"Donovan is consistently among the top runners in any game as measured by distance covered. He's also one of the fastest. Peter Krustrup, a professor in the department of exercise and sport sciences at the University of Copenhagen, says that soccer players are among the world's greatest athletes because they run so often at high intensity, which he defines as more than 15 kilometers per hour. Among midfielders like Donovan, that number is more like 18. At the World Cup, Donovan was one of a relatively small number to be clocked (in bursts) at over 30, or almost 19 miles per hour."
"Speed is a natural gift, but not every athlete knows how to harness it. Donovan is a fitness obsessive who's figured out how to optimize his body for performance. A professed admirer of Kenyan runners, who, he says, "never jog," Donovan has for most of his career trained by constantly pushing himself at 80 to 90 percent of his maximum heart rate (a strategy now standard for soccer players around the world). He's also dialed his diet, following a lean fish-and-vegetable menu, then, after hearing that Michael Jordan ate steak before games, amping up his protein intake to boost his energy reserves."