Arild,

Thanks so much for stopping in and answering some questions. Would you say that your athletes follow a 80:20 polarized training program as characterized by Stephen Seiler? That is to say 80% of the sessions easy zone 1 efforts and 20% of sessions containing very hard zone 3 efforts.

Best Regards,

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

I will come back to you as soon as possible since I on my way to Yokohama now and will be offline some time.
Good good question need good answers

Takk Arild

Have a nice trip to Yokohama and good luck.
Looking forward to your answer.

Thank you. Eller skal jeg si Tusen takk :)

The support are getting bigger and bigger. But it is still a quite little sport in Norway and we have around 10.000 member of the federation. Out of these we dont have so many young athletes. Maximum 1000 in total.
When we started to organize the sport and put together a talent program the founding was very limited and we could only afford paying me for a 50% postion as the sportdirector and coach. That was in 2012. But then we started to get some result and the Olympic comitee was starting to support us. Both financially and also with Resources like specialist within altitude training, nutrition, motoric/strength training and so on.
Today most of our founding is direcetly from the federation, Olympic comitte and the athletes and their clubs. The sponsors play a minor role in that in terms of money, but they are good sponsors that belive in us and in our program. Our sponsors will do the best for us, and for instance our cloth sponsor ( Trimtex) make a hugh effort to make the best racingsuit in the market. and they do that with working closely with athletes and myself so they can make the best suit available on the marked today.

Hi Halvard!

We are a team that try to push the limit on how much training we can do. Or say it another way: Find the optimal individually workload who gives maximum result for the athlete. We therefore pay a lot of attention to intensitycontrol. And to control our training we of course use heartrate monitors. That is a basic tool. We also use Powermeters for cycling, but also for running ( Stryd). That we also use in all races so we have a lot of good data with heartrate, powerdata in both cycling and running.
We also use a system called Tritonwear for swimming and we use it to analysze stroke efffiency in the water and getting data like DPS, frequence.
We have started digging into powermeters for swimming, but right now we think that the available systems arent good enough.

To really now how we shoud train and what is the right intensity we do lab testing at least 5 times a year. And we then test in all diciplines. One test takes around 2h ang gives us a lot of data that we use in training. And to really now what is right intensity we do a lot of lactatetesting. Both in the lab bust mostly out in the field during training. I think that we do around 100tests with each athlete at an altitudecamp like that we had in march-april.
You dont do intervals at 3 i lactat mmol/l when your indivdual lactatethreshold is 2,3 mmmol/l. That is far more important than what you pace is and what power is during training. So when training at your right lactace threshold ( measured individually for you in the lab) you get the best Results.
And With a lot of testing we learn the athletes to know what their limits are and how they should train With the right intensity.

Hi Gustav, don't really have a question but just wanted to say congrats on two great WTS races to start your 2018 season!

Can you take Adrien (Briffod) with you on a breakaway in Yoko :-)

just wanted to say great job, I very briefly cycled with those 3 podium winners in fuerteventura and they spoke very highly of you when i asked them why norway is doing so well.
the other thing that really impressed me was how down to earth and funny they were.

the one question i have, i cant even remember how old gustav was when he won haugsund a couple of years ago but i'd be interested what you think he learned from that experience ? ( i have no idea , but he is probably the youngest 70.3 winner ever)

Still hoping you might field this one too. Thanks!


Arild,

Thanks so much for stopping in and answering some questions. Would you say that your athletes follow a 80:20 polarized training program as characterized by Stephen Seiler? That is to say 80% of the sessions easy zone 1 efforts and 20% of sessions containing very hard zone 3 efforts.

Best Regards,

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

Thanks Arild
Hopefully all the testing and discipline will help your athletes not to do a Northug.
Maybe Petter Northug should check in with you to learn something about altitude training.

Congrats on the ITU podium!! Fantastic result for you and your country.

OK, here's a softball question for you: I'm racing Ironman Haugesund this summer. What traditional Norwegian meal should I eat (maybe afterwards) to have truly experienced classic Norwegian food?

Thanks for the insight!

On a slightly different subject - do you think you guys do more volume on the bike than others? The reason I ask is that because it seems most of your guys have their strenght on the bike (save for Gundersen who seems to be the Norwegian Varga!). Do you think this is a reflection of the athletes natural abilities, or the way you train

As a side-note. It remains a puzzle to me why long distance racing for some reason seems to get alot more attention than ITU (atleast from the "Grown-up" audience). To me this was perhaps the best part of Gustav I beating everyone in Haugesund two years back - it speaks volume of the level the ITU-team holds!

