Kenyan Trials

Greetings Renato is da bomb holla

is geoffrey mutai going to run the world championships or the boston marathon?

i know there is a history of runners doing, a marathon in april after running world xc in march, the last i know of being shami of qatar who was 8th in world xc a few years ago and then won i believe the paris marathon in 2:07.19 in paris on a very hot day, but lately runners have been using it as an excuse that they have to do one, so they cant do both.

also when will the kenyan team be finalized? we had the USA trials a few weeks ago and no one knows what are team will be, example matt tegenkamp got 4th and he said he may not run the world xc meet as he wants to run some 5k in new zealand on march 3rd. is kenya having the same problem with runners making excuses why they cant go??

also interesting gideon ngatuny who is scheduled to make his marathon debut on february 27th in tokyo in a race that geb is also running finished 7th today, isnt it unwise to run a cross country race of this caliber 1 week before a marathon?

I'm with you on Ngatuny, Douglas. Racing XC in Kenya a week before his marathon debut doesn't sound like it's necessarily the greatest idea.

Yes, Geoffrey goes to run both. This year WCCCh are 4 weeks before Boston, Geoffrey thinks there is time enough for recovering well, and really can win World Championships.

The Kenyan Team includes the first 6 athletes at the finish line : Geoffrey, Kisorio, Chepkok, Limo, Macharinyang and Komon.

No Maatelong? I love that guy.

Renato

You said John Koech destroyed the junior field are you talking about Isiah Koech the new 3000m & 5000mWJR holder?

Where did ebuya finish? Is he hurt?

Yes, I did a mistake in his name, as there is a John Koech, too... but this is Isaia, the same of the two indoor WJR

Renato,

Do you believe that Koech is 17 years old? Or do you question his age?

Will they let Ebuya in automatically even though he didn't finish? They did something similar to that with Komon in 2008 and he ended up finishing in 2nd for World's

Renato, what is Koech's potential? Who does he remind you of in history?

the smartest lestsrunner wrote:

No Maatelong? I love that guy.

Har.

At the moment, there is an athlete clearly stronger than any other in the World, and is Geoffrey Mutai. Looking at the big gap between him and Kisorio during Trials, and knowing that Ethiopian are not very strong, the final match can be between Geoffrey and Kipsiro.

There is a reason for this : Geoffrey is preparing Marathon, maintaining all the workouts of long speed endurance, and this gives him more specific endurance than the others.

Last year, Wilson Kiprop (coming from Prague Marathon) and Geoffrey were able to run 27'26" and 27'27" in altitude, and Wilson won WHM beating Zersenay Tadesse.

Two years ago, I had the same situation with Moses Mosop : he won very easy Kenyan Trials, using a program with a lot of volume and at the same time high intensity, and could win WCCCh in Amman in very easy way, if allowed to continue with his program. Instead, the head coach of Kenya for cross country (Julius Kirwa) decided to reduce a lot all the volume, going for peed only during the last 4 weeks, and the Kenyan Team disappeared, with nobody able to finish on the podium.

The point now is as follows : Can AK allow Geoffrey in staying in his camp, without joining the official training camp of the Team ? Because he wants running Boston Marathon, and in the official camp nobody has ideas about what a marathon runner has to do.

Exactly for this reason I decided that Mosop and Florence Kiplagat were not interested in running WCCCh, also if they could look for trying to win.

But Geoffrey is too much faster than the other Kenyans.

So, if AK allows him to continue his preparation, they go to win WCC at 95%, but if they don't allow and Geoffrey decides not to go in the Team, they risk to lose the Championships from Kipsiro (I don't believe in Ethiopians, but nobody knows what Yanev can run today in their Trials).

Preparing marathon in the modern way, it's possible to be very much competitive in a Cross, 4 weeks before. But preparing a cross with the Kenyan system, you can forget that is possible to run a marathon 4 weeks later.

the smartest lestsrunner wrote:

No Maatelong? I love that guy.

smartest? wrote:

Har.

Yeah, you're right. Why would the 2009 SC World Champion by worth commenting on?

Renato, is Mutai using slightly less volume than Mosop did in his preparations? And how do you specifically prepare for the Boston Marathon? Any experience to use different workouts than for a race like London or Berlin?

Renato Canova owns you all HOLLA

Mr. Canova -

It is always a pleasure to have you share your insights with us. Thank you!

My question for you:

When you say "long speed endurance," are you saying 1000m repetitions at 10km or 5km race speed? Or, as you referring to something else that helps both marathon runners and cross-country runners?

Regards,

Tom

Tom, when I speak about "specific speed endurance", I means every kind of repetitions long between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total distance, at speed a little bit higher than the race speed.

In our case, speaking about athletes preparing marathon but ready for a cross 4-6 weeks before, we have 3 kinds of speed endurance :

A) Specific "Marathon Speed Endurance"

Examples :

1) 5 times 5 km in 14'45" / 15' alternated with 1 km in 3'40"

2) 7 times 3 km in 8'45" rec. 600m in 2'30" / 3'

B) Specific "10000m speed endurance"

Examples :

1) 4 x 2000m in 5'25" + 1 x 1000m in 2'35" (rec. 4' jogging)

2) 3 x 3000m in 8'20" (rec. 4') + 10 x 600 in 1'33" (rec. 1')

c) Special Blocks (special training morning and afternoon)

Examples :

1 - Morning : 10 km at 3'15" (32'30") + 15 km at 3'04" (46')

2 - Afternoon : 10 km in 32'30" + 12 x 1000m (track) in 2'42" (rec. 1'30") or 6 x 2000m in 5'35" (rec. 2'30")

With this type of training, the athletes maintain the speed they need for running 12 km, having at the same time more endurance.

Don't forget that both Wilson Kiprop and Geoffrey Mutai, last year, went for 30 km in 1:36:30 exactly five days before running in National Champs 27'26" and 27'27".

And, speaking about the past, that Paula Radcliffe improved her PB in 3000m (from 8'28" to 8'22") in 2002, in her first competition after London Marathon (2:18).

So, instead fearing the volume for preparing Marathon, it's better to find stimula from mileage at high speed, if athletes want to improve their PB in 10000m (and also 5000, with only some small difference).

Wow! Awesome post, Renato. Thanks!