Update

Winter training is getting along nicely and going pretty much as scheduled. There's definitely been more emphasis on running this year, mainly on the account of poor cross-country skiing conditions. I'm enjoying the running very much, but also somewhat missing nice snowy winter with skiing and tough snow-running. Anyway, as I said, it's going well and I feel that the overall physical condition is good. Although there were some hectic times with my studies when I had to reduce the training load for a while, I can now at least be satisfied that I've concluded my bachelor studies at Tartu University. This is also one of the reasons why it has been quiet around here. I won't have to worry about school now and can fully concentrate on my preparation for another orienteering season. As for the near future, looks like I won't be very sedentary concerning my residence and can perhaps get about on a more open schedule than during the previous years. Furthermore, as of the upcoming season, I will be representing the Estonian Defence Forces Sports Club (KJ SK) on home ground. The Defence Forces offer me great support and being a part of this club, for me, is another step forward to being a professional orienteer. As is, I will try to be one for the time being - these opportunities can be hard to come by and I'm grateful that this opportunity has presented itself. I hope I'm striving in the right direction. The 2017's highlight event, WOC on home ground among home audience gives extra motivation and confidence for doing this.

To be a professional athlete, sponsors and supporters have an important part in it. As before, I'm glad that my good sponsors remain: 

As of this season I'm also glad to present a new sponsor of mine: Science in Sport! SiS are award-winning leaders in endurance nutrition and has been my favorite for years. The GO energy, GO electrolyte, REGO rapid recovery and GO isotonic gels are some of the fantastic basic supplements I've found very useful during my career. There's also some more innovative stuff that I've started to use, like the GO hydro (for hydrating without carbs) that's been missing from my pouch so far. I'm very happy that the SiS team is helping me reach my goals.

And to quote themselves: "SiS - our mission is to deliver superior nutrition so you can train harder, race faster and recover quicker! When you commit so much time, energy and determination to being the best you can be, you want a sports nutrition partner you can trust to provide the best products and expert guidance." 
I can only agree, they do provide the best products out there and I dare you to try if you already haven't! Check out the products at their global website.

Right now I'm going to carry on and enjoy training full time at home. Taking part in the planned Tartu skiing Marathon this winter is under great doubt. Maybe if it will be held in normal conditions and I will be able to complete at least a few training sessions beforehand and if I feel up to it, I might just participate and do a nice long training. Shortly after that, in the latter part of February, I'm going to open the O-season in Portugal, where I'm expecting good orienteering conditions and well organised events: MCO and POM!

That's it for now, over and out.