The Kaleva Games in Lahti 27.–30.7. Urheilu follows the events in this article.
Steeplechase European champion Raitanen’s top and his coach Janne Ukonmaanahon summer plans have changed several times.
Raitanen started his summer competition season in May with his record of 3:38.47. In June, there was a promising hurdle opening with a time of 8:24.77 in Poland.
The following week, Raitanen traveled to the Diamond League in Paris, where he ran 8:22.00.
From there, a few days later, the journey continued to Turku for the Paavo Nurmi Games. There, Raitanen, who ran visibly tired, clocked a time of 8:43.46, which was his weakest in four years and almost half a minute behind his two-year-old record of 8:16.57.
The state of overexertion that had stealthily formed was the sum of bad nights of sleep, traveling and the close pace of the competition. This time, according to Ukonmaanaho, it was not a very deep hole.
– Many times the state of overexertion is thought of as a slightly more challenging state. But of course, if you perform below what your condition is, it’s about under-recovery, says Ukonmaanaho.
When Raitanen, 27,’s competitive spirit began to decline and fatigue weighed on his body, Ukonmaanaho would have liked to end the game quickly.
However, it just didn’t work out that way. The agreements between the national team athletes and the Finnish Sports Federation include that, when healthy, the athletes must wear the Suomi tracksuit in certain competitions. Such a competition was the EC team competitions held in Poland on the Midsummer weekend.
– The problem was the EC team championship, when I should have been able to recover and train for the next one. The team championship race was too close and it was not agreed that it would be missed. We were not able to change the program as we would have liked, Ukonmaanaho refers to discussions with the federation’s coaching management.
Raitanen was originally supposed to tour hard competitions in July and go to a mountain camp in August to prepare for the World Championships in Budapest starting on August 19. However, now Raitanen trained in July at home and will run one race in August before the trip to Budapest. High altitude camp will be completely missed this summer.
It’s hard to put yourself in a tight spot
At the Kaleva Games in Lahti on Saturday evening, Raitanen ran solo in 8:31.93, but he was not satisfied, even though it resulted in an overwhelming Finnish championship.
– I let myself in the race too easily. When you’re not in top shape, it’s hard to put yourself in a tight spot when you aggressively want every second off the clock. I can’t quite get to the maximum area, and I can’t work there. Fortunately, there are still a few weeks left, Raitanen said after the race, referring to the World Championships.
Raitanen stated that there have been no successes, but the feeling in the legs has been left to wait, to dig. He named fatigue as the reason.
– It’s just frustrating when you don’t know how long it will last, the European champion admitted.
Coach Ukonmaanaho understands Raitanen’s disappointment, because he too expected a tougher last ton from Raitanen on Saturday. Ukonmaanaho is confident that the maximum performance will still fall into place.
– The last practice session went really well. There is no problem with the exercises. 98 percent are going well, and there’s that last two percent that won’t go yet. But you know that it can be translated from there. It’s just really delicate to get it to come from there, says Ukonmaanaho.
– If you were in a really challenging situation, nothing would work. Can’t go for a run, work out, no exercise works. Everything works really well for him, even hard exercises. The last Snap is missing from the competitions and then you know that it can be dug.
Raitase also had difficulties last year. Still, he got into top form at the European Championships in Munich and won the European Championship gold with a hard finish.
– Now the tuning of the last weeks begins. Three weeks is a long time. With good rhythm and one good race, he might be in the shape of his life in Budapest. But the other option is that it won’t open at all. You don’t always know about that, says Ukonmaanaho.
The Kaleva Games in Lahti 27.–30.7. Urheilu follows the events in this article.