Ben Kanute shares training details ahead of Challenge Roth clash

American Olympian Ben Kanute gave an insight in his latest YouTube video into what his first full distance training blocks look like, as the 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships runner-up prepares for his second ever Ironman at Challenge Roth this weekend.

Following a successful debut over the full distance at IRONMAN Arizona last winter, where he finished third behind Joe Skipper and Matt Hanson, the PTO World #10 decided to defer his entry to the IRONMAN World Championships, making Roth his only Ironman in 2023.

With the race in Germany fast approaching, Kanute pulled back the curtain on what he called “the biggest week of training I have ever done volume wise”, as the 30 year old looks ready to rock in Bavaria against a quality field.

“This is the first full distance build I have done”

Despite having raced one previous full distance event in the past, Kanute has never done an Ironman specific training block, something that he has enjoyed focusing on in the build up to Roth.

“This is the first full long distance build I’ve done, as Arizona was just a short one week switch over after racing in St George.

“This is like the peak build that we did for Roth. It was right around five total days with a pretty decent session each day and a volume of between four and seven hours.

“If you look at the past five days, I probably hit 50 miles of running, 250 miles of cycling and around 10km, maybe even 15km of swimming, so it’s been a really good four to five days.”

Feeling good ahead of the big dance, Kanute takes a lot of confidence from the final few big training sessions before flying out to Germany, but shares that he is also careful not to get ahead of himself.

“There are still some unknowns, but these last few days were some good finishing touches before I head out to Roth.” 

“We built up to this weekend”

With coach Jim Vance on hand to assist Kanute in the documented five day training block, the pair had a chance to reflect on the journey to Roth, with both happy with the way things have progressed, especially Kanute.

“It’s been pretty solid training overall to get to this week and that’s full distance training for me. We built up to this weekend and I was really happy with how my body responded to the miles and the quality of work at Ironman pace.

“I’m just looking forward to seeing how this work applies and translates, because when I went to Arizona I had a decent idea of what I could do, but now I feel like I am really strong and have some good endurance to help me hit the quality goals I have in place for Roth.” 

Sharing his opinion on the matter, Coach Vance believes Kanute is in a good place, but recognises the strength in depth the American will face in Germany. Despite the stiff competition, however, he seems quietly confident of his athletes chances.

“He’s bouncing back and everything is starting to come together ahead of Roth. Is he going to be good enough on the day? I don’t know, we’re facing one hell of a field, but I like our prep.”