Yes. In a way we do that. But not excately as characterized by Stephen Seiler. Orginally he says that 80% of volume is below 2 mmol/l and 20% is around 4 mmol/l and higher.
For us itslike 85% -90 % is at or below LT1(Aerobic Threshold). That is around 1,1-1,3 mmol/l in lactate. So most training is below that. That is low intensity. But our best athletes will at a LT1 cyclingsession do around 250-290W With this lactate values.In running that would be around 3:45 min/km - 4min/km.
And the rest is higher intensity. Most around LT2 ( Anaerboc Threshold) wich for our athletes is around 2,3.-2,8 mmol/l. Depending on time of the year I would say that 10-15% og training volume is around that intensity or a little higher. Bu we do very little anareobic work at all.
But remember that if you do a high volume 15% is still quite much intensity work. When we are at altitude I will say that we do longer intervals 6-8 out of 20 weekly trainingsessions. If we count sessions it seems that almost 40% is intervals. But when se see hours of training then ist maybe 6h out of 38h of training that is intervals. And that is around 15% of total trainingvolume.

The main thing for us is that we do a lot of volume and that at a low intensity. Intervals are also mostly at a controlled effort around LT2. So we train to best best at Olympic distance. And I think that we with that training also perform really well at all distances up to 70.3.

Arild,

Thanks for the very clear description of your athlete's training. I greatly appreciate it.

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

Arild
Thanks a lot for being willing to share your training philosophy down to lactate level.

One question:
It looks like you are doing a lot of long intervals, especially during brick intervals.
With all the volume, are you using long intervals to make sure the overall load will not be too much?

I'm not sure how much cycling volume the others do. We do what we think we need to do. And we pay as as much attention to cycling as we do to other diciplines. We Train to be as good as possible in every dicipline. How much we do vary very much om what time of the year. But I will say normally 5-6 times a week and up to 15h a week.
Our strength is a reflection on how we Train I think.

Gustav had just turned 20 when he won IM Haugesund. He can and will ofcourse tell you what he learned from that. But as I see it he got a lot of confidence and belive in himself. I think he needed that race to convince himself that he could be best in the world if he wanted to.

Great question. Great answer. Thank you both.

Hey Gustav congrats on the Bermuda race. I'm sure you're hungry for more success in WTS now! I first noticed you last year doing a hell of a job leading chase packs and now Casper also has popped into the fold. Congratulations to the coaches you all are working with.

That leads me to my questions.
1. Being an elite athlete, I'm curious how much of your time is spent doing training alone versus the amount of time you're training with coaches and other athletes. You mentioned lactate tests and support cars during the Sierra training but what about a typical day?
2. Are you given your training plan many weeks in advance or are you constantly being monitored and changes are being made on the fly depending on how things go?
3. Lastly, I've noticed over the years that very often Norwegians (Cross country skiers) typically have some of the highest records VO2Max results on the planet. Is there something in Norwegian mindset that allows athletes of your nation to reach these heights in your opinion?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to interact with us here on ST. I know I'll continue to watch you closely as this season unfolds!!

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

Both english and norwegian working pretty ok (i´m a swede)


Seems like you have a team making great progress!
Congrats again. Gonna be interesting to follow

Thanks! but I think maybe the course in Yoko is too hard to breake away in. Or in other words, you can allways get away, but at what cost on the rund? But we will se tommorow how things will go down.

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

The most eaten meal in Norway is the Grandiosa Pizza, so I will say go for that one ;) Frozen pizza is always a classic...

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

Thanks! I have been pulling quite the amount of chase packs yes...

1. At home nearly all me easy run and bike are alone. The swimming is always in the group "Bergensbanden" as we call ourself. Some of the hard stuff is also with the group, but in the wintertime, its easier to just do it alone indoor, so then its not with the group.

But part of our success is at the camps. Here all training is togheter. Not the whole group every training, but atleast a couple of us together. We get great sessions out of that, and the competiton is not to "win" the training, in that sens as get the best times, but to "win" it to get the most out of every training. And yes you can "win" an easy bikeride. By having focused on the things you should i.e aerodynamics, pedal smoothness and cornering. That is things we do even on the most relaxed workouts.

2.I am not given a spesific trainingplan a long time ahead, but all of my coaches have talked together and always knows whats up. But it is up to us to tell them it is the right thing to do or if I should do less. We have a midset to plan for a lot of training, and IF you could do it all it is very good. But most of us adjust down the amount. I would not say the changes are "made on the fly". We have a summery every night after dinner at camps where we sum up the training. And here is where we make the choises of how much the body can handle in the coming days of training, and what training would make you an olympic champion.

