okansas.blogspot.com

okansas.blogspot.com
Occassional thoughts about orienteering

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Mattias Karlsson interview in Halden newspaper

A few excerpts from an interview with Mattias Karlsson in Halden Arbeiderblad:

"To be selected for the WOC was something I hadn't expected when the season began, it was more of a dream."

"The sprint has been my best discipline this year. High speed and the importance of a error-free race have turned out to be a strength of mine. I also tend to perform best when I'm under some pressure and at the most important races."

In the Nordic Champs in the beginning of May, Karlsson was 8th overall and the next best Swede. He thinks that result mattered when he was selected for the WOC team.

"It was a bit unexpected that I was selected for the Nordic Champs, I was a reserve and got to run when Emil Wingstedt got sick."

At last week's Swedish 5-Days, he hit his knee on a rock and hasn't been able to run for a week.

"The knee has been stiff, I haven't been able to run, but I think I can start running again in the end of this week."

"Before the 5-Days my form was good, but I haven't been able to train well for a week, so I'm a unsure. I haven't, therefore, thought much about my performance at the WOC, but to finish in the top 10 is a goal."

With my recent interest in JWOC results, I took a quick look to see how Karlsson had run in previous JWOCs. Well, as best I can tell, he never ran a JWOC. That's interesting.

One thing that caught my eye in the interview was the recent injury. One of my (possibly flaky?) ideas is that a short term injury in the month or so leading up to a big race is often a good thing. Being forced to miss a week of training (or to do a week or so of alternative training) gives the legs an important break and has some mental benefits. You come back from the break feeling refreshed and focused. At least, that's my theory. It'll be interesting to follow Karlsson in Ukraine

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posted by Michael | 3:56 PM

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