IRONMAN Frankfurt Vlog | Behind the Scenes with Pro Triathlete Ben Kanute

Go behind the scenes with professional triathlete Ben Kanute at IRONMAN Frankfurt 2025. This vlog-style episode captures Ben’s time in Germany — from pre-race routines and silly moments to an honest recap of how race day unfolded.

Shot entirely on his phone, this is an unfiltered look at life as a pro triathlete on the road. Whether you’re training for your first Ironman or just love the sport, this vlog gives you a glimpse into the real experience behind the start line.

Chapters:
– Pre-race prep + banter
– Frankfurt vibes & athlete life
– Race recap: highs, lows & takeaways
– Post-race thoughts & recovery

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Here we are in Frankfurt. Glamorous hotel room lifestyle trying to be organized, but as you can see, stuff is already everywhere. In the process of building up the bike, it’s uh no Maryland mansion, but we’re living fancy in Frankfurt, so this is all good. Solo for the trip. A little different. Overall, the trip over was smooth. Couldn’t have asked for H well, we got delayed a little bit on the tarmac, but that’s fine. It was a pretty easy trip. The stuff made it and we’re here. It’s very German weather right now with a little bit of clouds and had some sprinkling of rain, but I think it’s going to heat up real quick. And we’re not just talking about the weather, but with the entire start list. So, yeah, solo for the trip. Maybe a little different from the past few races. Have at least had family, friends, team kind of around me. So, this is a solo mission and yeah, getting the mind right. We got uh just under a week to go. It’s race week here in Germany. So, let’s get fired up cuz I tend to uh like racing in Germany and I’ve always enjoyed it. So, this one should be good for sure. All right, out on the course. Getting used to it. Just found myself out here. So, everybody’s super nice. Cars are respectful. Just uh spinning the legs out. [Applause] Not too bad. Frankfurt. Got some coffee. Walking to the pool. Beautiful day. about what it’s going to be like for race day. Warm, but not too bad. So, getting in a swim and already did the bike this morning. All good. Well, I’m uh not the best vlogger cuz I’m totally missing the pool and uh what I’ve been doing. I haven’t really been getting anything of me working out, but honestly, that’s like 10% of the time I’m here. The rest of the time, I’m walking around, which really isn’t that often cuz I’m staying off my feet. And then I am mostly resting, which you will see in the hotel room, not really doing that much, or grabbing a coffee or finding something to eat. So, the most exciting part of the trip is Oh, look at that. That’s a castle. That’s probably that’s and it’s green. Um, but yeah, I mean, you’ll see the racing montage. We’ve got plenty of training montages. So, if you want behind the scenes, this is basically it, the walking, a lot of time in your head. And, you know, we’re going to go grocery shopping, but for not very much groceries, mainly water and maybe a couple things. So, yeah. That’s uh race week when you get out here pretty early and it’s all taper and rest. Oh, you’re probably expecting the grocery store cuz that’s where I said we were going. But once again, I proved that uh need some work at becoming a vlogger. But this is where we’re at. Bought some of this, threw in some good life electrolytes, and we’re hydrating and hanging out. This is it. It’s pretty glamorous, isn’t it? Me, myself, and I all just best buddies trying not to go uh looney here in um the isolation. But uh I think people are coming in now. Should see more people. It’s uh Wednesday afternoon evening and more people be coming in for the race. so can talk to real people again. Um, not that I haven’t here. Uh, there’s some very nice Germans. Coffee shop guy. Awesome. He’s a cool dude. But yeah, I’ve been uh solo for a while or on social media just scrolling trying to read a book. But that’s it. Glamorous life we’re living. Living the dream. Could you hear that? Every time I hear those sirens, I think, oh my god, it’s Jason Bourne. Anyways, just coming back from a run. Last real workout of this taper week. Have a day off tomorrow. Just activation then and then it’s the day before the race. So that was it. Feeling good. It was some 300s out just on the river path and did a few with the wind and then some against the wind which is a huge factor today. I don’t know, maybe you can see the trees outside. They’re blowing pretty well and that’s a protected courtyard. So, I don’t know if you guys are getting tired of seeing my room and if it’s just devolving into more chaos, but once again