3. I don't know all to well the training of the skiiers, so i cant say why they get high VO2 numbers, but in cross country you are using both the upper body and lower, so the activation of muscles is very great, therefore also the consumption of oxsygen is very high. I can think that is part of the reason. Also I would say it is a learning thing. How the breath to get the most out of these tests.

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

 

the one question i have, i cant even remember how old gustav was when he won haugsund a couple of years ago but i'd be interested what you think he learned from that experience ? ( i have no idea , but he is probably the youngest 70.3 winner ever)[/quote]
The most valuble thing i learned from that race was how hard I can push myself. It is the worst experience I have ever had, and still, some hours later the body was not THAT bad. After half the run was done i got about 1:50 down to 2nd place. After 17k (hard to remember) he was just 100m behind. I think that i would not have won, if it had not been for I truly belived it was no way i could lose this after 7k of the run. I had to dig soo deep the last k's to keep him behind that you wont belive it. And that for me was something I really appreciated to learn. The reason for being so tired way earlier than expected was partly due to the nutrion. I was puking during the bike. I could not keep my energy down in the start, but luckly i had extra enery in my pockets, so when the body felt better i tried to get as much in as possible. The other reason for the sudden lack of power on the run was pacing. I am way to used to the ITU style of racing, just blazing out, and that hurt in the end. but who know, maybe that was the reason for the victory?

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

Ha...I can always do pizza for a pre-IM meal!!

Thanks for responding and good luck in Yokohama this weekend if you're racing !! This makes me feel better when I cut down my sessions after biting off more than I can chew!

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

Hi Arild and Gustav, what do you all make of the recent Fancy Bears leak claiming that Sweden and Norway have state-sponsored doping?

Thank you for your time and transparency.

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https://twitter.com/mungub

Wonder why not many pro’s post here.

What happened in Yokohama?

is this guy who just won IM Talinn your brother ?

glad to have you here and willing to take time to answer questions

what sunscreen do you use that lasts through the long training and racing days ?

thanks

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Great things never come from comfort zones.

Hey Gustav - what format of triathlon do you prefer? And what is the hardest workout you've had in the lead up to the test event?

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Chasing PB Podcast Latest interview with Eli Hemming on Targeting a US MTR spot in Tokyo

Yes! He is my big brother. An athelte turned coach. Impressive time for a guy who says he doesn't train (which all of us who is following him on strava know is a lie).

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

So far I have only tested sprint and olympic drafting, and 70.3 non-draft. I would say olympic is the most fun. There it' non-stop racing for almost two hours, but with 70.3 the racing doesn't really start until late in the running. But I for sure se the appeal for guys targeting a fast time and PB on the longer distances. Would be fun trying out 140.6 and Super League in the future.

The hardest sessions is always the first sessions in the heat chamber before you get acclimatized.

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

 Well done

How hard was it to race 1 week after a grand final.

keep that t shirt from Thailand, I would suggest.

I hope a bike company will reach out and get you on a proper TT bike now! Well executed race in Nice!!

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

Incredible performance amongst stellar field.

I'd forgot he'd done this thread, fair play! Congrats on the win Gustav that performance surprised everyone, do you think you're more suited to 70.3 than shorter distance given you've just smoked probably the most stacked 70.3 field in history or did the course suit you more?

How can you transfer this performance to Tokyo? Is winning Kona a goal and if so when do you see yourself jumping up to do that?

congrats on your win today.

do you know what your hat says in Chinese?

you have made many Taiwanese proud by wearing that hat.

it says the name of a temple in Changhua county, Taiwan

Incredible race -- congrats! Made for really exciting viewing-

Huffnpuff - Maybe you’ll be brave enough to try some Lutefisk as well - haha

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

First off, congrats on a great race Gustav, not surprised by the result, but seems you have surprised/shocked many in the triathlon world, well done!

@Culpritbicycles- Good shout on that, was wondering that myself.

@Gustav- Is there a story to the hat, interested to hear more about it!

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-Brad Williams
Website | Twitter: @BW_Tri |Instagram: @BW_Tri | Strava | Co-Founder & Coach at: KIS Coaching
Partnered with: Zoot Sports | Precision Fuel &Hydration | ISM

yessss - slow clap

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Epic win; epic field you beat. That was amazing

Top tube descending keeps up fine with TT bikes, on that course.

Pic of your bike? Is it exact same as ITU build for this race?

Kudos 👏

Congratulations on the victory. Tearing up against guys with a lot of long course experience.

