Train Hard Win Easy The Kenyan Way: Some Embellishment

Well that's obvious. Sure they can train that hard...if they are on EPO and steroids. Also, one must define "hard". Running just over threshold at a "steady-state" could be carried out for parts of your run everyday. Some would define this as somewhat "hard". Also, Kenyans have a tendancy to exaggerate greatly just to mess with us Westerners. Don't believe all that you hear. I've got a friend who has ran with and talked with kenyans out in NM. Believe me, they don't run 5:00 pace everyday.

Alan

One of the toughest workout's I have heard was just prior to Tergat's 26:29 10k WR in '97. A friend (that is close to Tergat) mentioned that he was in WR shape for 10k...he had just come back from St Moritz, and had completed a session of 25 x 400m @ 55 seconds with a slow 200m jog...Ofcourse, his WR later the same day did not surprise me...63+ per lap would be reasonable if you could manage that w/o

no way he did 25 quarters in 55 and then ran a 26:29 in the same DAY?!?!?

something is wrong here

What appears to be implied is that the WR was set the same day the person heard about the workout, not the same day, or even week it should be safe to assume, that the workout was done.

Dear friends

From experience I can say the mind and body can do some

wonderful things! Honestly in 1989, fresh out of the military and into college. I had been running for about

two years (25 -40 miles) and went to the track and ran

20 quarters in 58 to 62 sec with 400m jog, next day I

ran 7 miles at 5:39 pace on the same track! I was asked

to join that college track team, where people told me

that was awesome, incredible, and I shouldn't been able to do that! During training I continued to hear that! Long story short- I believed I shouldn't and never run as well as I should have in my brief 2 year competitive career!

I meet two Kenyans in 1991 one who trained HARD and the

other easy and sparingly, yet both were GREAT, GREAT runners! NOTE: Training methods differ from person to person depending on the desire and talent (belief in themselves or the lack off)!

Its all true

VIPAM

You were pulling 20 x 400 at around 60 seconds off of 25 - 40 miles a week? It wasn't an indoor track was it?

Belief is very important.

Kenyan After Hearing for Example Tergat's 26:27 10,000m:

"Oh, now I must go and run faster."

American After Hearing for Example Kennedy's 12:58 5,000m:

"Lucky bastard, I'll never EVER run that freaking fast. Stupid animal must be on drugs."

If we on these boards had nothing else to do besides run;

no job, no wife, no kids, no responsibilities, if running was our job, - just run - nothing else - and companies like Fila and Nike were lining our pockets with money you think we couldn't run 4 times per day?? Damn right we could,and our PR's would show it too. I don't believe they do or even could run every workout at the intensity talked about but I have little doubt its not too far off. Again, these are the finest runners in the world; they're doing their job. 4 times a day isn't remotely absurd...

Legalizit

You are correct. I met up with a friend (that was working with many Kenyans out of Northern Italy) a few hours prior to the Brussels meet. He mentioned Tergat's fitness level, and his incredible training in St Moritz. I'm guessing that Tergat ran the 400 w/o a couple-three weeks prior to the WR attempt at Brussels. Still, after hearing the w/o, I was less surprised to see him run 26:29....I hope that clears things up a bit...

Mike

read "t.h.w.e." and you will see that a good number of kenyans do indeed have jobs, wives, kids, and other responsibilities outside of "just run[ning]". only a small percentage at the top have shoe companies "lining [their] pockets with money". running is not regarded as a job. few run four times a day, and those who do only do so for short periods during the year. most run twice daily, occasionally thrice, which is not remotely absurd for anyone.

Running HARD 3-4 times per day IS absurd.

That's what it said in the book and I will give you page #'s if you want.

You pay my mortgage & car payments, go walk my beat @ work, entertain my wife and kids, maintain my house, and I'll gladly pound out 4 workouts a day....

i have already read the book, but thanks anyway.

you think i would be willing to pay for choices that you have made, the consequences of which you feel get in the way of running more (why do you feel that you need 4-a-days? are you already doing 3-a-days? or even 2-a-days?)? yeah, right. better yet, why not just move to the 3rd world or simply stop trying to keep up with the joneses? that is more of a realistic request than what you have made.

Well Maggie, I am doubling but anyway as for moving to a third world country: I hate goats, sand & the burning sun, I like my water chlorinated and my restaurants inspected. I like not having to share my roads with cattle or growing a third arm to swat flies with. I stick to what I said, 4 a days are feasible for SOME folks...

ScottB wrote:

I stick to what I said, 4 a days are feasible for SOME folks...

uh, i never claimed otherwise . . . only that it the necessity of doing 4-a-days to be fast seems to have been over-stated here. as for the "request" i made, as well as the one that you made, it seems you missed the entire point . . . but that's okay.

I hate goats, sand & the burning sun, I like my water chlorinated and my restaurants inspected. I like not having to share my roads with cattle or growing a third arm to swat flies with[quote]ScottB wrote:

maybe now your starting to get the idea of why you cant run the same types of workouts the africans can.

It's been a while since I read this book, but as I recall, 3-a-days and 4-a-days were the exception not the rule. I think the 4/day were examples of extremes that some folks had tried, not their steady "diet". I got the impression that 2/day was far more typical. What I did notice was the fact that virtually all running is on dirt roads and trails, and at the camps, with fairly large groups of people. I recall the story of one individual (it may have been in a different book) who did his morning run, had some food, went to bed, did an afternoon run, had some food, did a few odds and ends, went to bed, went for his evening run, and then (you guessed it) had some food and went to bed. I really like running, but I like other things too. Maybe if I was a pro I might behave differently but...

I know what Americans do for training. They put in 250 mile weeks, 80 mile days, and have been known to run 3 times a day. Really, this is true.

Oh wait, maybe that was just Lindgren. Or more likely they all do it. Or maybe different people do different things.