First-timer Knut Ole from Norway qualifies for Kona in 9 hours flat

Today’s interview is with Knut Ole Thoreplass from Norway. Last month he did his first Ironman and immediately won a qualification slot for Hawaii. At the Ironman Austria 2011 he finished in 9:00:56. His split times were 1:01 (swim), 4:40 (bike) and 3:12 (run).

Knut Ole, tell us a bit about your race?

Knut Ole: The swim start was wide with a beautiful view of the lake and the mountains around. It was less queue, stress and fighting than I expected. The swim is my weakest discipline. My goal was to swim just below 60 minutes. I did 61 minutes, It felt long but quite effortless. I need more training to swim in big competitions.

I had a really good day on the bike. I came out of the water as overall position 296 and started the run as 44th. The bike course was really fast. My plan was to start hard and I followed that plan. About 15km more than halfway, I passed the last big group of about 20 riders. It was really hard to get away and pass the whole group because of chaotic cycling and drafting. The last 75km were much better. I focused on saving energy the last hour.

The transition from bike to run went very well. When I started running my legs felt very good. I decided to do the race without any computer or watch. That worked very well for me. I lost 6 places on the run. But I was still satisfied with 3:12. The worst part was between 25km and 35km. I would like to have running split times on my next Ironman.

How does it feel to win a Kona slot?

Knut Ole: I had a dream but not a plan for qualifying. I was motivated to prove for myself that I could do a good race. There were only 6 slots in my age group. Because I had the 10th place on my age group, I expected not to get the slot . But it rolled down, and I was the lucky last one. I did a good race and got the ticket for Hawaii as well. It was a perfect day for me!

You finished in 9:00:56. Did you plan to go under 9 hours?

Knut Ole: My plan was not to focus on the finish time or the split times. Just doing a good race and focus on what I had to do myself. I hoped to finish within 9:30. The bike course was really fast and helped me and others getting a good time. But I was still surprised myself and others as well. My dream goal was below 9:20 with 59min swim, 4:55 bike and 3:20 run + transition time.

Did you try to qualify before?

Knut Ole: This was my first Ironman. Next year I plan for Frankfurt or Switzerland.

Wow, that is very impressive. How long are you in triathlon? What’s your sportive background in general?

Knut Ole: I did my first triathlon race last year. My sportive background is cross country skiing, orienteering and military pentathlon.

I am sure not everybody knows what military pentathlon is about. Can you tell us a bit about this sport and how long you are doing it?

Knut Ole: Military pentathlon consists of 5 disciplines:

• Shooting with a standard rifle (200 meters) – one precision and one rapid fire
• Obstacle run (500 meters) with 20 obstacles
• Obstacle swimming (50 meters) with 4 obstacles
• Throwing with standardized projectiles – one precision and one distance test
• Cross-country (8 km for male competitors)

You can read more about military pentathlon here: http://www.militarypentathlon.org

How did you prepare for Ironman Austria? What was key to your success?

Knut Ole: My key to success is hard work . I don´t have the advantage of being very talented or very good in any of the disciplines. I have a full time job and the winter is long in Norway. My advice is to train well over a long period. I don’t have any big peaks or resting periods in my training. Except that my team had 2 weeks in April at Fuerteventura together with the Danish Triathlon Federation. I am trying to have 10-12 training sessions within a week. To have training appointments with other athletes and training mates is also important to me. In my team, Team BK Triathlon – Ridley, there are also some really experienced and good triathletes. Three of these athletes have done Hawaii before.

How did a typical training week in your preparation look like?

Knut Ole: Within a month I do around 60 hours and a typical training week about 15 hours. A training week could look like this – this is a hard/medium week (week 20) in May:

Monday
05:30-06:30 Running Interval treadmill, 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 min hill running @6%, 30s between repetitions
20:45-21:45 Swimming, 400 slow, 200 drills, (300pull + 3x100medley)x3

Tuesday
06:15 Running, 10km – 50min.
17:30 Running, 15km – 90min.

Wednesday
16:30 Running, 20x1min @3.15/km. 20s resting between the intervals
19:30 Cycling (spinning). (2-5-10min) x 2 some 3 (medium) and 3x3min some 4 (hard)

Thursday
Day off – I have 2-3 days off within a month. (I try to have 3 swim sessions a week.) This is a swimming day, but I think something else happened this day.

Friday
05:30 Running, 12km – 8x1000m @3:50. (I run slower early in the morning.)
14:30 -Cycling, 60km medium tempo flat @37km/h – then 20 min. run in medium tempo.

Saturday
07:45 Swimming. Long swim. 5000 meters. With series like 10×200 crawl. 40x50pull. Trying to do vary swim sets. to not get bored.
18:00 Running, 18km – 85min. I recommend using tracks and not asphalt only. If possible.

Sunday
18:00 – Cycling 85km – 2:30. Planned to do a bit longer bike session and a short run. But it was raining and it was cold…

Total for this week was about 15hours. In the winter I don´t cycle very much, but do more cross country skiing. Both skating and classics. I have to do a lot of my sessions early in the morning or late in the evening to balance with work and family life. Sometimes it´s hard to get enough sleep and also to not spend too much time on the computer in the evenings.

Do you have any advice for athletes who want to qualify?

Knut Ole: Focus on your weaknesses. Be realistic. I see that many athletes train too much on what already is going well. Compete regularly, that’s the best training. Make a good plan for every week, change your plans it you feel tired etc.

Do you have a plan for Kona?

Knut Ole: To qualify for Kona was not expected. I am doing 2-3 weeks of vacation with only 3-5 training sessions each of these weeks. I need a break… Then I will do 8 weeks of hard work and the last 2 weeks with less training but with quality. I hope to finish below 10 hours.

Good luck for Kona. I will follow you for sure. Thank you for the interview.

If you are interested in following Knut Ole’s training visit his training blog.