You did something that many experienced triathletes don't do and maybe fear to do. Racing with what you have vs. what you don't You used to have an old Felt B-14 Tri bike but didn't bring that with you. I noticed Kristian had his Shiv for this race, but you chose to keep with the Venge due to lack of sponsorship. But one of the things you also mentioned with GTN was adaptation to geometry. Do you think that affected the other athletes that switched to tri bikes for this race post Lusanne?

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Into T2 with the GOAT and then you outran him.. How do you top that performance?

Jan Fordeno was not racing today so how could he have out ran him.

AB is not in the top two of GOAT. Jan and Javier have done more in the sport and have more titles across more disciplines. AB might be top 3 of the current racers.

Gustav has proven that he is on track to be one of the top athletes in the sport and had an amazing day today. Can't wait to see him win more events.

Nothing to ask, just wanted to say congrats on a great execution. It was very exciting watching you race and take down a lot of big name athletes!

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Hey Gustav, congrats on today’s win. Amazing racing! After this race, would you say the above again? ;-)

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Sr. Salitre

Amazing race!

This kid needs a manager and Sponsors. The whole 9. Still in his VF4s. He was on the Tram back from awards and is staying across the street.

Slowman get this kid hooked up lol

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http://www.TriScottsdale.org

I have never heard of you, recall seeing your name (not that I follow ITU too closely or a lot of the pros outside the patheon of Hall of Famers)...and first thought..."Who? How? What!?!--where did this guy come from? So yes, I'm super shocked at your performance and super interested to see what else you pull out of your career from here on out. In short--WOW! I'm going to definitely pay attention and look towards you joining the big boy club Hall of Famers now. HUGE congrats and this has to go down as the shocker of the year for wins. Impressive. I think Gomez, Frodo, AB, all have you on their radar now, you certainly earned it it seems--in one day's performance.

My question is, with a world class engine like you have, why did you not go down the road of XC skiing? Do you XC ski & if you're good at it--why triathlon? Klaebo could use some competition & you could be that person...again, congratulations and now watch your Instagram numbers climb!

Sorry, but no. I am a Javier fan but the convo includes Ali and in many ways, Ali is above Javy by pure record of two gold medals aside from the lopsided score against Javy head to head.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Don't use your ignorance (you said it yourself, you don't really follow ITU racing) as a measure for everyone's opinions. This was not a shocker at all. But perfect execution from Gustav, who was among the favourites in my (and many others') book (and no I'm not one of the Norwegians).

Takk Gustav

Thank you for being part of such an entertaining race for all of the spectators!
I have never seen anyone run at such a high pace while making it look so easy.
1) Your leg speed looked quite high, what cadence do you run?
2) How much of your training is dedicated to core strength and balance?
3) Blummenfelt mentioned in his interview with Bob Babbitt the possibility of doing Kona next year, after Tokyo. Now that you have qualified, is that a possibility? You could pick up a “training” IM this fall while you still have high fitness (so Blummenfelt can also qualify?)

Even though I am an American, I will be pulling for the three of you to make your dream of a team podium in Tokyo!

Never said it was "everyone's" opinion. The media did not even tag him as a favorite or in the realm of a performance like this. There are more who were shocked than not at this win. Dan, how about a poll to the right on this?

Alright. So to summarize regarding his 70.3 WC win. This guy:
- Decided to use a road bike because his tri bike was not up to the task (highend road bike from sponsors vs lowend TT bike of his own).
- forgot his nutrition and had to make use of aid stations only.
- dropped his chain and had to stop on the course (@51:40 of the official stream)
- the day before the race he posted a story on his Instagram whether anyone could lend him an aero helmet because his was damaged. Apparently thats why he used the ekoi helmet yesterday.

Is that it or did I forget something?

My question: Does this AMA thread have an expiration date?

Hey man. You are a baby. You are really fucking young...and fast.
How does a young top level triathlete assess his longevity in the sport?
We all see the best of the best in long course as old, comparatively. Some of these guys are approaching 40, but are injured half the year.
Shouldn't the young dudes be crushing it? Why do you think a 38 year old is beating someone who is 18 or 23?
This sport is weird.

Has no hat/visor sponsor so ran in a baseball cap he found during the Tokyo year event

Does anyone know how that helmet tests? Not that it might have mattered on that course, given that aero wasn't so much of an issue going up, and handling was more important going down.

Congrats on your victory!

...and just like that, Mark Allen was forgotten.

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29 years and counting

Lutfisk...
Just don't even talk about that. The first time I had a go at it, I thought my inlaws were having a joke at me.They were...

But it was worth it. The rest of the meal was home killed moose, fresh salmon, and potatoes from the vegie patch!

