Bob Kennedy's Training In Detail from '96 is up

at dyestat.com

Bob Kennedy's Run to the '96 Olympics

"We've thumbed through Bob Kennedy’s 1996 training log and pulled workouts from a few key periods — leading up to the US Olympic Trials, a tune-up meet, and finally the Atlanta Olympics."

June 3: am- 6 miles pm- 6 miles

June 4: am- Track, 3 miles warm-up

400m- :59.8 (:60), 600m- 1:30.2 (:90), 800m- 2:02.3 (2:00),

1000m- 2:36.6 (2:30), 800m- 2:04.6 (2:00),

600m- 1:31.1 (:90), 400m- :60.3 - 2 mile cool down

pm- 4 miles

June 5: am- 5 miles pm- 5 miles, with 8*100m

June 6: am- Track, 3 miles warm-up

4*200m (:28.1, :27.7, :27.4, :26.6) (:80) (3:00)

4*200m (:28.1, :27.4, :27.4, :26.7) (:80) (3:00)

4*200m (:27.6, :27.2, :27.6, :26.8) (:75) - 1.5 miles cool down

pm- 4 miles

June 7: am- 5 miles, with 4*100m strides pm- 4miles

June 8: am- 3 miles

pm- Track, 3 miles warm-up

1600m (:58, :63, :60, :66) – 4:07.2 (3:00)

1600m (:64, :59, :67, :60) – 4:10.6 (3:00)

1600m (:60, :66, :60, :67) – 4:13.6 - 2 mile cool down

June 9: 11 miles

75 miles for the week

One week before the Olympic Trials

June 10: am- 5 miles pm- 5 miles

June 11: am- 4 miles

pm- Track, 3 miles warm-up

4*400m (:58.1, :57.5, :58.5, :57.8) (:60) (3:00)

4*400m (:57.2, :58.2, :57.6, :58.1) (:60) (3:00)

4*400m (:58.0, :57.5, :57.2, :57.2) (:60) - 2 mile cool down

June 12: am- 5 miles pm- 3 miles

June 13: am- 5 miles

pm- 3 mile warm-up

1000m (2:27.6) (2:30)

600m (1:26.2) (2:00)

400m (:56.1) (:90)

200m (:26.8) - 1.5 mile cool down

June 14: am- 5 miles pm- 3 miles

June 15: am- 8 miles pm- 4 miles

June 16: am- Track, 3 mile warm-up

4*200m (:28.8, :28.2, :28.1, :28.1) (:75) (2:45)

4*200m (:28.3, :28.8, :27.9, :27.7) (:75) - 2 mile cool down

67 miles for the week

Week of the Olympic Trials.

June 17: am- 5 miles pm- 3 miles

June 18: am- 5 miles pm- 4 miles, strides

June 19: am- 3 miles

Olympic Trials (semi)

3 mile warm-up

5000m- 13:58.8 – (3600m-4200m, 1:31)

3 mile cool down, strides

June 20: am- 4 miles pm- 4 miles, strides

June 21: am- 2 miles

Olympic Trials (Final)

3 mile warm-up

5000m – 13:46.1 – 1st Place

4 mile cool down, 3rd K (2:35), last 3K (8:05)-fartlek

June 22: 3 miles

June 23: 8 miles

60 miles for the week

Week after the Olympic Trials.

June 24: am- Track, 3 mile warm-up

5*400 (:59.0, :58.3, :58.8, :58.8, :59.3)(:55) (4:00)

5*400 (:59.6, :58.5, :59.9, :58.5, :57.4)(:60) - 2.5 mile cool down

June 25: am- Travel to London pm- 7 miles

June 26: am- 5 miles pm- 5 miles

June 27: am- 7 miles pm- 5 miles

June 28: am- Track, 3 mile warm-up

8*200m (:28.9, :28.2, :28.4, :28.0, :28.6, :27.7, :27.7, :27.8)(:75)

2 mile cool down

pm- 5 miles

June 29: am- 5 miles pm- 3 miles, strides

June 30: am- 2 miles

Gateshead, 3 mile warm-up

1500m – 3:40.97 – 1st Place- 2 mile cool down

64 miles for the week

One week before Stockholm and the American Record.

