Norwegian power duo share their punishing training schedule as they chase a comeback season
Blummenfelt and Iden's training bromance getting serious in lead up to first Ironman Pro Series
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Professional Triathlete Organization (PTO)
The Norwegians are back together for another season of biking bromance. After last season saw Gustav Iden M.I.A for much of it, he and Kristian Blummenfelt have teamed up again to train and race the Ironman Pro Series circuit. They recently announced their line up of races for this year.
Following their season opener next month at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, the duo will be racing Ironman Texas, Aix-en-Provence, Ironman Frankfurt European Championship, the World Championship in Kona, and the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, Spain.
Even though Iden has already reached the top of his sport he is still a relative newbie at the Ironman distance.
“It might be a bit crazy, because I’m a three times world champion, two in the half and one in the full distance, but I only ever finished two Ironman,” he said. “Texas will be my, hopefully, third ever Ironman finish.”
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Magic in the miles
After a month long training camp in Nice, Blummenfelt is reunited with Iden for another block of training in Bergen, Norway. Fans and competitors will be watching closely to see if the infamous Norwegian method will make a comeback this year after less than stellar results in 2024. Blummenfelt joked in a YouTube video about why their method was superior to others.
“We put in the hard work in comparison to the Americans, Canadians, French. They work hard, but they don’t work hard enough,” he laughed.
Getting ready for a cold, wet ride, Iden explained their success comes from hard work and brutal conditions.
“The engine gets built when you have to keep warm while training in the cold. You can’t slow down when it’s raining because you’ll freeze, so even when you’re empty, you just have to keep going,” he said.
This relentless mindset creates athletes who thrive under pressure, ready to push through adversity when race day comes.
Norwegian Casper Stornes is jumping on the training wheel of Blummenfelt and Iden as he focuses on long distance this year after a career racing short course.
Breaking down World Champions’ training week
Blummenfelt shared their typical weekly training plan, structured to build endurance while ensuring the body can handle race-day intensity. It’s a glimpse into the rigour’s of their country’s famous training approach.
- Monday: Rest day to recover and reset.
- Tuesday: High-intensity sessions in both the pool and on the bike.
- Wednesday: A long day focused on endurance.
- Thursday: A key workout featuring track intervals and speed work in the water, followed by an easy ride.
- Friday: Recovery before another brutal weekend of training.
Their recent Tuesday speed session was a gruelling 10-12 x 1 kilometres followed by 10 x 400m on the track. The sessions are designed to simulate race-day conditions, ensuring the body is ready for anything.
“It feels good to get the lungs working,” said Blummenfelt. “I feel it’s nice when we are doing even higher intensity at the back end. I don’t have so much lactate because I am warmed up from the 1 kilometres.”
Road to a comeback season
The pair are going “back to basics” in order to get back up front and over the finish line first.
“Volume is key. Big volume is key,” explained Blummenfelt. “And big intensity. So, combining those, but being able to structure it so we are getting enough over time.
“Today was not a massive session but we were able to add in enough breaks so that we were able to lift up, lift up the pace by only doing 1 kilometres and 400 metres rather than doing it too long. But then when we get closer to Oceanside we will probably add in some two and three kilometres and little bit longer stuff. But for now, just to lift up intensity.”
Blummenfelt’s comeback goals aren’t modest.
“The goal is to win [Ironman World Championship] Nice, win [Paris-] Roubaix, and win the Ironman Pro Series. Yes you heard it here first. That’s what we are calling a comeback season.”