Congratulations! Excellent race you had there!

Nice day at the office Gustav! Congrats!!
Even with your 3:29 in Bahrain you still flew under the radar...
Was this your A race for the year?
Did your pre-race plan and numbers have you finishing in 3:52?
Your run (after climbing the Col de Vence) was only 1mn off your Bahrain run time. Did you do a lot of hard hill followed by run work in training?

I can answer these for you

That's a great story. I wasn't aware of all of these details. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

He drops his chain in every race (photo 9 on his instagram)!

Anyone who didn't have Gustav for a podium spot - and actually got surprised when he won - should keep that in mind whenever they wish to offer their "insights" in the future.

I would that would be a real problem in ITU racing??? He's a real candidate for a one chain ring set-up. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

While I hope he shows up again for the Q&A, does everybody realize this is a 16 month old thread?

you are aware he replied in august this year to questions ?

at the same time it would make sense if it was questions that are asked rather than a discusion , you would think he is now very busy with sponosship requests.

First off, thanks to everyone following the world champs! It's really cool to see the engagement and interest here (especially on the who's gonna take third thread haha). I'm very active on this forum, even though I very rarely post, so I have seen all the pre race predictions ;)

Yes, I have a Felt TT, the old DA4. I think 2011 model. I really do love that bike, and honesty the setup I had in Bahrain last year holds up well with the top bikes of today on that type of course. But the World Champs on Sunday had very different demands, so different bike and different tactics needed. Also the Felt has the worst brakes I have ever used. My Venge was sat up pretty standard as how i use it in ITU races, but with some changes. I had the longer aerobars, I borrowed Zipp 404 from a friend because my rovals have seen it's better days. Used them for all my training and racing for soon 2 years now. Was thinking about moving my saddle even further to the front, but decided not to because of what you mention, the adaptation to geometry. Kristian has not complained about getting used to the new TT bike of his, but when you are gonna perform on this level you want every movement to be 100% automated. And especially in the very demanding downhill. I would NEVER go as fast down on another bike the my own. That would be crazy. If I had the time to prepare and had this as my A race i would have gone with a TT bike for this course.

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

Wins 70.3 Worlds, says it’s not even his A race!

Congrats man - as a Brit I admit I was rooting for Brownlee all the way but huge respect for your race, especially the confidence to run away from Ali and expect it to stick.

Cheers Gustav. Not bad for a "B" race haha. Thank you again for the thoughtful response.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

You are my new hero! Hope to meet you in a race around the world 🔝

1. Cadence was higher than usual here. I think in the high 180s. It's hard to focus on power when the fatigue is setting in, tried to compensate with a higher turnover. Was working really well. Held a super consistent pacing almost the whole way.

2. 2 sessions a week is dedicated. 1 hour each. But still some smaller warm up sessions before swims wich include balance.

3. The ultimate triathlon double is winning the Olympics and Kona in the same year. I don't think it is possible for me... Yet ;)

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

I wish I could stretch chains like that.

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https://connect.garmin.com/modern/profile/domingjm

You sure :-)

Favorite thing to do outside of triathlon?

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Team Every Man Jack.

Massive congrats Gustav. Brilliantly executed race from start to finish! Will you be defending your title in 2020 in Taupo, New Zealand?

Congrats on this well-fought win. I was glued to the video feed and could not stop watching. You got stronger as the run progressed and it was epic to see you smash this course. You clearly did more than ok with what you had so I think we can chalk that up to your prep - hopefully you get a nice sponsorship boost from your win as well.

Well done, sir.

Hei Gustav

Congratulation with the win. You gave us a clinic in 70,3 racing.

However, you have to tell us about your running cap. That cap now has videos on Youtube and more http://focustaiwan.tw/...oc/201909090006.aspx

What is the story??

PS: Ivar and I tried our best. But since a 3.30 race i meh.., what can you do :-)

I'm really hoping that your win can somehow help keep a 70.3 event in Norway. I did the full Ironman in Haugesund in June, and really loved it. I'm not sure what you can do to sway anyone, but I'd love to go back to Norway in a few years to do another race (Norseman isn't in my future with a family and young kids).

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

No questions here, just congrats. I saw you out on the promenade on Friday AM while I was out doing an easy shakeout run. You were on your bike with a camera strapped to your back riding along side your teammates who were running. You guys were hanging on my shoulder for a while and while you didn't say anything to me it was nice to have a couple of minutes of company. (Admittedly I had no idea who you were, but I saw your bike with the stubby aerobar and the ITU number from Worlds the weekend before, so I decided to look you up after my run to see who it was riding along side me)

Anyway just wanted to post to say congrats again...

