– You have to do something when you are sitting alone in the cabin at Christmas, says Holund (33) to news. The reigning 15-kilometer world champion was supposed to have celebrated Christmas with his partner and son, but that was not the case. Both fell ill the week before Christmas, and thus Holund has been alone at the cabin on Lake Sjusjøen since he returned from second place in Davos in the last World Cup race before Christmas. SHOWN FORM: Only Lyn colleague Simen Hegstad Krüger (th) went faster than Hans Christer Holund in Davos the weekend before Christmas. Photo: GIAN EHRENZELLER / AP He simply could not risk getting sick before the Tour de Ski, which starts on New Year’s Eve. When he skated on Christmas Eve on a leisurely long trip, the plan was to walk for five hours. – Not so extreme But when he took off his skis seven hours and two minutes later, he had covered 113.11 kilometers. – There is not that much of a difference between five and seven hours. I don’t see it as a big risk. It was a fine day for skiing, he notes. On Christmas Eve, the plan was to attend five hours of classical music. This time he stopped the clock in five hours and 53 minutes, after 92.45 kilometers. He had thus walked 205.56 kilometers in two days. – It is not as extreme as it sounds, says Holund. Then he adds: – But I don’t recommend it for young skiers. WORLD CHAMPION: Hans Christer Holund has a title to defend during the Ski WC in Planica in February. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Fixed day off, fixed long distance Most of the elite cross-country runners go on long distances in two to three hours. Trips of up to four hours are also not unusual among the world’s best skiers. But in 2019, Holund began an experiment that led him to develop a more extreme regimen for calm long-distance driving. – The previous season I had trained extremely hard, but I had no progress. I did indeed win the five-mile in the WC, but the season was so bad that I barely qualified for the WC. In the late winter it was a bit random that I went on some unusually long walks, and I experienced a very good effect from that, he says. Since then, quiet long trips of five hours have been common for Holund. At the start, he used it mostly during the summer and autumn, i.e. in the run-up to the season. Eventually, he also took it with him into the season. – This winter I have one fixed day off a week, which is Monday. On Tuesdays, I have five hours of leisurely long-distance driving as a regular routine, he says. Never done it before But 13 hours on skis spread over two days is a lot even for him. – I have never done something like that in the middle of the season before, Holund admits. When he does not recommend young skiers to do as he does, it is because he believes that the body needs different training in different phases of a career. – If you want to be good at endurance sports, you must have a high maximum oxygen uptake. You develop that at a young age, and then you have to train hard. If you are to go on such long trips as I do now, you will not have the surplus needed to carry out a lot of hard, high-quality training, he points out. Holund himself trained a lot as a junior and in early senior years, and has a high maximum oxygen uptake as his most dangerous weapon in the fight for the gold medals. – But when you have trained seriously for ten years and passed a certain age, it is almost impossible to still increase the maximum oxygen uptake. Now that I have bikka 30, I feel that I have a much greater effect from training with high volume. Then I don’t need many interval sessions, he states. Aukland: – Suitable for very few news’s cross-country expert Fredrik Aukland confirms that Holund’s amount of training differs significantly from what is normal among World Cup runners in cross-country skiing. NOT FOR EVERYONE: Fredrik Aukland does not think Holund’s training methods will spread in the World Cup circus. Photo: Ole Martin Wold / NTB – It is not a recipe that suits many, I would rather say it suits very few. But it was about what kind of person you are, and Holund responds to that, points out Aukland. – The most spectacular thing is that he does this in a season where there are more short races than ever before, says the expert. The World Cup program is dominated by 10- and 20-kilometer races, and there is a large element of chase starts and joint starts. – Long trips like Holund’s make you tough. It definitely does not contribute to increased explosiveness and speed, which are important characteristics in modern cross-country skiing. It would have been a lot less sensational if he had been doing this type of training in the 80s, says Aukland. – Are there any risks in training such long sessions? – In any case, it is important to be careful with food and recovery, because it is an extreme strain. Pasta on Christmas Eve On Christmas Day, Holund otherwise contented himself with an hour’s run. On Boxing Day, he skied for two and a half hours with a friend in the morning and ran for 45 minutes calmly in the evening, before he had his first taste of traditional Christmas food of the year; Lamb ribs. – On Christmas Eve it was pasta, says the 33-year-old. An interval session is planned for the third day of Christmas. Then it’s about collecting profits for the Tour de Ski which starts on 31 December.
ttn-69
Hans Christer Holund had to celebrate Christmas alone – walked 205 kilometers in two days – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
