Could Rupp do this Bekele workout?

the workout:

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

bullshit

Rupp couldn't do that workout and neither could Mo Farah. People do not get it. When Bekele was in his prime he was so much better than Rupp and Farah.

Yes Rupp could do that workout because the year I season debut with a 1:52.3 in a low key meet (only 2 800m competitors) and I just completed the following workout a week earlier:

5 x 400m in 52-55 sec with 3 min slow jog recovery and came back to do the same workout with a teammate who showed up late and needed help.

If I could do something similar then surely Rupp could complete the workout or come very close, only part he may have trouble with is the 200m after all those 400m!

(If Letsrun wants to verify the type of workouts I've completed during my brief running career, I would be willing to supply them the coaches I worked with in the past; however, will only supply the information to Wejo or his brother to verify).

I'm saying if I could do 10 x 400m in 52-55 and I'm nowhere near the athlete Rupp is- although coaches/teammates said I should've been running 1:44 in my second year of running/competing- then surely he could go six more 400's!

in what universe is 5x400 with 3 minute recovery anything close to 16x(400+200) at a faster pace?

nobody in the world could do that workout right now

In what universe is 52-54 faster then 52-55 only one of my 400m was over 54.9 which happened to be 55.2 and if you can add I did the workout twice so it was 10 x 400m. Are you okay?

Good for you, except that you forgot to mention the 16x200 repeats in 24-25 which immediately followed each 400 - changes the challenge a bit, don't you think?

I tend to agree with earlier poster that no one at present could do this work out. Bekele was a beast back then.

there was a mistake there were 16 runs it is 8x (400+200)

lydiard is right... he said in the article 16 total

Okay the fact that it was only 8 x 400 and 8 x 200m certainly indicates that Rupp could complete the 4 x 400m but the 8 x 200m would probably give him trouble. I had enough speed and decent endurance in which 10 x 400m wasn't too much for me; therefore, Rupp certainly could come close.

I don't think Rupp would hit the times Bekele did in the 8 x 200m but he wouldn't be too far off. Rupp on his current climb of improvement over the years should be in close to 12:46 and sub 26:40 shape in 2013.

VIPAM wrote:

In what universe is 52-54 faster then 52-55 only one of my 400m was over 54.9 which happened to be 55.2 and if you can add I did the workout twice so it was 10 x 400m. Are you okay?

3 minute recovery makes all the difference

You sound talented but should have been doing it with 60 secs recovery and 10 not 5, unless you were an 800m runner?

In his prime Bekele was a different animal altogether. Watch the last few k of his 5k win in Beijing. I think only a couple of guys could have ever lived with that, namely Geb, Komen and El G. And they've have still lost.

In Bejing 5000m finals - Bekele's last 3000m was 5 seconds off Rupp's 3k PR.

Kenny B King wrote:

In his prime Bekele was a different animal altogether. Watch the last few k of his 5k win in Beijing. I think only a couple of guys could have ever lived with that, namely Geb, Komen and El G. And they've have still lost.

Bekele is arguably the best of alltime. Multiple world record holder, multiple Olympic gold medalist, multiple World Champ on the track and cross country. After reviewing his list of honours on the IAAF website one can see that a workout like this is something Bekele could claim in his prime, but such a claim by others is doubtful.

bekele was running the last 5k of his 10k in sub 13!!! rupp needs ideal conditions and good pacing to run sub 13. that tells you all you need to know

the fact this discussion even exists is a testament to how good rupp is

Notably Salazar said as much in a recent interview. Albeit I don't know what you mean by "so much better". Salazar basically said Farah isn't where Bekele was at back in the day.

Kenny B King wrote:

In his prime Bekele was a different animal altogether. Watch the last few k of his 5k win in Beijing. I think only a couple of guys could have ever lived with that, namely Geb, Komen and El G. And they've have still lost.

Geb in 1997-1998 would have waxed Bekele.

Of all the workouts I've read of Bekele doing, none of them have been anything like the one mentioned on that site.

I believe that Kenenisa Bekele did not do that workout, and that the author made it up.