A runner doesn’t count kilometers, or hours, and doesn’t set any goals. He says he took a break because competing didn’t feel right. In Eugene, the third marathon of the year is on the program on Monday.
Mystical Alisa Vainio rose from complete obscurity to the awareness of the sports people in the fall of 2015, when he was only 17 years old when he broke the result limit of the Rio Olympic Games in the marathon run in Joutseno in Lappeenranta. The time of 2:33:24 was Finland’s best in the 2000s at the time and took the athlete to sixth place in the all-time statistics of the home country.
– At that stage, you may not know how to deal with things. I didn’t really know how to take the attention I got. I wouldn’t necessarily play it to a young athlete. Preferring calm and balanced growth, Vainio, 24, comments on the events of five years ago in Eugene.
He was in high school preparing for his graduation papers when the shocking run happened.
– I bet that the writings would have gone just as badly, even if people hadn’t called and left messages. We’ll come back to how those writings went later.
The comment well reflects the public image of the runner in recent years: a mysterious woman who loves to run.
He hasn’t enjoyed being in public, and he hasn’t commented too much on his elite sports status.
Competition break
Alisa Vainio lives a down-to-earth everyday life. In the photo, he poses in Eugene. PASI LEISMA
This is what we know from the results.
The years 2016–17 were tinged with health problems, but in the 2018–19 seasons, Vainio was able to compete on several different trips. In September 2019, he was 26th in the marathon with a final time of 2:56:30 in the terrifying heat of the World Championships in Doha.
The 2020–21 track seasons of the desert gig were missed.
– I wouldn’t say that the years 2020–21 were necessarily difficult, but I wasn’t always able to compete.
What does it mean?
– I didn’t necessarily want to compete. There are no major surgeries or anything. I felt like I wasn’t in a position to challenge myself or enforce performance, he replies.
This season, the results have been assessed. The Lappeenranta native has set his record in the 10 kilometer road race (34.11), half marathon (1.12.22) and marathon (2.59.56).
– I may have established a certain level, even though I haven’t had a single button run in the race.
Organic
Alisa Vainio doesn’t count running kilometers or training hours. Elmeri Elo / All Over Press
As mentioned, Vainiota has been described as a lust trainee. According to estimates, he would have been successful in many other sports as well.
– You can challenge yourself in running. When it goes, it feels really good. When not walking, it also feels good. Then you know that there are opportunities to develop and become better.
It would be interesting to know how much Vainio practices. He doesn’t give an answer.
– I don’t count kilometers, and I don’t track the number of hours. I pretty much go by feeling and emotion. The exercise program changes a lot according to the feeling of the moment. My coach Jarmo Viskari would probably know the numbers, but he hardly tells them.
When an athlete doesn’t keep track of his training, it’s a real organic line in today’s era, when there is more data related to elite sports available than ever.
Vainio says that the exercises are never thought about for longer than the next week.
– I have noticed that this is the best way for me to work, so it feels safe and good.
Do you go jogging every day?
– I have several light days a week, if necessary. I won’t feel bad if I don’t go running every day, he replies.
During her vacation from sports, the woman works as a running instructor at a coaching company and prepares programs for a few recreational runners.
Look at the clock
Vainio was taken in a wheelchair from the previous World Cup marathon in Doha. He finished in 26th place. PASI STOVE LAND/IL
Finnish time on Monday afternoon at 16:15 Vainio will start the second World Cup marathon of his career.
– I’m going to give everything that can be given. Below is a longer training period, so the feeling is quite confident, he describes.
– During the preparatory camp, I got a little bit of flu, so it has taken away a bit of credit, the runner continues.
In the earlier marathons of the season, the athlete was at a SE pace for a long time, until he got a little tired at the end.
– I have to be patient at the beginning. The end backfires if you run a little too hard.
Coach Viskari urges his protégé of the organic line to use the simplest possible data in the United States.
– The route and the weather offer the possibility of a really good time. Alisa runs by instinct and looks at the clock at the beginning, Viskari comments.
Vainio’s marathon record is one minute and 56 seconds Ritva Lemettinen from the 1995 SE era.
No goals
Top sports usually include goals.
– There aren’t really any goals in my career when I don’t dare to set them. I try to enjoy what I do. Everything that comes or doesn’t come is a plus, Vainio announces.
– I’m a pretty down-to-earth person, he continues.
Finally, a surprising button.
– It breaks the organic line that I usually listen to the radio, music or an audiobook while jogging. Sure, sometimes I don’t listen to anything. Usually Finnish pop and rock are playing in the ears.