The reigning IAU 100k World Champion Jonas Buud is in New Zealand to run 100 kilometers at the Tarawera Ultramarathon. Although he’s never run the course, it suits him very well… and he knows it. In the following interview, Jonas talks about what his off-season was like, how he trained for Tarawera in Sweden’s winter, and what he’s thought of spending two weeks in New Zealand.
To find out who else is racing, check out our 2016 Tarawera Ultramarathon preview. Be sure to follow our live race-day coverage!
Jonas Buud Pre-2016 Tarawera Ultramarathon Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Jonas Buud before the 2016 Tarawera Ultramarathon. How are you, Jonas?
Jonas Buud: Hi. I’m fine, thanks.
iRunFar: I think the last time we spoke was after that nice, little world championship. How have things gone since then?
Buud: Good, I think. It’s been a lot of rest and preparing for next season. I think it has been a good winter.
iRunFar: How long did you take a rest for? Did you run… what was your last race?
Buud: It was Les Templiers. I ran that race, but it was not one of the biggest races of my season.
iRunFar: How long did you take off after Les Templiers?
Buud: Some weeks with not so much running but still training—some cycling and some other trainings.
iRunFar: All the time—so you don’t really take a time fully off?
Buud: No. I must do something.
iRunFar: Cycling and what else is in your cross training?
Buud: Cycling.
iRunFar: A lot of cycling? When did you start skiing this winter?
Buud: I have just been skiing once.
iRunFar: Just once? Not so much this winter.
Buud: No, the winter came late.
iRunFar: And it was time to run?
Buud: Yes.
iRunFar: When did you start running again—really training?
Buud: I’ve been running since November, but I’ve been running three or four times per week and cycling once or so…
iRunFar: How do you do that in Sweden? Road cycling?
Buud: No, on a trainer.
iRunFar: Good. That’s pretty miserable otherwise. How about with running? Are you still running outside on the Nordic trails or on the roads?
Buud: Yeah, in the forest on the snow.
iRunFar: It’s packed enough?
Buud: Yeah, it’s good. It takes, of course, a much longer time to run the same loop, but it’s nice.
iRunFar: You enjoy it. What do you enjoy about running in the winter?
Buud: It’s a bit different. The snow, you get your headlamp, and it’s amazing to run in the snow in the winter.
iRunFar: I hadn’t thought about the headlamp. How much sunlight are you getting in Mora these days?
Buud: It’s dark. It’s worse. The sun goes up at nine in the morning and it’s dark at three, so it’s just some hours.
iRunFar: So you only have six hours of training before you put on the headlamp. You had two weeks of really good training on solid ground. How has New Zealand been treating you?
Buud: It’s been really, really nice. We’ve been all over the country running trails. It has been two really good weeks.
iRunFar: Were there any highlights during that time?
Buud: It’s almost every day. Something new. It’s been really good.
iRunFar: Do you feel like a kid with excitement?
Buud: Yes, it’s worst thing that you maybe run a little bit too much before the race. We’ll see.
iRunFar: You actually have a friend here. His job is to remind you that you are human.
Buud: Yeah, and that’s good. He tells me, “Oh, we’ve got to go back. No longer.” That’s good.
iRunFar: This time of year, you’re not probably in peak fitness yet. You’re very consistent in your racing. You’re very methodical. How do you approach a race so early in your season?
Buud: This course is trail and 100k. It’s just perfect for me. It should be a good race for me anyway. Of course, I want to run fast on Saturday. I hope I’m prepared to run fast.
iRunFar: At this time of year, what do you think you’re more prepared for—the first half which is a little more technical and a little more hilly or the second half which is…?
Buud: The second half—mile 60k to 100k is my part of the course, I think.
iRunFar: You think you might have some fun trying to run down some people ahead of you at that point?
Buud: I don’t know. We’ll see. Maybe I will not run so hard in the beginning. I think I’ll try to run a bit harder toward the end.
iRunFar: Alright. We’ll look forward to seeing how that plays out on Saturday, Jonas. Good luck on Saturday.
Buud: Thank you.
