Joni Mäki’s training season has, in his own words, been challenging. There have been some good periods, but illnesses have interfered with his training.

Mäki did not get to participate in the first two Finnish national team camps, one of which would have been a high altitude at Passo Lavazè in Italy.

“In the end, the decision to skip the camp was an easy one. Last year, the training at high altitude was very demanding, and we already discussed back then that it would not be worth going there in the coming seasons unless everything was under control. It’s a pity I missed a quality training, but it was the right decision considering the situation.”

Mäki says that nowadays, it is easy for him to listen to his own body and trust his decisions. However, this has not always been the case:

“When I was younger, it was typical for me to get into training too quickly after being ill, and I got sick again straight after. Once I got sick, the after-effects came easily, which ate up much of my training. I have made so many stupid decisions that I have learned my lesson.”

While the rest of the national team had a training camp in Italy, Mäki held his own three-week intensive training at home in Vuokatti with the theme “volume and uphill.” Mäki believes that training in familiar terrain was a good solution in his situation.

“When you have done a lot of the same training in the same terrain, you know roughly how long it takes to make a particular loop in good shape and what kind of feelings you get. In Vuokatti, you can train in various ways and even get a bit of hill in Vuokatinvaara. Of course, the Italian camp would have been important to get some training with a lot of positive elevation gain. Still, I got some uphill meters while going up Vuokatinvaara again and again.”

Despite illnesses, Mäki has been able to do quality training and volume, especially towards the end of the summer. Due to the heavy training load, he says he is not yet in the best shape but is heading in the right direction.

“Now we are starting to tighten the screws and add more hard sessions to the program. I must be in a recovered state and do the training well to improve my shape. It is time to train hard during the fall and remember that all sorts of things can happen (before winter), so it’s not worth stressing over your fitness just yet.”