The Secrets of the World's Best 1500-Meter Training Group - Rongai Athletics Club

I don't know if I want to fall for this again. Last time you did an expose on a star Kenyan 1500m runner, it all ended in a flurry of tea payments and a weird make out video...

Very interesting, main training points:

Strength train 3 times a week, only twice if in the week of a competition.

Three track workouts a week, only two if it is the week of a competition.

Warm up for there track workouts is also interesting instead of jogging 2-3 miles they do 30-30. Run easy for 30 seconds and than do 30 second stride.

Finish speed work with hill sprints 4 x 150m

Mileage not stressed.

Interesting how the coach is a national championship in Karate.

Sand Dunes wrote:

Very interesting, main training points:

Strength train 3 times a week, only twice if in the week of a competition.

Three track workouts a week, only two if it is the week of a competition.

Warm up for there track workouts is also interesting instead of jogging 2-3 miles they do 30-30. Run easy for 30 seconds and than do 30 second stride.

Finish speed work with hill sprints 4 x 150m

Mileage not stressed.

Interesting how the coach is a national championship in Karate.

Another training point I forgot, doesn't put a emphasis on long runs. Longest run is only a little bit over a hour.

Sand Dunes wrote:

Sand Dunes wrote:

Very interesting, main training points:

Strength train 3 times a week, only twice if in the week of a competition.

Three track workouts a week, only two if it is the week of a competition.

Warm up for there track workouts is also interesting instead of jogging 2-3 miles they do 30-30. Run easy for 30 seconds and than do 30 second stride.

Finish speed work with hill sprints 4 x 150m

Mileage not stressed.

Interesting how the coach is a national championship in Karate.

Another training point I forgot, doesn't put a emphasis on long runs. Longest run is only a little bit over a hour.

DURING season. It is not slow either, you can bet that. 90 minutes during base phase.

Nothing suspicious about 3 speed workouts per week year round on low mileage... carry on marveling at the revolutionary coach who has his athletes go anaerobic every other day with zero consequences.

I'm not generally a skeptic but this reeks.

The not-so-secret secret is EPO.

Most top Kenyans = dopers. This has been proven in the last year.

Working Stiff wrote:

Nothing suspicious about 3 speed workouts per week year round on low mileage... carry on marveling at the revolutionary coach who has his athletes go anaerobic every other day with zero consequences.

I'm not generally a skeptic but this reeks.

Three speed workouts per week is pretty standard from high school to every pro group. It's also what you see in most popular running books. Also, nothing here suggests that these are highly anaerobic training sessions. Mileage appears to be moderate during the competitive season, not low. Also not unusual for middle distance runners.

If there's anything suspicious about these guys, it's certainly not their conventional training methods.

Deja vu all over again wrote:

I don't know if I want to fall for this again. Last time you did an expose on a star Kenyan 1500m runner, it all ended in a flurry of tea payments and a weird make out video...

this post defines why I want 'like' buttons on posts

800 dude wrote:

Working Stiff wrote:

Nothing suspicious about 3 speed workouts per week year round on low mileage... carry on marveling at the revolutionary coach who has his athletes go anaerobic every other day with zero consequences.

I'm not generally a skeptic but this reeks.

Three speed workouts per week is pretty standard from high school to every pro group. It's also what you see in most popular running books. Also, nothing here suggests that these are highly anaerobic training sessions. Mileage appears to be moderate during the competitive season, not low. Also not unusual for middle distance runners.

If there's anything suspicious about these guys, it's certainly not their conventional training methods.

What now? Three speed workouts per week is standard for most pro groups and is in most running books? Which books and which groups are you talking about?

Working Stiff wrote:

800 dude wrote:

Three speed workouts per week is pretty standard from high school to every pro group. It's also what you see in most popular running books. Also, nothing here suggests that these are highly anaerobic training sessions. Mileage appears to be moderate during the competitive season, not low. Also not unusual for middle distance runners.

If there's anything suspicious about these guys, it's certainly not their conventional training methods.

What now? Three speed workouts per week is standard for most pro groups and is in most running books? Which books and which groups are you talking about?

He's talking about most pro groups and most running books. There are far too many to mention.

Working Stiff wrote:

800 dude wrote:

Three speed workouts per week is pretty standard from high school to every pro group. It's also what you see in most popular running books. Also, nothing here suggests that these are highly anaerobic training sessions. Mileage appears to be moderate during the competitive season, not low. Also not unusual for middle distance runners.

If there's anything suspicious about these guys, it's certainly not their conventional training methods.

What now? Three speed workouts per week is standard for most pro groups and is in most running books? Which books and which groups are you talking about?

Ever heard of Steve Jones, Deek or Pre? Or, Igloi training?

You can do more speed work per week if you don't hammer it each workout.

