Do you believe Bekele did this workout?

mogelijk wrote:

Everyone scale this workout back by multiplying it by much slower than bekele you are. So if you are a 17 minute 5ker, multiply it by 1.347, and it becomes 16 x (71.5 400m, rest, 33 200m). To me it doesn't seem too unbelievable relative to fitness.

No, that's not how you scale it.

What are these paces to Bekele? The 400's are approximately his 800 race pace, and the 200's are approximately his 400 race pace. So take the 17 minute 5ker again - he is probably a 2:05-2:06 800 guy, and a 55 second 400 runner. So this workout for him is 16 x (63 400 meter, rest, 28 200). Much harder than what you had in mind.

Honestly I don't think anyone in the world could do this workout. It's 4 miles worth of 800 pace stuff PLUS 2 miles of 400 pace stuff at the same time. No way. No one does 6 miles of very hard work in one session, with this little rest no less.

of course we have a guy that can run 12 x 400 at 60 seconds with zero seconds recovery.

maybe bekele has a bit of a running start?

if so, reps are then 54 and 55 400 plus 25 for the 200 then yes, bekele could do this workout. maybe he blasted a few for the 53 and a 24 high.

a lot of guys could do 3 or 4 of these.....

more than 8 or so would end their season right there....

OBN # 2 wrote:

Do you Believe Kenenisa Bekele did this workout?

16x (400 in 52-54, rest, 200 in 24-25) w/ 90sec-2min rest b/w everything

http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2011/03/kenenisa-bekeles-workout-how-do-we-get.html

He also used to run 800's where the first 400 was at 10k pace and the last 400 was at finishing speed. So, that was 63-54. In other words, he was running 800 repeats at 1:57. Sounds impossible, but, if you think about it, he does this over and over in 10k's. People don't realize how good this guy is.

deanouk wrote:

altoroad wrote:

Steve Ovett and Said Aouita come to mind.

Both had a great combination of speed and endurance, but neither could run 45.5 (Rudisha's best for an open 400m,...and he probably had the potential of running around 45.0 end of last summer) for 400m and sub 26:30 for 10k like Bekele.

Ovett's PR for 200m is generally cited as 21.7. So while Ovett never ran 45.5 -- his PR of 47.5 was set when he was 19 -- I have to think that he could have run faster had he raced some 400s as Coe did.

And Aouita broke 1:44 for 800m and 13:00 for 5000m, and ran 27:26 to beat Mark Nenow. In a hypothetical race between Aouita and Bekele at 5000m, I think I'd bet on Aouita.

long dong silver wrote:

matters of grave importance wrote:

This ^ is correct. No friggin way Bekele couldn't do in the ballpark of 47. How in the world does anyone think that his best 400 would be 50?!?

47? Good one.

47.5 , 12'37 >>>>> 1'42.17 , 3'23.75 , 7'14.39

Do you think Bekele can run 3'23?

Go read a book.

Even if you don't believe in the calc displayed above, surely you can see using common sense that someone with the endurance to run 26'17, would, with 47 sec 400 speed, be able to run 2 51's back to back for a 1'42 - 1'43. But surely even you know that Bekele could never throw down 1'42 - 1'43.

That so called calculation is the dumbest shit I have ever read.

You don't need a calculation to know that Bekele, the best 5 and 10km runner ever, would be embarrasing the world at 8 and 15 if he 47sec 400m speed. Also with all his endurance if he could run 48 in an open 400m why then has he never closed in sub 52sec... despite some slow tactical races?

There is a very strong argument that Bekele could not break 50, 49 is possible but nothing more I would suggest.

The only argument people seem to be putting forwad 'for' this workout is 'you people don't understand how good he is'... which doesn't really make sense.. I mean we all know exactly how good he is, hence the debate, but it just seems very unlikely that he completed this workout as stated.. for the reasons outlined many times over in this thread.

Bekele stated in an interview that his PRs were 49 something in the 400 and 1:48. So no he cannot run 47 seconds for 400m.

Mr. Battery wrote:

Bekele stated in an interview that his PRs were 49 something in the 400 and 1:48. So no he cannot run 47 seconds for 400m.