didn’t bring my phone out and half of that’s on purpose, too. Got to detach from the phone a little, but then you don’t get to see as much running. But frankly, you don’t want to see me going like this at 5K pace trying to film while I’m running. So, that’s pretty much it. Yesterday, you know, I rolled through a bike workout and a swim workout. Um, just hitting above race pace on it all. And it’s all coming easy, but it’s all short. And that’s how it’s supposed to go on race week. You’re supposed to, even if it doesn’t feel fantastic, hit the benchmarks. Just keep building that momentum. rest and, you know, don’t think too much about what’s at stake or anything, but get excited for the start line and just get everything slowly but surely ready to go for race day. [Music] Yeah. Cheese. [Music] Oh, yeah. We tried it. Let me see. It is definitely just like Chipotle. Not bad. Just like a Chipotle knockoff. So, could be worse. I’d do it again. Could you hear that? Every time I hear those sirens, I think, oh my god, it’s Jason Bourne. Anyways, just coming back from a run. Last real workout of this taper week. Have a day off tomorrow. Just activation then and then it’s the day before the race. So that was it. Feeling good. It was some 300’s out just on the river path and did a few with the wind and then some against the wind, which is a huge factor today. I don’t know, maybe you can see the trees outside. They’re blowing pretty well and that’s a protected courtyard. So, I don’t know if you guys are getting tired of seeing my room and if it’s just devolving into more chaos, but once again, didn’t bring my phone out and half of that’s on purpose, too. Got to detach from the phone a little, but then you don’t get to see as much running. But frankly, you don’t want to see me going like this at 5K pace trying to film while I’m running. So, that’s pretty much it. Yesterday, you know, I rolled through a bike workout and a swim workout. Um, just hitting above race pace on it all. And it’s all coming easy, but it’s all short. And that’s how it’s supposed to go on race week. You’re supposed to, even if it doesn’t feel fantastic, hit the benchmarks. Just keep building that momentum. rest and, you know, don’t think too much about what’s at stake or anything, but get excited for the start line and just get everything slowly but surely ready to go for race day. All right, so we’re actually What day is it? Friday. And we’re actually starting to prep some bottles cuz with all these packets I got to go through, uh, it’s going to stay good. I’m going to put it in the fridge, but it gives us some time to mix in a little extra. can plan it out a bit more. Tomorrow might be a bit hectic and I definitely have to make my flask for the run tomorrow morning the very latest because I got to check that in to T2 tomorrow. So, might as well make a lot of my nutrition today. Have it set up, put it in the fridge, let it all get mixed up for sure. So, this is my area. How messy. Am I doing all right with the room? I think I’m getting a It’s getting a little messy, but we’re getting there. and definitely going through some carbs. So, that’s the plan. Got planning on having 500 carbs on the bike just in case. Probably won’t get through all of it, but that’s the max I’ll get through. And then carrying uh what is it about 150 grams on the run and we’ll make it through at least a good portion of that. Might switch to Coke. You know, it’s just going to kind of play by uh go how I feel a little bit, but making sure I get in as much as possible. Here we are back in the room. Look back there. Got the bike set up. Um taking a couple different water bottles cuz just to make sure that my water bottles are all legal for the new rules, the 25 cm back, they’re supposed to have some measuring devices there. So, just going to double check that so nothing bad happens, you know, race morning or anything like that. Not making any real last minute decisions or getting in trouble post race. Then we got transition bags packed up. I do have a couple of my nutrition things in the fridge right now that I’ll throw in the run bag. Uh just a couple flasks of the Good Life stuff and going to go for a little swim at the lake. So, we got the swim stuff in there. Um I don’t know. There’s not much to report. I’ve done workouts. I’ve hung out, getting the mind right, feeling excited for this race. Less than 24 hours to go. It’s just about noon here. Just about to head out to the lake to get a real feel for the start. But yeah, feeling feeling good, optimistic, positive. Okay, phone’s running out of storage, so I’m going to make this quick. Said I was feeling positive and optimistic. Few goals for coming for