Tor Arne Hetland – The Best Was Winning The District Championship

How much are you training per year?

– 800 hours this year. 80 percent is easy and the rest is hard. I also do two weekly strength sessions. I’m not training especially specific towards the sprint, but some of the interval sessions are a type of sprint training. I believe that the reason why many sprinters are also doing well in longer races is that is very important to have a good engine to do well in sprint as well. We are also technically good and fast!

With 800 training hours per year I’m trained for both sprint and 15-kilometer races.

Tor Arne also explains that all the tests this season show that he has become better at everything.

– It’s because I have trained systematically for all these years, he says. I have really no periodization. I’m training steadily. I take a couple days off or whatever is needed to feel good again when I get tired. It works well for me to always keep it going. But there is some variation in the monthly hours. 90 hours at the most and 50-60 hours in the (competition) season.

Are you doing lots of training and many races during Christmas?

Yes, good training. I leave for Nove Mesto (where I will race two races) right after Christmas. Then I will race in Otepaa. I will fit in a training period after that. Then it’s the Norwegian championship.

What’s your motivation to be best?

My motivation is to see how fast it’s possible to ski. A part of the motivation is that it’s always measured/timed.

What’s your big goal of the season?

– I have “won everything”, so that’s not motivation in itself. The past results are now history which makes it possible for me to lower my shoulders. I don’t have to have a top result. I just want to perform! I want to find out how fast it’s possible to move on skis. The first goal is to be selected to ski in the Olympics, and in the Olympics I would first of all like to race the sprint and the sprint relay. I also feel that my results so far this season shows that I should be considered for the pursuit and the 4 x 10-kilometer relay team. It’s important to be hungry at a championship and not try to do too much. So the main goal is to race two competitions at the Olympics.

Are you happy with the season so far?

– Yes I have won a “long” World Cup race as well and it was good to show that I’m more than a sprinter. Yes, I’m a Christmas star. But why shouldn’t a star be able to shine for a long time? I feel that I have been in good shape the last two seasons, says Tor Arne Hetland.