Kenenisa Bekele - Training
This page provides a general training plan used by Bekele as well as the rest of the
Ethiopian National Team.
Sample Weekly Schedule
Monday
AM
3 hour long run in the forest (5:40/mile)
PM
none
Tuesday
AM
1.5 hour run; stretching
PM
1 hour easy
Wednesday
AM
hard 15km - 30km run on roads (half marathon - marathon pace); stretching
PM
1 hour easy
Thursday
AM
sprints in spikes; jogging; long warmup; 20 minutes stretching
PM
1 hour easy
Friday
AM
15 - 20 x 400m hills with jog recovery; 15 - 20 minutes stretching
PM
1 hour easy
Saturday
AM
track work; 3 x 1200m to 8 x 2000m; stretching
PM
1 hour easy
Sunday
AM
1 hour very easy
PM
none
Specific Workouts
Session Pace Specifics Workout Goal
6 x 800m 1:57/800m lap 1 at 1:04; lap 2 at 0:53 final lap kick
6-10 x 1000m 2:27/1000m
3 minutes recovery
3000m pace work
3 x 2000m 5:02/2000m
3 minutes recovery
5000m pace work
5 x 2000m 5:15/2000m 10,000m pace work
threshold 4:25-4:45/mile
15k - 30k (half marathon to marathon pace)
threshold
basic speed plyometrics and strides (100m) basic speed and kick
strength light weight lifting at high repetitions strength endurance
An Ethiopian newspaper reported on a workout run by the Ethiopian National Team (specifically Bekele and
Sihine) during June of 2004. The athletes ran 7000m (in Addis Ababa at altitude) at an average pace of around
2:40/kilometer. They split 13:22 for 5000m on their way to a 7000m time between 18:40 and 18:45.