I second this! I was registered for the 70.3 a few years back and could not make it due to work changes, but would love to get there one day.

Congrats on the great win in a very stacked field!

You mentioned you forgot your gels. How did you get everything from the course you needed? Because you obviously got enough calories to perform at a really high level of performance.

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

I think I was very lucky that the two first aid stations where in the uphill and slow speeds. Because in addition to forgetting the gels, my bottle cage also snapped and where unable to hold bottles over any sort of potholes. So I had to rely solely on the aid stations. First one grabbed two bottles. But the second one was more impressive. I managed to grap 2 bottles, 1 gel and 1 bar all from one station without slowing down. Pretty proud of that haha.

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

Chapeau. ;) It is the small things in life that give us so much joy. Mega race mate.

Accident or not, ascending with no water bottles and grabbing two before the big descent was a very crafty move indeed.

Good luck on your road to Tokyo!

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

Congrats on an awesome race! I was in Laussane as well... in fact I saw you in the pasta restaurant the evening of both of our events... I thought about saying hi but had just gotten my food and needed to eat, go to bed, etc. The restaurant was quite crowded and I stood in line for a long time.... food was good though!

You and Kristian had opposite results at the Grand Final and 70.3 World's: KB 1st and 4th, YOU 4th and 1st? So WHO HAD THE BETTER 2 races?

Does Ali B still yell at people for not working in non-draft races?

Is Norway going to get 2 women and put together a mixed team relay? Would you enjoy that event?

Congratulations on a great end of season!

Gustav - Congrats on a great race!!! What do your swim workouts look like??? How many meters total each week spread over how many sessions??? What do you think you could do for a 1500 scm in a Masters meet, if you were rested and going all out??? Thanks, Eric.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I can answer that one for you since I saw AB race in Weert (NL) at the Euro champs. Yes he does haha

That was draft-legal.

Sorry, misread your post a bit

Again no questions just congratulations! Very refreshing to see your interaction here (more pros should take note!) ive been following it for a while. And great to have a small insight to your race last weekend! :-)

Thank you!

Since we are both aiming and training for ITU races, I would say Kristian had the best two races. BUT, I won with the largest margin, so in the end who to say.

He did not scream this race (as far as I could hear). However, on the last flat section going back to T2, Rudy wanted him to the front, and he answerd with something, but I could not hear.

We have one girl on a high level. Lotte Miller. She has multiple top 10 WTS finishes. Some other girls are coming up, but it will take some time before we can compete at a high MTR level.

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

Hi Gustav,

Congrats on a killer race! I'm currently 18 and am aiming to earn my Elite License in the near future. Do you have any advice for a younger athlete competing in long distance racing? Many are surprised by the level of competition you're bringing to the Half Distance

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Dominic Pollizzi

Hi Gustav!

First of all, congratulation with a great victory! It was truly amazing.

I have a couple of questions. We all see strong raise of Norwegian athletes in triathlon and some other endurance sports. How would you explain this, what are the reasons for it? What is that special is Norway these days that make it happen?

And my second question is about famous Norseman triathlon. Have you participated in it? What are your thoughts about it? If you have not, are you going to do Norseman some day?

Thanks!

Hi Gustav - a huge congratulations at the weekend. It was only a matter of time before you won a big one I have been a big fan of the 3 (Norwegians) of you even since that tear away race In Bermuda..
I have a question which is against any discipline
For swimming, running or cycling did you find any change to your training or any new information come to light that you adopted that was a game changer for performance once implemented.

For example - for people in the past I heard making a move from running outdoor all the time to a treadmill or poor swimmers swimming with a band for a few months to increase cadence having huge effects on their training a few months later.

Is there anything you encountered or you’d recommend across the 3 disciplines that are maybe not obvious or you see a lot of people not doing that you think would be a game changer

I sent you a message (and an email) Gustav :-)

Full interview with bike details would be amazing.

Working on it

This is the kind of stuff I like to hear about... how athletes deal with adversity.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Thank you!

First of I would say don't get the elite license for the sake of getting a pro licence. It's no shame to be an AG. The first World Champs I did was as an AG in London while my friends on the national team and my brother was in the junior elite class. I think we have enough Pro's who don't live as a pro.

