Skaug Mathisen shows a rising form through the winter and can point to the 14th place in Marcialonga, the 9th place in Jizerská50, and the excellent result at Tartu Maraton. With the results, he is now in 12th place in the Champion competition and is a man everyone must watch out for in the remaining races of Season XII.

“I am pleased with what I managed to achieve in the Tartu Maraton. It was a course that suited me very well, and the whole Lager 157 Ski Team had excellent skis that day,” says Runar.

“I noticed that the form was on the rise in Jizerská the weekend before. It was a step in the right direction after it has been a bit heavy through January.”

What steps have you taken to get in shape in February?

“When I came home after the races in January, I made some changes in training. My capacity has been too poor, so I have had a special focus on intervals lately. Virtually all the training I do is double poling to strengthen my upper body for the long races, but lately, I have been skiing a lot in diagonal stride. The purpose of skiing more with wax has been to increase capacity.”

Uncertain before the Vasaloppet

The next race in the Visma Ski Classics circuit is Vasaloppet, which is the big highlight of the year for many. This will be Runar’s fifth Vasaloppet, and he finished 13th place last year.

“I have never managed to go full power for the whole Vasaloppet. This year, the goal is to be strong to the finish.”

“The longest races have never been my strongest side. I am best at races between 40 and 70km. Therefore, I have worked specifically with this before this year’s season. Among other things, I have trained a lot to get enough nutrition on long training and intervals.”

New to Lager 157 Ski Team this year

Runar became part of the Lager 157 Ski Team before this year’s season and has thus trained with Emil Persson and Britta Johansson Norgren, among others.

“Being part of Lager 157 Ski Team has been outstanding. There is a great sense of professionalism in the whole group. There are athletes who only focus on long-distance skiing and have a passion for this. In addition, I have noticed a big change in the equipment. With Marcus Laggar as a wax technician, we almost always have good skis.”

“I still live in Norway, but I am in Sweden about once a month during the summer months for training camps. The team is based in Örsa.”

Went from traditional cross-country skiing to long-distance skiing

“In the beginning, it was a big transition to go over to long-distance skiing. I was often in the top 20 in the Norwegian Cup and was pretty good there. Still, I was amazed at how fast they double-poled in long-distance skiing when I tried to participate in a race. It took me about a year of training for double poling fast enough to keep up with the leaders.”

“It was important for me to get that strength in the upper body. In the beginning, I could be completely destroyed in the upper body for several days after a race, but now with so many races over several weekends in a row, it does not last long.”

Well underway with the preparations for the last part of the season

“I took it easy a few days after the Tartu Maraton. Last week, I trained a lot, which I will keep to the week before the Vasaloppet. Towards the weekend, I will shorten the sessions.”

When do you complete the last hard session before the Vasaloppet?

“I take the last hard session on Wednesday. Before important races, I usually do 6×3 minutes in flat terrain. There I go all in to get tension in the muscles. Most of the intervals I do are long and controlled, so this is a contrast for the muscles, which has worked very well for me towards competitions.”

“According to the plan, I will go to all the last races. I’m looking forward to Birken, even though this is not really a race that suits me in any particular way. The finish in Ylläs-Levi is probably the race that suits me best after the Vasaloppet,” Runar concludes.