Autumn training for skiers: three hours on a good autumn day

A home World Championships, literally

Johanna Hagstrom has World Cup wins in sprint, and has taken a step forward every season. She lives in Falun, which hosts the Nordic World Ski Championships in 2027. That is home ground in the real sense, not the diluted version where a whole country counts as home.

We asked her to share her autumn favourite. The answer started by hesitating.

The session: three hours easy

"Oh, difficult! But I think I like long runs best of all, maybe three hours on a nice autumn day, where I can put on a good podcast or an episode of Sommar i P1," says Johanna Hagstrom.

Sommar i P1 is the Swedish radio institution where well-known Swedes present their own summer programme. Each episode runs an hour and a half. Two of them is a training session.

Notice what the answer does not contain. No zone, no heart rate, no reps. A sprinter who lives by seconds, choosing the one session of the week where the clock matters least.

In short: The long run does not need a plan. It needs a reason to last three hours.

The right temperature, the right kit

Then comes the most precise part of her answer.

"The temperature is at its best when you can run in shorts and a base layer top, ideally with a vest at the start when it's a bit cold, but one you can take off when the sun starts to warm up," says Hagstrom, who runs in Swix kit."

A base layer is the garment closest to your skin. Its job is to move sweat away from the body, so you don't get cold when the pace drops.

That is autumn in a single sentence. You start in shade and cold, and an hour and a half later the sun is out. If you cannot adjust along the way, the run is either cold at the start or clammy at the end.

The vest is the key. It keeps the core warm while the arms move freely, and it can be taken off and carried without ruining the session.

In short: Dress for the last two hours, not the first ten minutes. Bring one layer you can take off.

Try Johanna's autumn run

1. Set aside three hours on a day with good weather. This is not a session you squeeze in.

2. Easy pace the whole way. No reps, no zones.

3. Find something to listen to first. Two episodes of a programme you like, and the time is accounted for.

4. Shorts and a base layer top when the temperature allows.

5. Vest at the start, off when the sun warms up. Pick one you don't mind carrying for the rest of the run.

Closing

Your best winter starts with autumn running. For a sprinter who will race a World Championships in her own town, the intervals are not the hard part. It is the three hours at an easy pace, far from bib numbers and timing gates, repeated week after week until the snow arrives.

Enjoy the training.

Johanna Hagstrom's Swix favourites for autumn training

These are the garments Johanna describes in her answer.

[PRODUCT 1: VEST]
The vest she puts on at the start and takes off when the sun warms up. Windproof front, breathable back, and small enough to carry for the rest of the run.
For those who start in the shade and finish in the sun.

[PRODUCT 2: BASE LAYER TOP]
The layer closest to the skin on a run that lasts three hours. Moves moisture away from the body, so you don't get cold when the pace drops.
For those out long enough that sweat has time to turn cold.

[PRODUCT 3: SHORTS]
For the days when the temperature allows it. Freedom of movement across three hours, without chafing.
For those who run long when autumn is at its best.

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