By Pro XC Skiing Editorial Staff

Tomorrow, you will get to know Hanna Falk, Lager 157 Ski Team, up close and personal. This former Swedish National team member in sprint skiing had a difficult season with her back problems. By and by, she decided to leave the World Cup circuit behind and step into an unknown territory. Long distance skiing has not necessarily been her strongest suit, but she is ready to face the cream of the crop in Visma Ski Classics when the new season starts in Orsa, Sweden.

“Of course, it’s not a good thing to have back problems when double-poling is what you need to focus on. I have spoken to a lot of good people that I trust and some doctors, too. Naturally, I don’t want to have serious back injuries in the future, but I’ve undergone a surgery and my back is fine now. The bigger problem is to build the needed muscles for double-poling,” Hanna says on the podcast.

Hanna is surrounded by great teammates who can help her a great deal and tell her about the demands and perks of Visma Ski Classics.

“I ask a lot of questions and they try to answer. Some things you just have to experience yourself. They have a lot of experience, but I also like to form my own opinions about certain things. There are many things I need to learn about travel, training and technique. I like the team because they fully focus on the sport and their athletes. I know I still have a lot to learn, but that’s what inspires me.”

Hanna’s training has changed quite a lot as she is not doing two workout session a day like in the past when she was training for the World Cup and the big games.

“I’m now getting used to longer sessions once a day, which wasn’t the case before. The first training camp was an eye-opener for me, but there’s not really anything that has overly surprised me. I knew that long distance skiers and my team train hard and the sport is challenging. So far, I’ve been having a great time!”

Hanna will reveal more about her training, career, future plans both in life and skiing, and her personality traits on tomorrow’s Orsa2Levi episode, which is hosted by Teemu Virtanen. The podcast can be heard on all possible audio platforms and on our site as well.