Before the start of the season, Jens Burman told how bad he thinks about the world cup premiere in Ruka, Finland at the end of November.
– It is usually dark, it is cold and bad with snow, Jens Burman complained to DN.
In the Swedish premiere in Gällivare the weekend before Ruka, he got cramps and went only 800 meters before he found it too good to get off. There was no Ruka, not even Lillehammer.
Now Burman is back and will go 15 kilometers freestyle in Davos. He is looking forward to having time to do World Cup competitions before New Year, but it is only in January and February that Burman comes to life.
– After Christmas, when you have started to get into it, then I think it starts to get more fun. Then I have come into harmony and started to get really hungry, then it’s fun to compete.
The Tour de Ski, which is decided in early January, is not included in the ground plan.
– I will go to all competitions before Christmas and then I want to have a little period at home with peace and quiet and a lot of training before we leave for recharging camp before the Olympics. Otherwise it will be extremely much gone. I feel like I would like to have a period at home to unwind and get into harmony. That’s probably more why I choose not to go on the Tour de Ski.
Now I want new podium places, I’m ready to work for that this winter.
He has already secured a ticket to the Olympics in Beijing and does not have to feel that he has to perform at the top already at the start of the season.
– For me, it is a small security that I have been selected. But I still want to feel that I get a decent start, it does not have to be a super start but still that you are up there.
He took a long-awaited podium place in the last World Cup race last season when he broke both Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Alexander Bolshunov and finished in third place in Engadin’s five miles.
– Now I want new podium places, I’m ready to work for that this winter.
The pre-season has been about getting stronger and staying injury-free and healthy.
– It has been very regular basic training and I have worked to become a little faster, which I try before each season. I need to get a little better at everything.
– William Poromaa and Jens Burman train together during the WC this spring. Now they are training friends even at home.
Photo: Adam Ihse / TT
Ahead of this season he has received traction assistance from William Poromaa who has acquired a residence in Åsarna.
– We have received good sparring from each other even though he has not lived here that long. We have not entered into full routines so far but absolutely, we have benefited from each other. It’s fun to have an equal. Above all, he is a little faster. Then he is a very good skater, I also benefit from that. You can look at some technical things and learn from him.
There is a psychological factor as well.
– If you have a bad day and feel down then maybe he can be the one who helps and pulls me out, so you get a little extra motivation.
At 20 years old, William Poromaa is already on the heels of 27-year-old Burman.
– Of course it is so, he is strong and there is nothing that says I would be better just because I am a few years older.
No, you can not cheat at this level.
There are workouts he would like to skip.
– It would be if it’s really damn bad weather and you have to go out and drive something extremely difficult. Type some interval workout that might not be so fun. But there are still things to do if you are to reach that last little thing.
Cheating is not on the map.
– No, it is not possible to cheat at this level, no one else does so it is really important to do the job. It is clear that you have bad days sometimes, that is the case, but it is not the case that you can voluntarily stand over a passport and think that I do not want to do this, then you will get nowhere. It’s like any job. You have to do the job you are set to do.
– Jens Burman has a good training season behind him and all measured values are positive.
Photo: Carina Johansen / TT
If it is hard training and many competitions during most of the season, there are still times when Jens Burman can treat himself to other than goodies.
– It is clear that I sometimes chew sweets, chips and all sorts of shit in the spring. I have periods when I ignore what I eat but just enjoy. But before and during the season then, I think of a little extra.
In the summer of 2017, before the Olympics in Pyeongchang, he suffered from overtraining.
– I think I trained a little too hard. It was also in connection with that that I got my first problems with my back. That season was not good and I generally felt tired throughout the summer. So in retrospect, it was quite violent with training. I do not want me to do any stupid things so that there is trouble with my back and it starts to bother again and I have to change in training, it would be very annoying.
What the data shows is shit the same once you are on the starting line and should perform.
He thinks he has found the pain threshold for his training.
– It’s probably something you have to learn. I had to find my own border somewhere, now I know where it goes. I think you have to be close to get to know your own body.
The cross-country skiers are tested regularly and Burman’s values show a skier on the rise.
– It has gone well, it has done. Since what the data shows is crap the same once you are on the starting line and should perform, there is nothing to say that it goes well just because you have good data and had a training season that you are happy with. It’s about getting it out on the ski track. But you might be a little calm because you did what you could.
– Jens Burman longs for the competitions after the New Year and especially the Olympics in Beijing in February.
Photo: Adam Ihse / TT
That the results began to come last season also had its explanation in the choice of skis and ramparts. Burman got Perry Olsson as his own dike, Olsson is the man who drew skis for, among others, Petter Northug and Marit Bjørgen.
– I have not had better skis than I have now in all the years I have competed. Perry has a huge experience. He and I kind of have the same feeling for what’s good for me, Perry has been a big boost.
Burman hopes that the successful skis from the five miles in Engadin will remain in the collection.
– Quite honestly, there are so many skis that I do not know but Perry has. I remember the couple’s numbers and if I get to see the skis I recognize them. I hope they have not been removed yet anyway. We have tested a lot during the summer and it is clear that if you find a good pair of skis, they will stay in the park. Then you test new and if you are not happy with them, it is always in and out, some are allowed to stay. Material is always sought because it is constantly new. You try to find something better.