Renato: can you comment on the preparation of James Kwalia?

bump

I was, and I am, the coach of James from 2002. In these Championships I had the following athletes :

- Mohamed Algarni (1500m), 17 years old Qatari from Maroc, in Berlion only for experience, out in his heat

- Kwalia, bronze in 5000m

- Nicholas Kemboi, retired in 10000m because spiked after 4 km when was in front, that I want absolutely to recover after 4 years without running

- Shami in Marathon, retired after 31 km for problems in his left buttock

- Abubaker Ali Kamal in 3000 steeple (finalist in 12th position)

- Sylvia Kibet, silver in 5000m W

- Florence Kiplagat, 31'30" in 10000m W, that had a discopatie during the race, was not able to run after 6 km, and had to go to the hospital for MRI after the race

- Ruth Bosibori, 7th in 3000 steeple W with her new PB (9'13"16), in the global fastest race ever (Gladys Kipkemboi, 8th, ran 9'14" when, before the race, the no. 8 all-time had 9'16"...)

How is possible to see, for every coach there is somebody competing well, somebody having problems. In my case, before the race I hoped in a medal for Shami in Marathon more than for Kwalia, but the reality was different...

About Kwalia, always he had the problem to recover quickly the high level of lactate after one fast race. Years ago, we had in St. Moritz the best session of his career 4 days before Golden Gala, and there he ran the last km in 3'15", with legs heavy like those of an elephant. Also when he reached the final (for example, WCh 2005 in Helsinki, or WCH indoor in 3000m last year in Valencia), NEVER was able to run well the final.

Also this year, after his 2nd place behind Bekele in Oslo, he went to Lausanne for 3000m, and ran very bad.

So, my target was to find a solution for a better recovery.

We maintained his normal long run (1 hr 20' progressive 2 times per week, plus 10-12 km very fast once per week), but I decided to put in his track sessions something longer that I use for 10000m : for example, 3000 + 2000 + 3 x 1000, rec. 4', in St. Moritz (8'11" - 5'22" - 2'35") for finishing with 4 x 200 in 25"5 / 26" after 6:00, without any attention for recovery time.

We maintained short sprint uphill (80m once per week), and introduced mix training, combining speed and endurance (1600 in 4'08", rec. 2', 3 x 300 in 42" - 41" - 40" rec. 1'30", rec. 5', 1200 in 3'03", rec. 2', 3 x 200 in 26" - 25" - 24" rec. 1'30", rec. 5', 800 in 1'56", rec. 2', 3 x 100 in 12"2 rec. 2' - After 8' : 600m in 1'22").

This program started in Kenya soon after the World Military Champs (half of June) and continued in St. Moritz after Oslo meeting. James went back to Kenya on 25 of July for his last 3 weeks, and followed my program under the supervision of Joseph Cheromei.

He didn't feel completely ok in the heats, his legs were heavy. But, with only easy jogging in the middle (plus one session of 10 x 80m sprint uphill the day before the final), during the final he had very good sensations.

So, no secrets, but attention for solving a problem that he always had in the past, but that we faced in wrong way before. This is the reason because sometimes our mistakes are useful, of course if we are able to analyse everything and to create the right correction.

Thanks for posting Renato. I think a lot of runners have this problem. I believe that it is related to economy, which can vary a lot during a taper. A runner's economy can go down a lot if he/she has a few easy days.

Canova Renato wrote:

during the final he had very good sensations.

this made my day

wellnow, can you refrain from posting in such threads, especially after Canova posts? In all sincerity, no one cares what you think.

Canova Renato wrote:

We maintained his normal long run (1 hr 20' progressive 2 times per week, plus 10-12 km very fast once per week), but I decided to put in his track sessions something longer that I use for 10000m : for example, 3000 + 2000 + 3 x 1000, rec. 4', in St. Moritz (8'11" - 5'22" - 2'35") for finishing with 4 x 200 in 25"5 / 26" after 6:00, without any attention for recovery time.

We maintained short sprint uphill (80m once per week), and introduced mix training, combining speed and endurance (1600 in 4'08", rec. 2', 3 x 300 in 42" - 41" - 40" rec. 1'30", rec. 5', 1200 in 3'03", rec. 2', 3 x 200 in 26" - 25" - 24" rec. 1'30", rec. 5', 800 in 1'56", rec. 2', 3 x 100 in 12"2 rec. 2' - After 8' : 600m in 1'22").

That last part looks like a tremenduous amount of very short, intense, faster than 5k speed training with long rests, that looks more like 1500 or 800 training to me. It is not surprising to me that he would tighten up in longer races after that, due to impulses being too strong and not durable. Also there is hardly any training at 5k race pace.

Thank you very much for sharing your training and impressions. Congratulations on the many accomplishments of your runners. Your contributions are always quite interesting, helpful, and much appreciated.

nepoks wrote:

wellnow, can you refrain from posting in such threads, especially after Canova posts? In all sincerity, no one cares what you think.

This.

And thank you Renato, you have been an asset to this site and to all of us readers for many years, and we all appreciate your willingness to share with us training that many other coaches would keep as secrets for themselves.

I thought Renato had the signature letsrun registered name that has "coach" beneath it??

nepoks wrote:

wellnow, can you refrain from posting in such threads, especially after Canova posts? In all sincerity, no one cares what you think.

Renato cares about why his runners sometimes underperform and sometimes do very well. These same issues apply to all of us

If you don't care about these issues then that is your ignorance. Don't tell me where I can and cannot post.

Wellnow, my recollection from your posts is that you are a very good age 46+ 1500 runner.

While waiting for Renato to post again, could you comment on what events you run besides 1500 meters, and how you adjust your training for longer events? Perhaps your comments (and others) will spur more comments from Renato.

Thanks J.R.

I have raced 800m up to Marathon. I ran 2.29.50 for the Marathon when I was 40, but I think I am better at shorter distances. However Renato says that if you can run a good Half Marathon, which I have, then you can run a good Marathon with the right training, so maybe when I'm a bit older I might run a decent time for the Marathon.

My training doesn't vary a lot for the different distances, I just do more specific race pace work for each.

My comment about how our economy can vary quite a lot, (Hadd mentioned in a recent thread that it might be as much as 5%) is something that we must all condsider if we want to perform at our best in the most important races. I think the 5% economy variation is realistic, and it can decline very quickly when we taper. For example, in 2006 when I was 43 I raced a 1500m in 4.15 and I was shocked at how hard it was and how slow I was. So I trained really hard the next week without tapering and ran 4.00

Mr. Canova can you comment on the performance of Dathan Ritzenhein?

Folks, I honestly believe you haven't gotten a response from Renato because this thread has already been invaded by an imposter, posing as him. I'm positive (by looking at other authentic Renato threads) he has his own LRC signature/registered name.

That's the real Renato. Where have you been lately? Read recent Renato threads, because of the imposter, he posts under Canova Renato.

I appreciate you sharing this blog. For individuals contexto game who are looking for pertinent information, this is a huge aid. fall guys