I arrived just yesterady from Chicago, so give me the time to read before replying...
In Kenya, I have frequent talk with Patrick about training.
The first reason we have different training systems is a different organization. Patrick works with 100 or more runners, continuously recruiting newcomers, sometimes good talents, sometimes not very good, and he's the main source of recruitment for two managements : Global (Jos Hermens) and Michel Boiteng.
The athletes of these two management, both in Nederland, trains together : with Michel there are Emmanuel Mutai, Bernard Koech and Bernard Kipyego, with Global the most part of the other.
Patrick can't follow on daily basis all the Group. He has one assistant coach, Richard Metto, who follows the Group, using Patrick's plan.
Also in this Group, training is not the same for everybody.
As we discussed several times, we need to use different approaches with athletes STARTING with Marathon directly, and with athletes coming from a long career on track.
In the first case, we have athletes already adapted to long run, having a lot of general endurance, and the main goal, during the specific period (last 2 months before the race), is to ENHANCE their SPEED, maintaining the same level of general endurance.
In the second case, the athletes (Eliud Kipchoge, Bernard Koech and Bernard Kipyego) need only to maintain a high level of speed, but have to work more in order to increase their endurance.
For these type of athletes, the first step is to adapt their body to stay on the legs for long time, and their mind to remain focused longer than 2 hours.
Another difference in training comes from the individual characteristics of everybody.
Emmanuel Mutai is an athlete with wonderful running technique, very light and thin. His consumption of fuel is not high, since he doesn't have big muscle mass, and, due to the natural easy way of running, he doesn't need many workouts of speed, since never loses his speed-endurance.
Emmanuel has his best efficiency when runs at a speed of 2'50" >< 3'00" per km, and this is exactly the speed for a Marathon between 2:02' and 2:06'. After many years of continuous training, his room of improvement is more connected with the increase of MENTAL CONFIDENCE than with some physiological increase.
Emmanuel in his career had, may be, 100 workouts lasting 2:30' or longer than 40 kms, but never ran 40 kms faster than 2:12'.
But you need to know that times in Kenya depend on the course athletes use. The training camp of Patrick Sang is in Kaptagat, they normally use a road to Kaptuli, all the courses are very hilly in the forrest, and running 40 kms fast on those courses means to run 6-8 minutes slower than in Nangili (where normally I go with my athletes, and also Claudio Berardelli goes with the Group including Stanley Biwott, Dickson Chumba, Rita and Prisca Jeptoo).
About Eliud, he had a very long career on track, at top level. He won WCh in 2003, every year was able running under 7'30" in 3000m, and had an engine working with fuel "super", using essentially glycogen (also at Marathon speed). After running 27'11" only in Kenyan Trials in Eugene 2011, he decided to move to Marathon, and Patrick told him he needed a long period of translation, for changing the system of fuelling. Eliud started to run high volume of kms, never slow, but never very fast, and after 3 and half months ran his first HM in 59'25". Only after the full winter 2011/2012 he ran his first Marathon, in Hamburg, immediately in 2:05'.
Take in your mind that Eliud is a particular person. He has a diary where wrote ALL HIS TRAINING from the beginning of his career, and this is not common for Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes. This is the demonstration of the very high level of professionalism of Eliud, and for that reason he's able to give Patrick right feedback, that is the most important thing for building a correct training plan for the athlete.
Patrick is not only a coach, but a "master of life". He every time tries to teach athletes how to organize their life, how to invest their money, how to increase their education. Eliud is, without any doubt, his best pupil, and in the future will be probablt the best Kenyan coach, for his knowledge, but especially for his high human values, his modesty, his passion and his common sense.
If I can try to compare Eliud with some other runner, as character and passion, I immediately look at Haile Gebrselassie. They are the type of runners having passion for what they do, without becoming maniac, and living their life with several interests (Eliud is still in the University because wants to enhance his level of education). And, at the end of everything, this mental attitude is the reason because these athletes can last so long time at the top, and can continue to improve, till when their body can give the opportunity.