Up Close with Lukas Bosmans
Lukas Bosmans is a 3-time Belgian Beer Mile champion with a 5:18 beer mile PR to his name, but the tall Belgian is a man of many other talents. We had a few words with him to learn more about his training, racing, beer mile shenanigans and his pain cave in the garden.
Slowtwitch: Lukas thank you so much for your time.
Lukas Bosmans: No worries, I’m happy to talk to you.
ST: What are you currently getting ready for?
Lukas: All my cookies are in the WC St. George jar at the moment. We are 12 weeks out now, so things are starting to get serious. 2 weeks ago we did a course recce with the Zwift Academy Triathlon Team and I am surprised how beautiful the bike leg will be. It will be a hard nut to crack but I am in favor of hard races, so I’m really looking forward to this one. I entered the IRONMAN 70.3 in Lanzarote on March 19th to prepare myself for the hard course. I can’t wait to start racing on the Shiv!
ST: Your day job is working for the police, but that can mean a variety of things. What exactly do you do and how long have you been doing it?
Lukas: I was a lifeguard for about 4 years. After a major injury in 2014 I applied for the police academy, which I started in 2015. From that point until December 2020 I worked as a first line police officer. Which basically meant that if you called 911, my colleague and I showed up in our patrol car. I had a lot of irregular working hours which, If I would have had one at the time, wouldn’t result in good Whoop-scores. It was hard on the body being jetlagged every week because of the nightshifts that we had to do on an irregular basis. From January 2021 I switched jobs inside the company and started on the detective side of out job. This means that my working hours are more likely the same every day and that I am more flexible in planning triathlon into our family life.
ST: How do your colleagues feel about your athletic adventures and excursions?
Lukas: Their thoughts are widely spread. Some of them are totally not sport minded and think I need to see a shrink. While others are very interested. I make it my goal to motivate colleagues to start moving. From time to time I take some of them to run a road race with me so we can get some fun times together. I am really thankful for my colleague’s flexibility when it comes to me planning races and training camps.
ST: You mentioned the USA trip with the Zwift Academy Tri team. How long were you there and might this time out from work come back later in the year when you need time off for races or family vacations?
Lukas: We had a 7-day training camp with some big features they arranged for us. We had a very interesting bike fit, did wind tunnel testing, course recce and lots of training. It was a busy week, but the fun type of busy. In the preparation for an Ironman I take some extra holidays to get the (training)work done. My days of work are taken around my races, while my colleagues take their holidays most likely around school holidays, so up to this point there were no troubles in that corner. Off course I need to keep my wife happy as well, otherwise triathlon would have the slightest chance for me. We planned 5 days of family holidays after Lanzarote and we will travel in the USA after the world championships. After the season we are looking for another week of family time. It is definitely not easy balancing everything, but love is a strong thing.
ST: Word has it that you made the Zwift team partially because of your beer mile prowess. Is there any truth to that?
Lukas: Ask Matt Lieto – word has it he is pretty jealous about my beer mile achievements. All jokes aside, I sure my beer mile skills are better than my swimming skills. I am a 3-time Belgian beer mile champion and I hold a 5’18” PR on the beer mile. The team at Zwift might have picked me because they know I won’t be struggling with my stomach on the run course.
ST: Talking about beer, which beer or beers are your favorites?
Lukas: Fun fact about me, I only drink 4 beers a year, yes, all in that 5’18” timeframe. Besides the beer mile I don’t drink any type of alcoholic beverages. I had a wild time when I was a student and when I lived in Leuven with my friends. Back then it was Duvel that was my preferred choice.
ST: What made you stop?
Lukas: As a police employee, a lot of our encounters are alcohol based. In fact, I am sure if you would think away alcohol, we would have 50% less work to do. Don’t get me wrong, banning alcohol would not be the best idea. I am not looking weird at people that drink alcohol, I do understand that a good glass of wine can taste delicious. But alcohol abuse is a big no go for me. For the record, a lot of people look at me weird when I say I don’t drink alcohol at all. I feel a lot of peer pressure when going out for a drink, don’t you think this is wrong?
ST: It is wrong. I actually don’t drink alcohol either, but in my case I do not like the scent or the taste – thus no beer mile for me.
Lukas: Try the chocolate milk mile, same disaster on the stomach. [laughs]
ST: Looking back over the last couple years, which results are most meaningful to you?
Lukas: The most unexpected big result was my world title in the M30-34 category in Nice in 2019. That bike course was made for me: 7-9km climb and technical downhill. Beforehand I wanted to aim for a place in the top-10. I was amazed to hear I won the thing and came in 37th overall – beating Sam Long by the way. [laughs] Last year I won IRONMAN Lanzarote in M30-34. All the training was going perfect and I knew I had a good result in me. It is always nice to deliver on race day.
ST: What about disappointments?
