Text by Teemu Virtanen

Heli Heiskanen has been a flagbearer for Finnish long-distance skiing for many years in the women’s class. She has actively been competing on the Visma Ski Classics Pro Tour since 2017. She has represented many foreign teams, and traveling around Europe is her cup of tea. Heli first raced in Bruno Debertolis’ Team Robinson Trainer, after which she joined a Czech team, Vltava Fund Ski Team. Last season, Heli represented another Czech team called   Slavia Pojistovna Sport Team, whose title sponsor is an insurance company.

Heli is pleased with her new team and continues racing in their ranks, but last season was a big disappointment for the skier, whose career-best result on the Pro Tour is fourth at Jizerska Padesatka in 2018. Additionally, she has 22 top-10 places during her career, four of which are sixth places. So, the podium has been close, but the stars have not aligned for this devoted skier.

The corona tampered winter was challenging for Finland’s number female long distance skier, whose goal was much higher than the 12^th place at Årefjällsloppet. Heli had trained well and her expectations were high before the season started. In the winter, she struggled with illnesses and felt tired throughout the season. In the spring, Heli considered ending her career, but the members of her new team wanted the Finn to continue. One big factor in Heli’s decision to keep going was the strong encouragement from the Visma Ski Classics legend Stanislav Rezac. However, something drastic had to be done to make progress and to maintain high motivation.

“In the previous training season, I didn’t have the courage to make sufficient changes to my training and I demanded too much of myself and was pretty stressed out all season. In the spring, I took a three-week break and pondered my next steps and talked to people close to me, and I was also encouraged to continue. I spent some time reflecting on my future and then decided that I would continue and try to be a better version of myself in the coming year,” Heli recalls her defining moments of resolution this spring.

When the decision was made, the members of the Slavia Pojistovna Team, especially Rezac, asked Heli to come to the Czech Republic for the summer, and the experienced athlete did not hesitate in the face of a new challenge. The skier packed her bags and moved to Bedrichov, also jizerska  Padesatka’s start and finish area, for eight weeks. Heli has now returned to Finland and more specifically to Posio, where she has a position as a mathematics teacher at a junior high school.

“I’ve done teaching before, and it allows me to train well. I also need social contacts here in Posio, and my school can give me that. I can quite easily take time off for the winter races, so being a teacher is a really good profession for me,” Heli describes her job.

The biggest change in Heli’s training was the increased hours and the higher speed in every workout. The average number of her weekly workout hours in the summer was 23, and in July she trained about 115 hours. She did almost all the workouts together with Rezac, who used slightly slower roller-skis when training with Heli.

“One big problem here at Posio has been that I lack sufficient training partners. I can get good support for individual exercises, but I mostly train alone, and I need a better training partner than myself to develop further. During the last races of the spring, I spent a lot of time with my team and talked to Rezac, who felt that my potential had not yet been fully exploited and that I still had a hidden capacity left to be explored . Of course, those were big words from a legend, but I knew he was right. So, I decided to take up on their offer and train with Rezac, and I thought that if it felt bad, I could always come home.”

Heli says that she has been training like a man all summer, which gives us a good idea of her overall workload. She trained as much as Rezac and did the same workouts with the only difference that she had occasional days-off when needed and in some intensity sessions, she did a little less intervals. With the exception of one single diagonal striding uphill exercise, her training consisted mainly of double-poling, running, core and strength training.

“I enjoyed it when I got to challenge Rezac. Of course, I knew I was weaker than men, but no words can describe the feeling I got when I was able to beat him. Those training sessions boosted my self-confidence and I know that similar situations will arise in the winter,” Heli recalls the highlights of her summer training.

Heli confesses that she learned a lot from Rezac, but the sharing of information was not just one-sided. Heli says that she spent a lot of time working on her technique and strength in the spring after she decided to continue her career. Even Rezac was highly impressed and inspired by Heli’s good double-poling technique.

“One thing that Rezac realized was that I was better at training core. One of the last workouts we did together before I left for home was a core exercise. He confessed that he doesn’t do enough of that, and he wanted to make sure we did the workout properly in a bit of a competition mode. He also wanted to see and learn as many different moves as possible. So, we used a fitness ball, rubber bands, and so on. I have always been interested in this aspect of training, and I have studied it a lot.”