outcome. always want to go for the win, but you really want to grab that knee slot, make it in the money to cover the cost of the trip. Those are two big goals. That’s a top 10. That should really help solidify things. And then other ones, process goals, kind of the major ones. You got to have fun. It’s always fun to race in Germany. The crowds are loud. They love the sport. So, got to do that. And then just to stay present and do what I can in the moment. Really lean into that pain and suffering. get to that flow state and just make the most of the day that I’m having. Done. Checking done. All right, just went to Chicken House. Get myself some rice and chicken. Doesn’t get any better than that when you’re out on the road. That’s just easy, pretty cheap. And right around the corner from the hotel, spent the day and I I rode with Christian. Um swam with the Norwegians and uh Christian Hogenhog, went and grabbed some food and went for a jog on my own. And now we’re going back to the room. That’s it. Nothing left. Little reflection and journaling, a little bit of getting the mind right, a little bit of mindless swiping on social media, and there’s nothing left to do except go out there and race. I always say I always believe I can win. I want to go out there always give it my best and just execute a great race. It’s going to come down to pacing, fueling, cooling, all of that. And just staying in the race and just keep staying there. Don’t have to do anything crazy. Just stay there and we’ll see what the day holds. So, been waiting for this all week, all year. This is a big test and excited to see what I’ve got. I don’t know if we’ve ever really showed this. This is the race breakfast. You know, got the coffee over here. But some maple syrup, milk, rice, whey protein, chocolate flavored. Yummy. Well, after a pretty bumpy ride in Frankfurt, going to probably blame the cobbles. Got some Good Life brands. sugar all over like I think I got in a good deal of it. Doesn’t take much to to become a little flaky, but uh yeah, that’s that’s definitely with some bumps there flying everywhere. You know, it’s it’s not bad. You can just kind of peel it off as you’re just take it almost as like a a little chewable. There you go. Get your carbs in. All right. Well, wait till the morning after to do any race review. Honestly, I don’t even know if there’s much to say. I executed the swim in the bike super well. Got in 90 95 gram of carbs on the bike. The swim I didn’t feel like was super hard. I closed one gap uh when the three guys up front were trying to get away and somebody was letting the feet go. So, I was super proud of that and then just kind of sat in the whole swim. I felt like the bike I tried a couple times like when Shamberg went and when Hogenhog went, they got a little bit of a gap first and then I chased for a little bit and just was pushing close to 400 watts if not 400 watts and wasn’t going to do that for very long in an Iron Man. So, kind of let them go, which after seeing what Hogen Hog did and talking to Shawnberg, they were pushing pretty hard. Um but then I stayed in the group, rode well, came off the bike at the front even after going through one of the last aid stations. Um I was behind Christian Blumenfeld and he had to close a gap and uh same with Casper Stephanieak and followed them and closed the gap. So I’m I’m real happy with how I performed in the swim in the bike and staying in it and putting myself in a position. came off just about with, you know, second through maybe 10th, 12th, something like that. And that’s right where I wanted to be. Unfortunately, getting off the bike just legs went from being stiff and just not moving super well to just getting worse and worse just every few. So, that’s just kind of how it went. Um, got to go back and see exactly what the issue is. Maybe training, maybe the heat, just not 100% sure. still a little bit raw. It sucks. Um, sucks to not perform the way that I wanted. Uh, didn’t get the knee slot, didn’t get in the money. So, didn’t really hit any of those goals that I wanted, but I can still pull positives from it. So, if he caught me right after the race, um, immediately crossing the finish line, um, would probably be way more I know that I was way more down. So trying to build it build it back up and see the full picture and plus I have an amazing team that I want to do well for but also at the same time does not care how I finish. So that’s about it in a nutshell for an Iron Man. That might have been my for how long the race was, it might have been my shortest review so far. So that’s just kind of some quick thoughts postra and I’m packed up and I’m heading home early. So, time to see the family.