My number one advice for guys who want to be the best one day is to ask yourself before every decision: is this going to make me faster? Is going out with friends this Friday going to make me faster? Is cutting 30 min of this cycling session in the rain going to make me faster? Is pushing harder this last interval going to make me faster? I have on different occasions answered both yes and no on these three questions. Yesterday was the first time since December my childhood friends got together, and it's going to be a long time until the next time. But is was something I needed. To have a little reset after the game changing race I had last week. Its going to make me faster in the end. If you are ready to defend every decision you ever take. That you did what you did because at the time you thought it would make you faster, then I think you for sure should go for the pro licence. If not I would recommend not to.

Anyway, a huge good luck whatever you decide to do! Please update me!! Being and living the life as a pro is a lifestyle I never would have changed for anything. A compromise less life where you do all and everything for one thing only is rewarding AF!

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

Yes, we have done some changes that have had pretty good results, but not in the light of new information and it's sadly not an "easy fix" as so many are searching for. Over many years my swimming has been my absolute weakest discipline, and it still is. My progression has been slow, but kind of steady. We have over many years been doing the same over all three disciplines. Longer threshold sessions. After two devastating races (Yokohama and Leeds), we did a chance in the swimming that we would have done anyway, but maybe sooner in the timeframe then planned for. We move our focus a bit away from these longer threshold sets, to much more race pace, shorter sets over racepace, and also some 100, 50 and 25meters all out. Even though it's hard and dangerous to draw a conclusion from just a few races, it seemed to have had a really good effect on my ability to swim 1500 and 750 fast OW. I was comfortable with the first group now in Nice, and also not terribly far behind in Lausanne. If it work to do it like this for an AG I have no idea.

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Norwegian National Team Athlete

Great race Gustav. Watched it this morning during my 4 hour TrainerRoad workout. I believe you were wearing the Vaporfly 4% next. How many seconds per km do you think this shoe saves you over your previous shoe?

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Let food be thy medicine...

Massive congratulations bro!!! Amazing accomplishment to say the very least...

I wish you all the success you deserve. Inspiring to watch you perform, dude!

Cheers mate!! Keep upsetting the big fields! Massive fan!!

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@EddyRoche
www.eddyroche.com

What’s your normal plan for fueling in a 70.3? How many calories, just whatever is on the course, do you ever bring anything with you? What’s your average fluid intake and what are your timing strategies?

Bro. Great race. You have a great attitude - I love it.

I think you might try to squeeze any sponsors into a sort of a 2019 WC win bonus if you take 1st this year (you did), possibly with the contingency continuing to future years. Could set the language to be payable in 90 days or something. Their agreement to a contract like this would be contingent on them seeing you as a valuable investment for the future of their company. It might be worth a shot.

I’m not sure what the norm is in this industry, but trying to look out for you. Also, the Taiwanese following could be great for a ‘go fund me’ campaign of your choosing. You developed a solid fan base over there.

Cheers.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Hello Gustav! Since you need a sponsor to get you a legit triathlon bike, what bike(s) would you consider if you could pick anything? I'm considering Trek Speed Concept, Cannondale Slice and Canyon. What bikes catch your eye? Personally I like aero and light.

[/quote]

Yes. In a way we do that. But not excately as characterized by Stephen Seiler. Orginally he says that 80% of volume is below 2 mmol/l and 20% is around 4 mmol/l and higher.
For us itslike 85% -90 % is at or below LT1(Aerobic Threshold). That is around 1,1-1,3 mmol/l in lactate. So most training is below that. That is low intensity. But our best athletes will at a LT1 cyclingsession do around 250-290W With this lactate values.In running that would be around 3:45 min/km - 4min/km.


I would like to ask when you do your training below LT1 on around 1,1- 1,3 what is your avareage heart rate?

"Yes. In a way we do that. But not excately as characterized by Stephen Seiler. Orginally he says that 80% of volume is below 2 mmol/l and 20% is around 4 mmol/l and higher.
For us itslike 85% -90 % is at or below LT1(Aerobic Threshold). That is around 1,1-1,3 mmol/l in lactate. So most training is below that. That is low intensity. But our best athletes will at a LT1 cyclingsession do around 250-290W With this lactate values.In running that would be around 3:45 min/km - 4min/km. "


I would like to ask when you do your training below LT1 on around 1,1- 1,3 what is your avareage heart rate?[/quote]



For me this "low intensity" is :
between 58% and 67% of Max HR ( approx same for bike and run, I do not have possibility to test precisely enough)
between 62% and 68% of FTP Power (on bike)

I'm also interested to have Arild or Gustav answers, as they check that precisely on a daily basis

For me 60% is less than 120HR and even lower on the bike. Many recommendations on the internet are something around 140HR. That's a big difference. I'm also waiting for Mr. Gustav :)
Dan Lorang recomendation (as I heard in scientific triathlon podcast) was lower than 75% of your threshold, but I think 1,1-1,3 is closer to 60% as you described.

