Lauri Mannila, who has joined the Finnish National A-team this season, has had a good summer. Training with the national team has brought professionalism to his training when the coaching has been focusing on more detailed matters and as he has had a team of skilled experts in his use in everyday training and life.

The three-week high-altitude camp in Passo Lavaze, Italy, which started at the beginning of August, was a great success for Mannila. In previous years, recovering from high altitude training has been a challenge for him, but now the load remained steady throughout the camp, and the return to sea level has gone well.

“At this point, it looks like it was a pretty controlled high-altitude period. I’m thrilled with our sprint team because we are so evenly matched, and thus, we are able to help each other. I’m sure everyone will benefit from that,” Mannila says.

According to Mannila, a long camp often includes bad days too. In those days, training is not going so smoothly, and it is tough mentally. How well the training goes has a significant impact on how well you feel mentally during the camp:

“There were some bad days, but overall the mood remained pretty good. Outside the training sessions, you just have to make the time pass and keep your mind clear, so you don’t get homesick. With the boys, for example, we played Xbox.”

At the moment, Mannila’s shape seems quite promising, and he says that the feeling is much better than in the past training season. One of his goals for the coming season is to raise his sprint level slightly.

“Last winter, getting points in the World Cup was a bit so-so; sometimes I was in, and sometimes I was out. I don’t need to make a big leap to get to a level where I can qualify.”

Mannila is also tempted by the traditional sprint at the World Championships in Planica in February-March.

“Of course, I’m thinking about the World Cup sprint, so it would be pretty cool to be able to ski it. Still, I just have to concentrate on the basic day-to-day training and not get carried away too early by starting to do too much intensity training. On the other hand, I must remember that I have to be ready to ski hard right from the beginning of the season because especially the sprinters have important races right from the beginning of winter.”