Nathalie Blomqvist considers cross-country races a good addition to autumn training. At the European Championships in Turin, he is still competing in the under-23 category and aims to improve on last year’s 14th place.
by Nathalie Blomqvist21, didn’t have a cold head at the Nordic cross-country championships in Kristiansand, Norway on Sunday, even though the distance in the general series was nine kilometers on a wet and muddy course.
Blomqvist is known above all as a mailer. In the summer, he competed in the 1,500 meters at the World Championships in Oregon and the European Championships in Munich. On Sunday in Norway, he ran six times longer distance to become Nordic champion.
– I’m more of a ton vitos and vitos runner than a kasi runner. I have good endurance running qualities, so cross-country running suits me well. Nine kilometers is a really long distance. On the terrain, it didn’t feel so bad because I’ve been doing long speed endurance training, says Blomqvist.
Top promise took a development leap in the summer
In recent years, Blomqvist has been one of the toughest promises in Finnish endurance running. In 2019, he finished fourth in the under-20 European Championships at 3,000 meters, but after that his development was slowed down by injuries.
Last year’s Blomqvist stayed healthy, which was immediately visible on the clock in the summer. The three-year-old ton vitosen’s record was improved at once at 4.10.25. It is also a Finnish record for 22-year-olds.
Next summer, Blomqvist will compete in his last year in the under-23 league. Blomqvist yearns for success at the age group European Championships, which will be held in July in Espoo.
– I had really good feelings about the development and I’m really grateful that it has progressed so well. I invested a lot in last season, trained like an adult and camped a lot. I’m glad it paid off. I hope that I can still train intact, says Blomqvist.
Blomqvist suffered from achilles problems at the end of the summer competition season and says that he only trained normally for two to three weeks. Blomqvist was pleased that the exercises that replaced running had most obviously worked well, even though full-scale Running Training was forbidden for a while.
The Achilles tendons are also fine now.
– The situation is good now, but you still have to be careful and prevent injuries. I feel that a good balance has been found. There have been no new injuries, they have been old things. Now it feels like the matter is under control, Blomqvist assures.
– During the training season, I have stayed healthy, even though I have run a lot. It’s been more a fast pace and steep running, which the body hasn’t really been able to handle.
Cooperation with Camilla Richardsson benefits both
Blomqvist, who lives in Vaasa, runs one of the top names in Finnish endurance running almost every day by Camilla Richardsson29, with.
– It’s really nice to train with Camilla. I get company from him and good traction help for harder workouts. We benefit from each other’s strengths. We had a good speed endurance workout on Tuesday with Camilla and it gave me confidence that I’m in good endurance shape.
Last training season, Blomqvist trained for no less than 11 weeks in the high air in South Africa and in Flagstaff, USA. The same camp sites are planned for this season as well, as mountain camping produced the desired results last season as well.
However, before the EC terrains competing in Turin on December 11, Blomqvist is camping in familiar scenery, in Monte Gordo, located on the south coast of Portugal. Blomqvist wants to make sure that there is no room for improvement in the training conditions of the early winter before the main goal at the end of the year.
Blomqvist, who competed in last year’s EC terrains in his first year in the under-23 series, finished 14th.
– The goal is to improve last year’s ranking. The distance is six kilometers, which is an even harder distance for me than nine. Still, it’s an endurance run. Even though it’s an under-23 series, there are really tough names there and some are a year older than me. But you never know how well it can go, says Blomqvist.
You can watch the cross-country EC competitions on TV2 on December 11.