Hello

with a MaxHR around 180/182 bpm, indeed my "slow pace" for the 85% of Arild Tveiten "polarized program" is below 120 bpm.

And 140 bpm is very near to my SweetSpot (around 145 bpm) which is the other side of the polarization (15% of time at sweetspot) used by Arild, useful for LD training or short races capacity build (sure Blu, Casper and Gustav will do more intensity right before the olympic sprints)

(Seilers original "polarized program" is at/above threshold for 20% of SESSIONS, but is targeted to shorter races - less than one hour)

Thank you for your quick response.
So may I assume that your low zones are close to 60% of MaxHR both in running and cyckling? But MaxHR is diffrent in running and cyckling so zones are a little diffrent also?

Cycling :
the relationship between power / HR / lactate level probably move slightly every day. As I can't test that regularly, I usually refer to power to calibrate my training and races. And track relationship between HR and power.

Running :
same for relationship between HR / lactate level / speed (if flat).
Here I refer to HR or speed (if flat) to calibrate my training and races. And track relationship between HR and speed.

I know Arild test his athletes nearly every day (power, speed, HR, lactate, ...). I can't do that, and frankly it will be an overkill for me.

Zones (expressed in HR) are probably slightly different between cycling and running, but I can't track this that precisely, so I just use power when cycling and mostly HR and speed (if flat) when running.

From my (short) experience, the more you bike AND run, the less different the zone (in HR) appear to be.

You are not from Arild and Gustav team?

Would love to.... but no ;-)

Reason why I said initially I would also like to have their feedback on their HR% on these zones.

I follow Arild framework, but my zones were measured by french INSEP (national institute for sport), not by Arild team. Same concepts however. Base endurance and SweetSpot are well documented and shared concepts.

Gustav,

Congrats on a great 2019 season and congrats on your new sponsor deal with Giant! I look forward to following your 2020 season.

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

This was so cool back in 2019. Congratulations Gustav. You are elevating the sport.

I assume you and Blu will head over to St. George for a speed workout in 3 weeks?

Incredible, dominating race Gustav! The way you behaved and celebrated Sam Laidlow and Blu at the line was all class too. Chapeau.

I have to drop this in from the thread Kona Men's Race: Who Will Have the Biggest Meltdown. Perhaps the only person more confident than myself that you would win was, indeed, you? ;)

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/?post=7830259#p7830259

Everyone always seems to forget that he confirmed Gustav Iden knows what Gustav Iden needs to do.

This is Slowtwitch though, where the real experts reside...

Would love a "how to skate a 10k" type manifesto write-up about your lead in and success.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

Congratulations Gustav! Here are the important questions:

- Will you be surprised when Lionel starts racing in a Taiwanese baseball cap?

- Are conjugal visits allowed in the Sierra Nevada training facility? Kristian claims it’s forbidden.

- If China invades Taiwan will you enlist to defend the homeland?

Wow! Didn't take long for someone to try and turn this into a Lionel thread!

- Are conjugal visits allowed in the Sierra Nevada training facility?
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Don't beat around the bush. Ask him out directly.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

And takes even less time for someone to jump on anyone who utters his name

Anyway, back to that Iden guy. He is pretty good, eh?

Gustav on Lionel: “I know his body. I’ve seen that body before!”

4:40 mark to 6:30 mark sums it up for Gustav. Classic footage! Love it.

How about a new 2022 thread!

As it should be

Just saw some snippets of the post-race press-conference.
What was Sam L's comment about Gustav's beautiful nipples all about? What did i miss there?

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if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!

First : congrats Gustav, incredible race, i envy how smooth and fast you run, but for that i need to born again

ArildT can you talk about your app, all the data you measure, and when will be available for the mortals?

You folks realize this is a 4 year old thread that someone just randomly bumped by posting on it?

<bump again>

Gustav. Your race at Kona will be an inspiration for generations. Thanks for that legacy. You are the goat now!

Questions, straight to the point.
1. What went through your mind when you saw Sam went all out on the descent of Hawi.
2. What metrics were you watching the most in your Garmin in the last 10k of the run?
3. (Long shot) Are you able to share “any” of your advanced metrics numbers in taper/race? CdA, W/kg bike, w/kg run, core temp, BG, AeT/AnT lactate, moxy?

 

You folks realize this is a 4 year old thread that someone just randomly bumped by posting on it?[/quote]
Okay…and ???

Been much older dredged up when some reason arises…this is fairly valid timing to resurrect this one…