On my way to Finland...

I'm sitting in Århus Airport and waiting for my flight to Finland, and the last of 4 WOC training-camps in 6 weeks. On the way is also Jämsä-Jukola starting tomorrow night, which is really a highlight both for me and for Vaajakosken Terä.

This week hasn't really been as planned. I was totally exhausted after the last chasing start of NORT, and I wasn't surprised that I got a bit sick in the beginning of this week. But as always, my body know when enough is enough, and I think that the cold was actually good for me this time, because I'm now well recovered. I have also been busy preparing for an exam this morning, so even though it's not fun to be sick, I have had other things to do besides training. The sickness hasn't been serious, and yesterday I was already feeling much better, so I'm not nervous about running tomorrow night. The legs have been feeling good the last days when I have been jogging, and I'm really looking forward to race in Jukola, which is the main goal for Terä this year (as always...). The club have been close to the victory several times before, and they keep talking about that the team is stronger than ever this year. Our goal is top3, but we have the capacity to fight for the victory. I'm running the short 5th leg, and I'm hoping to send out the Lakanen-brothers in a good position. They are really hungry for Jukola (and WOC this year), and it gives me a lot of motivation to well, because I know what capacity they have in this kind of terrain and what shape they're in.
I was on a Jukola/WOC camp with Terä in the end of May, and the terrain near Jyväskylä and Jämsä is endeed tough and difficult (especially during the night). But luckily we have two strong norwegains in the night, and the terrain is also perfect for them. On first leg we "first-leg-specialist" Antti Anttonen, who lives 3-4km from the arena and in 4th we have Juha Sorvisto, who is in better shape than ever, and have always done solid relay-performances for Terä.

Let the fun begin :)

After Jukola, I will go to Vuokatti and stay there with a club-mate, and training with the Norwegian and French-national team. I will also go to Joensuu and run the Finnish test-races for WOC, which will be my last competitions and tests before WOC.