AVOID MISERY!

[12. 11. 2007]

Is the Jizerská 50 rather a social event for you or is it a race like any other?
Ever race is a race and at the top level it’s not something you do just for fun. I’m returning to competition after a shoulder injury, so the question is how I will perform. I’m now building physical strength through a month on concentrated training in Finland.

How does that look?
I train in two phases; if I’m not doing strength training, I’m on skis four to five hours a day.

How many kilometres do you ski during that time?
Eighty.

When will you start to compete?
In the first half of December I will try the Alpen Cup, where I would like to prove my performance. A week before Jizerská I’m going to take part in the Tour de Ski and if I feel fit, I’ll compete in the main race in Bedřichov.

Will that be your first Jizerská 50?
I’ve trained here, but I haven’t yet competed in the main race. I only have experience with long races abroad. When I skied in the Vasa race, I said to myself that it would be appropriate to try a marathon at home.

Two years ago you finished fourth in the Vasa race. How do you recall that?
I was absolutely inexperienced. This year it was extremely fast, the snow was good and the tempo almost brought me to the ground. I skied with a style that comes with trying to stay with the first group and when I broke away I took on a looser tempo. But I held on.

Can the Vasa race be compared with the Jizerská 50?
No, it can’t. They are two completely different events. Vasa runs over a plain, using the arms a lot, the last twenty or thirty kilometres require only brute force. I can tell you this: After my injury I wouldn’t do Vasa again.

How is the Jizerská 50 unique?
Today fifty-kilometre courses are restricted to a few circles because of the cameras and increased number of spectators, and it understandably applies that the smaller the circle, the less diverse the course. It can generally be said that courses are currently designed with emphasis on physical condition with the fewest possible rest areas so that it is as gruelling as possible. The Jizerská 50 is the opposite – it runs from point A to point B through beautiful countryside, with flat land, hills and vistas. It is almost difficult to compete in such a romantic setting.

Can you imagine that you would ski a marathon without concentrated training like the thousands of amateurs who will race alongside you in Bedřichov?
Not now. If I can give some advice, it doesn’t concern anything other than choosing the right tempo. I know a lot of people who have such an ordeal from a race through the countryside that they take it as more prestigious than many of us professionals take the World Cup. The final result doesn’t really matter. In the Vasa race, the spectators cheer for the last-place racer because everyone is a hero.

Do you have any advice that everyone can use?
I can recommend not breaking the tempo. The worst is to arrive at the finish angry at yourself because you didn’t achieve the result you set for yourself. Refreshment is extremely important during a race. At the World Cup only an idiot would pass by the refreshment station. Even though the field is breaking away, we must drink or eat something because everyone knows how painful it is to lose strength twenty kilometres before the finish because we ignored what our bodies needed. That is misery.

In an interview Bjørn Dæhlie complimented you as competitor and your training method. What is the secret of your method?
There is no secret. The body is so complex that everyone requires something different. For example, kayaking helps me.

Kayaking?
Speed kayaking, not whitewater. It’s perfect for the arms and upper body.

What about your taste for adventure? You have climbed an eight-thousand-metre peak. What do you want to do now?
I’m done with tall mountains for now. I have a family and in the spring after the season I want to dedicate myself to them. I’ve recently took up downhill skiing – it is less time-consuming and the terrain like I found at Chamonix is simply beautiful.

Is it important for the prestige of the Jizerská 50 that Bjørn Dæhlie will be at the start on January 13?
Of course. His presence will be enormously beneficial. Bjørn is the most successful skier in history. Primarily his involvement in the FIS Marathon cup programme is evidence of the event’s prestige.