Hassan Chahdi, France, 8th in Boston, 2:09:46, averages 50mpw, most of year, once a day! Hates mileage, double days

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqL0NxBIYXs/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Follow this modest, self effacing athlete on Instagram. Great model for Muslim youth in France and elsewhere. Life is short so start moving.

Ghost why do you bring up religion? What does that have to do with it?

It’s mostly irrelevant but it may inspire some disenfranchised youth in France who are involved in the wrong things.

One thing I’ve noticed is that in France the French athletics team is well represented by long distance runners of Muslim faith (originally from Magreb countries like Morocco and Algeria and to a lesser extent Tunisia ) but in Great Britain there are very few distance runners of British Pakistani origin and it may be a cultural thing. I’m presently living in Bradford, West Yorkshire Great Britain and this city is like 80% British Pakistani origin but the young people here are absolutely not interested in athletics. This is a sad reality all the more so because Pakistani British youngsters in general are quite physically suited to distance running many of them being rather short and lightweight initially when they’re young.

Richard Nerurkar, British Olympian and World Cup winner of the marathon (they no longer run the World Cup marathon) at Santander many years ago was also from Bradford, West Yorkshire but I believe he was of Indian descent. Richard was quite the scholar going to Oxford University and then later becoming a top class linguist with Russian and Amharic (Ethiopian language), as well as proficiency in French, German and Hindi.

I'm not so sure this guy would take to Jan's method if he hates long runs. A 20 mile seems like a staple of what JS does.

Hassan Chahdi is coached by Jean-Claude Vollmer who doesn't believe in big mileage espiecially with an athlete injury prone like Hassan. His workouts are non epics at all : lot of fartleks (>40min of work), short fast reps, tempo @M pace (from 3*10'-->2*30'), recovery days @8'00.

I was aware of that so thanks for confirming.

I forgot to mention that Hassan does regular weights in the gym, stretching, plyometrics, etc. However, I'm guessing he might be the most lightly trained finisher in the top 20 in Boston.

He reminds me of Meb K. who prior to his Boston win also focussing on 1 run per day, and gym or bike the other session.

Chahdi prefers a 20km long run (12 miles) at specific marathon pace (3:00 per km). In any case, who can run 30km -40km at 3:00 per km? No one. Kipchoge, close....but...(Nike shoes caveat in inclement weather and/or hills).

Based on his run yesterday, I think Chahdi can run 2:06:00-2:07:30 on a good course like Berlin, etc. Look at Koen Aert, 2:06:50 in Rotterdam. Potentially, Chahdi is more talented than the former Belgian male nurse.

Interesting that Aert's and Chahdi's training are polar opposites (Chahdi low mileage, Aert traditional long miles) but end up with good results.

Hassan Chahdi was heavily myopic as a youth (short sighted) requiring thick spectacles. These days it seems he either had laser surgery or wears contact lenses. Wearing glasses on the projects (low cost subsidized housing estates) in France did not give Hassan brownie points with his peers. In fact he was perceived as a nerd. Perhaps this explains his fundamental introversion.

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/photos/hassan-chahdi

Hassan Chahdi. Modest, self effacing French distance runner. Photo shoot.

Chahdi cannot run 2:06:00-2:07:30 unless he is able to increase his mileage above 160km+/week for his 10 week build-up... otherwise he will remain at the 2h09' level.

No way he can do 160km per week. His legs are too fragile. How about 120km + 45"-60" on bike for afternoon session - that is what he can do.

I do not believe in "legs too fragile" excuse. He is human. He can do it, simply does not want to or has not explored training on soft surfaces, uphill only, or treadmill. Trust me, there are ways.

Oh really? How come your best American runner on 160mpw can't run 2:06-2:07.

Yeah, I think you are correct and those are good suggestions. But if the guy doesn’t love running, then a bike, swim, elliptical double makes sense. A guy like this probably needs to make peace with doing a longer run. Keep the 20k progressive as a medium long run, but also do at least 30-35k long run. But perhaps it is in a ten-day cycle and not a long run every week. Or alternate the 20k progressive with a long run.

Because the best American long distance runners aren't long distance runners. They go into sports where they can earn millions of dollars just by showing up.