July 1: 13 miles

July 2: am- 3 miles

pm- Track, 3 mile warm-up

1200m (3:05.1)(:60) 400m (:58.5) (4:00)

1200m (3:00.8)(:60) 400m (:58.2) (4:00)

1200m (2:59.1)(:60) 400m (:57.5) - 2 mile cool down

July 3: am- 5 miles, 8 strides

July 4: am- 5 miles pm- 5 miles, strides

July 5: am- 3 miles

pm- Track, 3 miles warm-up

4*400m (:59.6, :61.5, :60.0, :58.0)(:60) (2:30)

4*200m (:29.7, :28.5, :28.5, :28.1)(:70) - 1.5 mile cool down

July 6: am- 7 miles

July 7: am- 5 miles pm- 3 miles, with strides

64 miles for the week

Stockholm and the American Record, and two weeks before the Olympics.

July 8: am- 2 miles

pm- Stockholm

3 mile warm-up, 5000m – 12:58.75 (AR)-2nd Place

2:37, 5:10(2:33), 7:47(2:37), 10:24(2:37), 12:58(2:34)

1 mile cool down, strides

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July 15: am- Track, 3 mile warm-up

5*1000m (2:32.7, 2:32.4, 2:31.7, 2:31.5, 2:30.5)(2:00)

3 mile cool down

pm- 5 miles

July 16: am- 7 miles

July 17: am- Track, 3 mile warm-up

4*400m (:59.6, :59.2, :58.1, :59.7)(:55) (3:00)

4*400m (:59.6, :59.4, :59.1, :58.1)(:55) (3:00)

4*400m (:59.0, :58.8, ;59.5, :58.1)(:55) - 2 mile cool down

pm: 5 miles

July 18: am- 5 miles pm: Travel to Atlanta

July 19: am- 7.5 miles pm- 3 miles

July 20: pm- 8.5 miles

July 21: am- Track, 3 mile warm-up

4*400m (:62.7, :59.9, :60.1, :59.1)(:55) (2:30)

4*400m (:61.5, :59.9, :59.8, :58.5)(:55) - 1 mile cool down

pm- 5 miles

69 miles for the week

One week before the Olympics.

July 22: am- 5 miles pm- 5 miles

July 23: am- Track, 3 mile warm-up

1600m (4:06.6) (4:00)

1200m (3:02.8) (4:00)

800m (1:58.9) (4:00)

400m (:55.4) - 3 mile cool down

pm- 5 miles

July 24: am- 5 miles pm- 5 miles

July 25: am- 5 miles pm- 5 miles, 4*100m strides

July 26: am- Track, 3 mile warm-up

3*400m (:59.7, :60.0, :59.4)(:90)

3*300m (:42.9, :43.2, :43.2)(:70) (3:00)

3*200m (:27.4, :28.0, :27.0)(:70) - 2 mile cool down

pm- 3 miles

July 27: am- 3 miles pm- 3 miles, strides, 2 miles

July 28: pm- Track, 2.5 mile warm-up

4*200 (:28.5, :28.0, :27.8, :27.5)(:65) (2:45)

4*200 (:28.7, :27.6, :28.7, :27.2)(:65) - 1.5 mile cool down

66 miles for the week

Olympic Games in Atlanta, Semi-Finals and Finals.

July 29: am – 5 miles pm- 3 miles, strides, 3 miles

July 30: am- 5 miles pm- 4 miles, strides

July 31: am- 1.5 miles

pm- Olympic Games (1st round)

2.5 mile warm-up, 5000m – 13:54.57 – 4th Place

1 mile cool down, ice bath, light massage

August 1: am- 1.5 miles

pm- Olympic Games (Semi)

2.5 mile warm-up, 5000m – 13:27.9 – 4th Place

1 mile cool down, ice bath, light massage

August 2: 3 miles, strides

August 3: am- 1.5 miles

pm- Olympic Games (Final)

2.5 warm-up, 5000m – 13:12.35 – 6th Place

1 mile cool down

It's quite interesting, but it would be more interesting with his training during the base, these weeks doesn't show the hard work during the year. Showing this to High-school kids isn't that smart, they will keep doing track work 3 times a week or start with it and refer to Bob's training....during his peak-period.

