Training of Sondre Moen between Valencia HM (59:48) and Fukuoka Marathon (2:05:48)

130 mile week.

week 2: most runs 6:10>5:53.

Key workout is 18.6M@5:14/M with 10x2k's averaging about 4:58 and 10x1k recoveries at 5:30.

That workout is pretty tough at altitude.

You're welcome!

xcvxcvxcv wrote:

week 2: most runs 6:10>5:53.

Key workout is 18.6M@5:14/M with 10x2k's averaging about 4:58 and 10x1k recoveries at 5:30.

That workout is pretty tough at altitude.

You sure about those 2k repeat times?

Calm down you POS. Some people on these boards!

georgiarunner17 wrote:

What's more impressive than his marathon time is that Sondre made the jump to simply being able to handle this training volume/intensity. How did he build up to this? Obviously he has been a sub-elite runner for a long time, but this is a whole other level.

^^This

very impressed with recovery intervals on those fartlek sessions. moen is clearly built for the marathon. also to be mentioned is his consistent splits first 30k of his 2:05:48 run. all hovering around 15 min and then pulling away the last 12k.

Can we safely assume, all of these workouts unless otherwise stated were at altitude? Anyone know roughly what elevation he's training at? 5000', 7000', 9000', etc?

Almost all the workouts for HM and Marathon were in altitude. Sondre trained at sea level for less than 50 days, after his Marathon in Hannover on 9th April, till his first competition on track in Gavardo (5000m and 1500m on 3rd and 4th June.

After those competitions, he went Sestriere in Italy (it was the site of Olympic Winter Games 2006), where the different sites of training are between 1800m/5900ft (Valle Argentera), 2050m/6725ft (the track) and 2200m/7215ft (Monte Rotta, Sentiero Brugnetti a Sentiero Bordin).

In Kenya, he normally lives and trains in Iten (2400m/7870ft), while the main workouts are in Moiben Road (2200m/7215ft).

The road for running are all rough roads, many times with very bad surfaces, especially after heavy rain (common situation in Kenya, during period like August and September, but this situation didn't affect his preparation because for all September and the first three weeks of October he was in Sestriere).

Thank you very much for your great insight Renato.

I find it interesting that Moens 5k-10k times are not as fast as that of a lot of slower marathon runners. Do you think that Sondres talent lies in the longer races and the talent of other guys lies more in 5k-10k?

Or is it that a better 5k-10k runners always have the better chance to run a fast marathon (with the right training and determination)?

In other words, are there guys that have mediocre 5k talent but world level marathon potential? And the reverse, are there world class 5k guys that have very limited marathon ability? (All assuming that they receive the besteht training).

Or are Sondres 5k-10k times underrated because he underperformed and they are no true indicator of his ability?

Thanks Renato for your generosity on Sondre 's training. Hey American "elite" runners Renato is showing you the way to running 2:05:00 marathon. This kind of training requires a huge personal sacrifice. This sacrifice is based not on one's talent but one's character. You have really got to want it!

olyrun wrote:

Thanks Renato for your generosity on Sondre 's training. Hey American "elite" runners Renato is showing you the way to running 2:05:00 marathon. This kind of training requires a huge personal sacrifice. This sacrifice is based not on one's talent but one's character. You have really got to want it!

Ridiculous statement! Moen is a big talent since he ran fast times already age 17. Canova was the coach that got the chance

to show him he needed faster paces in training and longer cruise intervals.

Renato, as always, thank you for posting and sharing the workouts of your athletes.

What does the next few weeks look like for Moen in terms of recovery & rebuilding? Will he take much time off (if any at all)? Will he resume training pretty quickly or build-up slowly over the next several weeks?

I think that sauna on 11/21 was the key here.

It seems that Moen does his easy or recovery days at about 25% slower than marathon pace. For someone that could run 6 min/mile for a marathon that puts their easy pace at 7:30. Seems very reasonable. Thanks for Sharing Renato

I read that coach JS, the online coach, predicted Moen to run 2:05 in Fukuoka just a couple of hours before the race.

JS told that out from the half Moen ran in Valencia he could foresee a 2:05. I think this new coach is quite interesting.

JS also told that he had a chat with Moen before you started to coach him, and in that chat JS told Moen he needed to

structure his paces better. The same idea that you did as I can read out from the training of Moen. Any comment on this?

Slow hobbyjogger wrote:

I read that coach JS, the online coach, predicted Moen to run 2:05 in Fukuoka just a couple of hours before the race.

JS told that out from the half Moen ran in Valencia he could foresee a 2:05. I think this new coach is quite interesting.

JS also told that he had a chat with Moen before you started to coach him, and in that chat JS told Moen he needed to

structure his paces better. The same idea that you did as I can read out from the training of Moen. Any comment on this?

Hi JS.

There are plenty of American elite runners who show the commitment.

Hello Renato,

I have a question about your philosophy on regeneration runs and how to get used to the faster pace every day. Do your runners start the easy run right at 3:50 pace to begin with? Or do they normally run 4:10-15 for at least 1km to start warming up into the quicker pace? Also, would you recommend increasing the bulk of easy mileage in base season to a faster pace in order to handle it later on when the hard workouts start.. or is it better for the regeneration miles to increase in pace as the fitness increases with harder workouts?

My other question is if an athlete were training at sea level, would they need to speed up their regeneration pace by 10 sec / km or would you still keep it the same as altitude but make the workouts faster?

Thanks Renato!