And how much do you think he focused on 400m races?

Just asking.

It does not surprise me that Letsrunners do not comprehend the level of training the best 5/10 runner in history did. Remember, to be the world record holder, you must run in training what no other person is capable of.

It's ventolin's much tested device.

Perhaps not perfect, but quite good for giving a general idea.

It's ventolin's much tested device.

Perhaps not perfect, but quite good for giving a general idea.

And how much do you think he focused on 400m races?

[/quote]

It doesn't really matter much, how much he focused on 400 races. He wouldn't have run more than maybe .2 secs faster in an offical 400 "race"

A classic example of the fool in his natural habbitat:

turkey leg wrote:

It does not surprise me that Letsrunners do not comprehend the level of training the best 5/10 runner in history did. Remember, to be the world record holder, you must run in training what no other person is capable of.

The Lone Wolf wrote:

Just like no one could run under 4 minutes, 8 minutes, 13 minutes or 27 minutes.

We are talking about the best here.

It doesn't really matter, but I personally don't believe anyone has broken 7:30 for 3k, 8:00 for 2 miles, 13:00 for 5000m, or 27:00 for 10000m without the aid of PED's.

Thank you kulla holla, I thought I was going to have to call that guy out myself... Basically people like HIM are the ones that don't understand the ability of the best runners, and they will blindly believe that they are capable of almost anything.

kulla holla wrote:

You don't need a calculation to know that Bekele, the best 5 and 10km runner ever, would be embarrasing the world at 8 and 15 if he 47sec 400m speed. Also with all his endurance if he could run 48 in an open 400m why then has he never closed in sub 52sec... despite some slow tactical races?

There is a very strong argument that Bekele could not break 50, 49 is possible but nothing more I would suggest.

The only argument people seem to be putting forwad 'for' this workout is 'you people don't understand how good he is'... which doesn't really make sense.. I mean we all know exactly how good he is, hence the debate, but it just seems very unlikely that he completed this workout as stated.. for the reasons outlined many times over in this thread.

Honestly, I don't think anything other than seeing him run the workout could convince you otherwise based on the way you are talking about people's opinions.

Mr. Battery wrote:Bekele stated in an interview that his PRs were 49 something in the 400 and 1:48. So no he cannot run 47 seconds for 400m.

someone posted geb did a 49.9 once

very convenient that a hand-time had to be under the magical 50s

i think these 400s were generous HTs with perhaps even a flying start

a line of fit i get for kennster at his peak is :

~ 51.40 / 1'47.80 -> 3'30.7 , 4'46.1 , 7'20.0 , 12'36.4 , 26'15.3

the 800 is close enough to his 1'48, his 1500/5k/10k are also close enough to what he ran; the 3k is what really shoud be expected from a guy quicker than komen over 5k & likely only a little slower over 1500 - they shoud offset each other over 3k to get around komen's time

that just leaves the 400 - believe it or not, he might not have cracked 51 !

long dong silver wrote:

Thank you kulla holla, I thought I was going to have to call that guy out myself... Basically people like HIM are the ones that don't understand the ability of the best runners, and they will blindly believe that they are capable of almost anything.

I am not blindly believing anything. I am a professional elite coach lucky enough to work with amazing athletes. I know the level of training the worlds best have to go to and I know that it is unreasonable for everyone else. That is why they are the best.

Often, a workout of a legend is posted here and few believe it was possible. Nothing new here.

And what is this importance on Bekele's best 400? Can't you see that this workout is not similar to a single 400 effort? Bekele's strength was (is?) his massive aerobic engine and muscular durability. He could recover very rapidly and repeat near max speed reps many times. But whether he did in fact perform this workout is besides the point that I made. Which is the best in the world is the best because they go after something that no one else believes can be done.

16x (400 in 52-54, rest, 200 in 24-25) w/ 90sec-2min rest is NOT the workout.

The workout is "16 alternating 400 and 200"

i.e. 8x (400, 200)

Look at the heart rate graph...There are 16 peaks

Christ people are stupid, hope salazar cleared that one up for stevey...