Thanks for posting that.

Kennedy is a beast. I am surprised at how low his mileage was for most of the track season.

I've seen a lot of coaches like Tinman advise not to drop mileage too much until the very end, but he was in the 60's in June and still managed 12:58 in July.

And from a guy with a 53 second 400 PR, all those 26-27 200's are crazy. He was as strong and stronger than Komen, Gebrselassie, and any other top guy relative to basic speed.

What a phenomenal runner.

Kennedy is such an anomaly regarding his ability to process lactate. Couple that with his incredible natural aerobic talent (which is why he got away with the lower mileage) and mental toughness, I don't expect to see that again in my lifetime. The good news is that I'm 85 years old, so there's hope.

JYU wrote:

And from a guy with a 53 second 400 PR...

He was a 3:38 1500m guy, so I'm sure he could run at least a couple seconds faster, but just hardly ever competed in the event.

ttc wrote:

JYU wrote:

And from a guy with a 53 second 400 PR...

He was a 3:38 1500m guy, so I'm sure he could run at least a couple seconds faster, but just hardly ever competed in the event.

It's obvious, and known, that Bob Kennedy ran more mileage in the off season, but I think this log shows just how important it is to lower mileage and focus on heavy anaerobic work in season. I believe that Bob was in the 90-110 range during that time period, so to drop down to the 60's is pretty significant.

The workouts also interesting with a majority of it being middle distance type workouts.

G wrote:

It's obvious, and known, that Bob Kennedy ran more mileage in the off season, but I think this log shows just how important it is to lower mileage and focus on heavy anaerobic work in season. I believe that Bob was in the 90-110 range during that time period, so to drop down to the 60's is pretty significant.

The workouts also interesting with a majority of it being middle distance type workouts.

"Heavy" is relative, and, dare I say it, it is possible that he UNDERachieved and could have done even better with slightly less gut busting track repeats and 15-20 more weekly miles throughout the season. For a guy with his 400 and mile PR, those workouts are insane. He did a cut down workout with Komen and the Kenyans once, going 1600-1200-800-400, in 3:57, 2:56, 1:55, and 55. And his mile PR is 3:56.

THAT, if done once in a lifetime, isn't all bad. But the above shows a preponderence of hard workouts that is hard to get away with.

I believe Kennedy, right before this training cycle, had a stress fracture and was forced to cycle for cross-training. He had said the injury was terrible and whatnot, but with that forced rest, he went out that summer and ran 12:58.75 and 12:58.21. Wha-la. It is possible for amazing athletes to underachieve. Because Kennedy was an unbelievable athlete doesn't mean his preparation was error proof.

I disagree on: "For a guy with his 400 and mile PR, those workouts are insane."

To me it seems like Kennedy focused 5000m/3000m and used 1500/mile races as prep without too much worry about time. For a guy with a 7'30 3000m (2x3'45) you would think he could have run 3'32-3'34/3'49-3'51 had he chosen the middle distance route, but of course, he didn't and he ran mid 3'50 mile and high 3'30/low 3'40 1500m races.

His 400 PR is irrelevant. We, and probably Kennedy himself, will never know what his true potential as a 400 meter runner, what we do know is that he ran 7 and a half laps right at 60 seconds and 12 and a half at 62. That to me shows a tremendous amount of endurance AND speed.

Another point, although his workouts seem gut busting to us at first glance they are not TOO bad when you put them into context. 400, 800, and 1000 repeats at 60"/400 is 3000 work for Kennedy, and with equal rest is nothing that I or you can't do. The 200's at 27" again not too hard, just yesterday I did 2x5x200 in 29" with 80"/3' recovery and I'm just a mid-low 15min runner with maybe 56-58 400 speed.

Besides that, Bob did go through a period of 140 miles weeks during the late 90's and he "only" got the same results.

