Re: Rosa...... I've assumed, since I came across some of Paul Tergat's training under him that Tergat must have been doping, presumably with Rosa' knowledge/assistance, as the intensity would have been just too much to recover from otherwise.
Pulling some of Tergat's training out of two separate sources - both Jurg Wirz books (Running to the Limit / Run to Win), one of which listed his training, and the other which listed the speeds he trained it, it became apparent that if the recommended paces were right he was running at, or very close to, his marathon pace, on his general daily main run (so typically 70mins at close to marathon pace most days). Even without taking into consideration his effort sessions I couldn't see how anybody could go do that day after day.
I'm well aware that the books may not be 100% accurate, but Wirz seems to have been a close friend of Tergat, so the schedules and paces must be there or thereabouts right.
Here's a sample if you want to do see exactly what was involved:
Week 1 of 13 for London ('05 I think).
Mon: 70mins med-fast / 60mins slow-med.
Tues: 35km / 60mins slow-med.
Wed: 75mins med-fast / 60mins slow-med.
Thurs: as Monday.
Fri: as Monday.
Sat: 30mins up + 20 x 1'/1' fartlek / 60mins slow-med.
Sun: 70mins med-fast / 30mins up + 15 x 180-200m diagonals.
And corresponding paces from the other book:
Paces are based on LT. For guidance, his 10km pb was 2:39/km, his HM pb was 2:49/km. I know he wouldn't have been in peak shape at this stage, but effort is relative, so if we take LT as 2:50/km, just to pick a round number.
Fast = LT + 5% = 2:59/km.
Med = LT + 12% = 3:10/km.
Slow = LT + 25% = 3:33/km.
I don't see how that's doable without assistance.
The problem is that he was beaten by Haile, Haile is under Hermens, about whom there have been rumours floating around about for years, and he also counts Bekele, Kipchoge, Florence Kiplagat and Ayana in his stable.
The 5km/10km times that Haile/Bekele ran generally nobody gets near to. Ayana destroyed the field in Rio, and Kipchoge (as much as I hope he isn't doping as I love watching him race) has been around forever, and Hermens is quoted as saying he reckons Kimetto was doping previously because he is 'running shit now', which he attributed to him being off whatever he was on, so longevity in his eyes is linked to doping..........
There's always a possibility that if the right thread is pulled the whole thing collapses.........