While the Norwegian national team was in a training camp in Torsby, Sweden, and otherwise training at home in September, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo was at altitude in the USA. He did so for the first time last year, and the experience was so positive that he returned for more this year.

Also Read: Klæbo’s candid insights: Podcast reveals athlete’s determination and concerns.

The goal of the stay in Utah was to get a reasonable time at altitude, an important part of Klæbo’s altitude regime. 

Klæbo’s training during his stay in Utah consisted mainly of easy sessions and controlled intervals. He trained alone for most of the sessions, but the World Champion generously shared his expertise when he had company in the training sessions.

Langrenn.com spoke to some US national team athletes who trained with Klæbo during his stay last year. 

They note that it is more than the training session per se that has made the 26-year-old the world’s best cross-country skier and that he has become so at such a young age. 

“He doesn’t seem to hold anything back about how he trains,” says Luke Jager, one of the skiers on the US national team. 

The 23-year-old trained both together and one-on-one with Klæbo. And Jager didn’t waste a minute of that valuable time with his great role model. He asked and dug about training and discussed different types of workouts and the distribution of different sessions, training intensity, training methods, training volumes, and periodization.

“We talked a lot about training and different types of training and sessions. There’s nothing extraordinary about what he does. But how he conducts his sessions makes a big difference,” says Jager, who says that he had a few “aha” moments. 

“Obviously, the content matters, and what he does is quite similar to what we do, but the devil is probably in the details. I’ve never seen anyone so meticulous about everything they do in training. That’s probably the biggest difference,” says Jager. 

What type of sessions have you trained with Klæbo in recent weeks?  

“It is quite traditional cross-country training: Most sessions are about keeping times of plus/minus an hour in a specified zone. But that’s the thing. The difference is that he is extremely good at always working in the right zone. There, I think that both I and quite a few others have a lot to gain,” says Jager and elaborates: 

“It’s easy to think that it doesn’t matter so much as long as you’re quite close, especially if you train with others. But if it happens often, overall, there will be a lot of time that you are not training optimally. So I have become more aware of that by training with Klæbo.”

Can you describe some of the sessions Klæbo prioritizes in this part of the season run-up?  

“Yes. The one session we trained one-on-one was a traditional hard session with long intervals on the threshold in the rollerski track in Soldier Hollow. Then we skied controlled, long intervals. The second session was pure double pole intervals, long intervals, and zone three. But even in zone three, he goes insanely fast even at what is a reasonably high altitude for him, so what is controlled zone three for him was more like zone 4 and well so for me,” says Luke Jager, and adds: 

“Normally, I’m quite keen to stay at about the right intensity when I run intervals, but I thought that in this particular case, it must be okay to let it slide a little. It’s not that often you have the chance to go with the world’s best cross-country skier.”  

These are two of the key sessions for Klæbo in the autumn period.

Session 1 

• What: Traditional long intervals/threshold intervals, either classical or skating
• Where: On a rollerski track
• How: First, do an easy warm-up for about half an hour, then 12-minute intervals at up to threshold intensity with one more two-minute break between intervals. Finish with a calm cool down. 
• Total time: About an hour, breaks not included

Session 2

• What: Long intervals/threshold interval double poling 
• Where: On a country road, in varied but not too steep terrain
• How: Start with an easy warm-up, then four 15-minute double poling intervals at up to threshold intensity with a two to two-and-a-half-minute break between the intervals. Finish with a calm cool down. 
• Total time: About an hour, breaks not included

Are you interested in traditional and long-distance skiing training? Click HERE and read more.

Updated article – an earlier version of this article was published on Langrenn.com in September 2022.