Riitta-Liisa Roponen reports that she trained more last summer than ever before in her career.

Not many can say they have trained 100 hours in a single month. Roponen’s training volume remains at the level of national team skiers. Last summer, she even trained more than during her years on the national team, according to Iltalehti.

“I trained more this summer, perhaps, than ever before. Since May, I’ve been training over 100 hours a month. In September, I dropped to about 90 hours,” Roponen says.

“I maintain a relaxed approach while doing good, quality training. But sports are less of a defining factor in my days now. I enjoy starting my mornings with training. It really kicks off the day well,” adds the three-time relay world champion.

Despite the impressive training volume of the experienced athlete, Roponen does not have her sights set on the World Championships in Trondheim or the World Cup.

“My time on the national team is over at this point, yes. I would have liked to participate in the veterans’ World Championships in Vuokatti last winter, but I couldn’t because I took part in a World Cup event in December. You need to be out of the World Cup for two years to participate in the veterans’ World Championships.”

Read more: Finland’s Skiing Legends 

“In the future, perhaps the veterans’ World Championships will be on the agenda. So in that sense, I might still ski at the national team level,” Roponen tells Iltalehti.

Last year, Roponen was selected for the Finnish team for the World Cup in Jällivaaran at the age of 45, making history as the oldest athlete to compete in the cross-country skiing World Cup. In the 10 km freestyle event, Roponen finished in 35th place.

Although Roponen claims she won’t be competing at the World Cup level anymore, her competitive skiing career will continue in some form this coming winter.

“I’ve been looking at the ski calendar and I know I will be racing. I enjoy participating in ski events—the atmosphere is great. There are interesting competitions in Northern Ostrobothnia, and certainly elsewhere too. There are specific weekends I’ve noted, and I’ll probably be involved.”

“I want to show my trainees that you can still develop at this age. Age is just a number,” Roponen reminds us.