JYU wrote:

Kennedy is a beast. I am surprised at how low his mileage was for most of the track season.

I've seen a lot of coaches like Tinman advise not to drop mileage too much until the very end, but he was in the 60's in June and still managed 12:58 in July.

And from a guy with a 53 second 400 PR, all those 26-27 200's are crazy. He was as strong and stronger than Komen, Gebrselassie, and any other top guy relative to basic speed.

Bob WAS running 90-100 peak during base, but he has also said that during competition season Komen was running LESS than he was.

Now who do you think you should listen to--the guys who have done it, or the guys who haven't?

What I've learned as a coach about this is what you'll see if you put Bob's and Steve Scott's logs side-by-side. For 800/1500 there is more of a benefit for keeping speed throughout the training cycle, but a smaller cutback (~20%) for peaking seems to work best. For 5K, athletes seem to benefit more from a larger cutback (30-50%) as Bob and DK did.

I find it very odd, that everytime the training of world-class is presented IT'S always from the competetion-period. What are the reasons for this? Is it because the base-training looks too simple, no impressive track-workouts with great times, why only show the icing on the cake?

Im sure Bob could run 13.10 off just base-work, the last 10-12 secs due to peaking. If we take an 11.00 3000m-girl, 10-12 secs is 10.48, not that impressive. I really hope dyestat will post his base-weeks too.

Thank you for sharing this.

Speed Kills wrote:

Bob WAS running 90-100 peak during base, but he has also said that during competition season Komen was running LESS than he was.

Bob didn't run 12 miles to and from school barefoot each day as Komen did. Komen was putting in 60+ miles per week from a young age at altitude. That sort of base is not to be neglected. Kennedy did not have it, nor was he able to run a 3:46 mile like Komen.

As for the guy who suggested Kennedy could have run a 3:49 mile or a 3:33 1500, please. You are pulling those figures from out of the air. Kennedy DID focus on the mile in the earlier part of his career and did mile specific training for the early season meets. The 3:56 won the Prefontaine mile and he noted it as one of his best races ever. You are underestimating how strong he was.

Kennedy will never fit any conventional formulas because his long distance times were so fast for someone whose basic speed was, relatively, so slow. A 3:56 mile and a 12:58 5,000? Give Mottram that same strength (94.7% of mile speed) and he'd run 12:31.

Look at Kennedy's 3k... 60, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00!, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 7:30, Kennedy passes 1600m in 4 flat, mile in about 4:01 and change, Bob was easily a low 3:50 guy when he ran that.

I'm still in disbelief when so many predict sub-13:00 for any of our decent 5K'ers. We saw Bekele and Mottram go 12:55'ish. Do we really think Ryan Hall or Galen Rupp will ever do that? I sure don't. BK did, but was nearly top-10 in WC XC and a consistent 7:30-32 runner.

I agree with the other posts that mentioned how easy a lot of these workouts actually are. A few weeks before running 14:11 a few years ago I ran a workout of 8x200m all in :27s with the last couple in :26 with :60 recovery. I'm sure the workout mentioned in Kennedy's training (but with :75 recovery) would have been a very comfortable feeling workout for him. There were only a few "hard" workouts in that whole taper schedule.

1200m (3:05.1)(:60) 400m (:58.5) (4:00)

1200m (3:00.8)(:60) 400m (:58.2) (4:00)

1200m (2:59.1)(:60) 400m (:57.5)

Definitely not something I have been able to accomplish. Also the 5 x 1000m in low 2:30s off of 2 minutes recovery and the mile cutdown workout would seem like key workouts.

What I get from this schedule is that Kennedy was really attempting to freshen up with "feel good" workouts and recovery days while at the same time throwing in a handful of sharpening workouts to maintain fitness and gain confidence. I'm sure his knees were hitting him in the chin every time he went out for a run during this phase. He would have been damn fresh. In other words, he knew that the real work had already been done and at this point he was just making sure that his fuel tanks were topped up.

bob kennedy hit 140 mpw that winter, he was coming down in mileage at this point.

i believe he said the most of it was in the 125-130 mpw range for jan and feb.