Lukas: The biggest disappointment is not a result, but the fact I finally qualified for Kona, Hawaii and then the race moves to St. George. I have a lot of respect for an island like Hawaii and I was very sad when we heard we were going to race in Utah, at least for 10 minutes I was unhappy. My wife was with me and put me back on track straight away. I hope to race Kona in the future as an experience. Now I will race St. George with big ambitions.
ST: You have finished quite well overall in various big races. Have you considered pulling a pro card?
Lukas: I have considered it in the past and looked at the pros and cons. It was a clear no to me. People think by having a pro card, your bank account will be filled every month, but that is rarely so. It is a good thing to have if you race 8 IRONMAN branded races. But don’t forget you still need to pay for travel and accommodation. I don’t think there are 3 Belgians who can make a living of long course triathlon. Besides that, I have a secure and interesting job. I am very happy to be called an amateur, as long as I love racing like I do at the moment.
ST: With it still being cold in Belgium, I assume you are spending most of your training inside. Can you describe your workout room setup?
Lukas: I have a wooden shed in the backyard. I am thankful to have the full Wahoo Ecosystem setup next to a smart treadmill. For Zwift I use an Apple device and I am watching a lot of sports on the TV while training. My workshop is also located in the shed. I have some equipment to do strength and conditioning but I have to admit I am not using it enough.
ST: Is that wooden shed temperature controlled or are you just enjoying the real conditions?
Lukas: The shed is definitely not heated in the winter or cooled in the summer. For the summer that is not much of a problem, since I am not on the Kickr that much. In the wintertime this is a toughness thing. The first 5 minutes are always cold, but once you are going it is not that bad. There are more problems with the moisture from sweating, Because the floor is that cold in wintertime and I am heating up the paincave while biking and sweating, sometimes the floor is completely wet, not just under the bike, but all over the place. It looks like the floor is sweating with me. I need to buy a dehumidifier.
ST: Please talk about your weekly training and how you split it up in terms of running, cycling and swimming, and how much of it is in the shed.
Lukas: I have an agreement with my coach Hadwin De Donder, that he gives me the key workouts of the week. These are mostly 2 to 5 important efforts I really need to do depending on the period in my build. I usually add all the easy stuff like long endurance rides, easy recovery runs, easy swims with work and family in mind. Up until this point it all has worked out fine with the way we are doing it. Of course things are harder on the family if the big Ironman build weeks are on the schedule. In the wintertime I think 98% of biking and 30% of running are on Zwift. Once the sun comes out and the days get longer, this is reduced heavily. Zwift is an extremely convenient and fun way of training, but nothing beats a long bike ride in the hills under a warm sun or a run in the woods with a lot of variation.
ST: What is the longest ride you have done on the trainer?
Lukas: I think that must be the PRL Full. We have a Belgian podcast called “De Jogclub”. 2-time world duathlon champion Seppe Odeyn is one of the hosts. We planned to do the PRL-full as an easy group ride. It escalated right away and it was a little 5 hour massacre. We were all cooked but we loved it!
ST: But isn’t that really a description for any group ride inside or outside?
Lukas: Basically yes, but then I might do my group rides with less talented guys in the future ? No all jokes aside, it was a lot of fun doing it. Sadly enough my body is not made to do this every weekend.
ST: How about running wise?
Lukas: I think my longest run on Zwift was 26k, just a little over 16 miles. The treadmill marathon is still on my bucket list. It is an honor to be on the team with Kangsub Song. He is a Zwift legend and has run multiple marathons on Zwift.
ST; What are some of your running PRs?
Lukas: For the shorter one’s we have to go way back to 2009-2011 I think. Here they are:
800m – 1’54
1500m – 3’53
3000m – 8’25
5000m – 14’57
10k – around 31’30
Half Marathon – around 1:08’30”
Marathon – 2:36’04 (Hamburg 2019)
The 10k and half marathon are not on officially measured courses.
ST: And which shoes do you run in?
Lukas: For training I run the Nike Pegasus or the Nike Zoom Fly. For races I wear the Nike Vaporfly Next%. The beer mile is on the old Nike Matumbo.
ST: You mentioned your coach Hadwin earlier.
Lukas: Since January 2021 I started working with Hadwin De Donder. He started coaching not so long ago and is very motivated and curious. He is also part of our weekend training squad Scrambled Legs. We often train together since he is doing long course triathlon himself. It is a huge advantage to have a coach that close to you. Our number one priority is fun, we have a lot of laughs during our sessions, but we are serious about the long-term goals. He is a physiotherapist and that’s a big advantage for an injury prone athlete like me. I am very thankful to have him on my side.
ST: Talk about your schedule this summer and what do you consider your A races?
Lukas: It will be a packed year for me. Starting with Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote and the St. George world championships. After a little break I have a stacked summer: some local races and Ironman 70.3 Duisburg, Nordseeman and Ironman 70.3 Maastricht. I will finish my season at the European Police Championships marathon in Eindhoven on October 9th.
ST: Best of luck and stay strong.
Lukas: Thanks Herbert! Stay healthy!
You can follow Lukas Bosmans on Instagram via @bosmanslukas
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