August 22, 2008 – In 1996, Lars graduated from Wood River High School in Hailey, Idaho and moved to Marquette, Michigan to train under Sten Fjeldheim at the United States Olympic Education Center. In Marquette, Sten introduced Lars to the highly demanding daily training regimen of an Olympic Athlete. Within the next two years, Lars grew tremendously in fitness and continued to be one of the top up and coming Nordic ski racers in the US.

Since that time, Lars has raced his way to two Olympics – in 2002 and 2006 – won 5 National Titles, and been a member of two World Championship teams. We caught up with Lars in Anchorage where he was kind enough to answer some questions.

You have lived in many states throughout your racing career. These days you split your time between Bend, Oregon and Anchorage, Alaska. Does one feel more like home than the other?
Lars Flora: Both locations are my favorite places in the United States. When I am in Anchorage I don’t want to leave but when I’m in Bend I feel the same. If I had to choose one over the other I would choose Anchorage since my family lives in Anchorage.

Why the split locations?
LF: It’s in my blood…a long line of gypsies. Both locations make it possible for Kristina and I to achieve our goals. If we took Bend out of the picture Kristina would not have a support system and if we took Anchorage out of the picture I would loose mine. In addition, each location offers both of us huge advantages. For example, my coach, Justin Wadsworth, lives in Bend and while we are up in Anchorage Kristina gets to train with the APU girls led by Kikkan Randall.

How long have your been working with Justin Wadsworth?
LF: This will be my third year. Justin is a great coach and one of those people who are so generous with their time.

You competed at the 2002 and 2006 Olympics. With 2010 in Vancouver on the horizon what are your goals this time around, and how have they changed since your previous Olympic experiences?
LF: In 2002 I didn’t have the experience mentally or physically to be competing at the top. It was a great experience and I came away with a great appreciation for our sport and Olympic sports in general. In 2006 I felt I was better prepared. Unfortunately, I spent most the Olympics on the toilet and the next five months after the Olympics I lost all my muscle mass due to a parasite. Going into 2010 my goal is to be competing in the top ten in the World Cups prior to the games. If I am consistently placing in the top ten leading into the Olympics I feel anything can happen in Vancouver

You turned 30 earlier this year, how many more Olympics do you have on your radar? What do you want to have accomplished before your racing career ends? LF: Thanks for the reminder. I pulled another gray hair out this morning. 2010 is what I am thinking about and after the Vancouver Olympics it will depend on race results. If I am at the top I will continue and if not it will be time to move on.

At this point in your career are you continuing to increase your yearly training volumes? Can you summarize your training program? I evaluate training by physical load and how hard it is on my body. I use interval block training so my hardest training periods are only 12/13 hours a week. This is by far the hardest period in my training. In other periods I push 20-24 hours a week. These are medium to hard periods dependant on how many interval sessions are put into the week. In my recovery weeks I train ten hours a week with multiple days off. For all you old timers I train about 750 hours.

Good luck with your upcoming season and thank you.
LF: Thanks

For more on Lars Flora check out www.larsflora.com