Running was another thing that Heli brought to the table. According to her, Rezac has now run more than he has in many years, and they managed to run more than 100 km in some weeks, which is quite a lot on top of all the other workouts. Rezac, on the other hand, strongly encouraged Heli to be more confident and headstrong. According to the tests she has recently taken, everything seems to be on the right track.

“I enjoyed having a running mate who kept up with my pace. I also learned a lot from Rezac, and one important thing was the mental capacity. He emphasized the need to focus solely on one’s own performance. He is very adept at blocking all unnecessary things around him, especially before important races. He also told me to sleep during the day, but that’s something I didn’t learn to do.”

Naturally, the roads and roller-skiing in Central-Europe are much more challenging than in Finland, and Heli acknowledges that she was a bit of scared of some downhills.

“I’ve fallen down pretty badly when roller-skiing, so I’m afraid of steep downhills. The Jizerska area has a lot of good roads with asphalt pavements, and they are suitable for roller-skiing. On some downhills, Rezac literally grabbed my pole, and we went down together. I told him a couple of times that I was panicking, but he just to told me to be calm as he would take care of everything. I’ve never done something like that before, but it was actually pretty reassuring. Sometimes when the downhills were too steep, we had people on bikes, and they took care of the braking as we held onto their bikes. Fortunately, we didn’t need to worry about any animals crossing the roads, which is often the case in my home town.”

Sometimes, the communication between the Finnish and the Czech skier became a problem. Rezac speaks a little German, but English is not his strong suit.

”Every once in a while, I felt like we did all the talking with hands and legs. I can say quite frankly that I used a Google translator a lot. Sometimes, when I didn’t get understood in any language and the Google translator didn’t work, I even tried speaking Finnish, but that was useless,” Heli laughs.

For Heli, living in other countries and working with different nationalities comes naturally. So, her interaction with the Czechs went relatively smoothly. According to her, one just has to be interested in what the other person is saying, and there’s always a way to get understood.

“It was relatively easy to communicate with Rezac as he is so friendly and considerable. Many people may misunderstand him because he is not often able to linguistically express himself when he is abroad. Of course, he has his own personality, and he is sometimes very sensitive. In the Czech Republic, Rezac is a celebrity and in the world of sports everyone knows him. He’s a big star and has a lot of respect, and he has a great circle of friends who help him with different things when needed.”

Heli also reflects on the cultural differences she has encountered and what she has learned from people in different countries over the years.

“You have to learn to accept different things in different cultures. Of course, the first few years are the most critical. At first, you can easily hold on to your own, but you just have to learn how to surrender to another culture so that you can see the richness of each culture. You can find good friends in every country. Being abroad has given me a broader perspective on life.”

Overcoming loneliness is also something that one must face when traveling the world. Heli says that one gets used to it too, and there are ways to fight it. She says that life is very similar everywhere she goes, and a simple daily routine provides the basis for everything she does.

Summer is already in its final stages, and our skiers are getting ready for the demanding fall season. Heli is now taking a breather after her extensive training period with Rezac. 

“I know now I’m in good shape, but we’ll see how this fall goes. Now, I have to take a break, because I can’t put the pedal to the metal all the time. I need to re-fuel and energize myself before the darkness falls upon us. Little by little, I’m going to start pushing harder. I spent this summer training according to Rezac’s instructions, but I still have my personal coach Jarmo Riski, and we’ll work on my training program for the fall,” Heli says.

It is also possible that Heli returns to the Czech Republic in the fall if she finds a suitable time. As the upcoming race season is quickly approaching, Heli thinks about her goal this winter.

“The women’s field is constantly getting so much better in Visma Ski Classics. I have talked to my team about it, and we feel that finishing in the top six is a tough goal. It’s not an easy feat, and even being in the top 10 is a good achievement, and that is generally my goal. However, there are many skiers at my level in the series, and for example, Roxane Lacroix was able to raise the bar towards the end of the season. So, why can’t I do the same? I only need to do the right things and make sure I do them often enough. My plan is to participate in every race, but if I feel that I need to skip a race, I can also do that. I’m entering the upcoming season with a relaxed attitude. I’m serious, but certainly not too uptight.”

The upcoming winter will show if training alongside Rezac bears fruit. Heli’s former teammate Ari Luusua has already been on the podium twice, so it is high time that a Finnish female skier could do the same. If everything falls into place and Lady Luck is on Heli’s side, she may be able to go home with a trophy and a bouquet of flowers in her arms.