It's kinda like how natty serious weight lifters squat darn near every time they go into the weight room and get better results than bro lifters who only squat once a week.

The secret is not hammering it, just greasing the groves as some weight lifters say.

Bravo ?? Thank you Jonathan Gault and LetsRun for this truly excellent piece. Surely one of the best articles on Kenyan running I’ve read from an international outlet. Only rarely do supposedly legit journalists manage to represent the Kenyan athletic journey as completely as you have, without lazy stereotypes or petty innuendo. You treated your subject as a human being, and that came through in the article. This is frankly better than anything I’ve read in the Guardian or L’Équipe. Award calibre.

Still disappointed with the tweet where you appeared to take a cheap shot at Edward Zakayo Pingua’s age, though. Maybe you should consider a piece on him? He’s a young man with another remarkable story waiting to be told. And you seem like one of the few that can do it justice. ??

Also love that Tim’s potatoes ? got a mention. I’d love for Coach Bernard Ouma’s boys to sweep the Olympics. But he should get prepared for disruption as there’s soon going to be a bunch of foreigners knocking on his door wanting in.

800 dude wrote:

Working Stiff wrote:

Nothing suspicious about 3 speed workouts per week year round on low mileage... carry on marveling at the revolutionary coach who has his athletes go anaerobic every other day with zero consequences.

I'm not generally a skeptic but this reeks.

Three speed workouts per week is pretty standard from high school to every pro group. It's also what you see in most popular running books. Also, nothing here suggests that these are highly anaerobic training sessions. Mileage appears to be moderate during the competitive season, not low. Also not unusual for middle distance runners.

If there's anything suspicious about these guys, it's certainly not their conventional training methods.

Through high school, university, and 3 years as a pro, I can assure you that 3x speed sessions on the track a week inseason is NOT standard. Two is typical: one longer/one shorter. A 3rd workout might be a tempo session.

El Keniano wrote:

Also love that Tim’s potatoes ? got a mention. I’d love for Coach Bernard Ouma’s boys to sweep the Olympics. But he should get prepared for disruption as there’s soon going to be a bunch of foreigners knocking on his door wanting in.

Sounds like you're getting in your excuse already for if and when one of them get popped.

Why didn't Mr Jonathan Gault ask Ouma specifically about Kiprop? We know that he (Kiprop) was the 'mentor' of George.

Anyway, it's good to know that WADA now has a lab only a few miles from Rongai.

Coevett wrote:

El Keniano wrote:

Also love that Tim’s potatoes ? got a mention. I’d love for Coach Bernard Ouma’s boys to sweep the Olympics. But he should get prepared for disruption as there’s soon going to be a bunch of foreigners knocking on his door wanting in.

Sounds like you're getting in your excuse already for if and when one of them get popped.

Why didn't Mr Jonathan Gault ask Ouma specifically about Kiprop? We know that he (Kiprop) was the 'mentor' of George.

Anyway, it's good to know that WADA now has a lab only a few miles from Rongai.

I did ask Ouma specifically about Kiprop. Not everything makes it into the final article.

Here was our exchange:

Me: What were your thoughts when Asbel Kiprop tested positive?

Everybody was shocked. Not Asbel -- anybody else. Asbel has been a role model. The news was shocker to everyone. Nobody wanted to talk about it. Like a nightmare. It took a long time to come to terms with that. I can remember Elijah was away, I was heading to Doha Diamond League. I remember hearing, "Is it true, is it true?"

Do you believe his story?

I’ve been to a number of doping rooms, either Diamond League or National Championships. And the process is very defined, very straight. I don’t believe that the sample was tampered with. I’ve seen how it is done. If you’re knowing there is nothing to hide, why do you want to give money?

LetsRun.com wrote:

"How Elijah Manangoi, Timothy Cheruiyot, & Coach Bernard Ouma Turned Rongai Athletics Club Into a Powerhouse "

We've just published Jonathan Gault's latest feature. We hope you enjoy it.

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2018/08/secrets-worlds-best-1500-meter-training-group-elijah-manangoi-timothy-cheruiyot-coach-bernard-ouma-turned-rongai-athletics-club-powerhouse/

It turns out that the Kenyan male runners in this workout ... are getting ... absolutely ... destroyed ... by ... Ms. Eilish McColgan ... again!!!

You can easily see in the photo that Ms. McColgan is way ahead of the Kenyan runners in the distance ... and easily ... "running" (???) ... away from the Kenyan male runners.

Oh well.

It's not a big surprise.

Well that was about the craziest post I’ve seen in awhile

Coevett wrote:

El Keniano wrote:

Also love that Tim’s potatoes ? got a mention. I’d love for Coach Bernard Ouma’s boys to sweep the Olympics. But he should get prepared for disruption as there’s soon going to be a bunch of foreigners knocking on his door wanting in.

Sounds like you're getting in your excuse already for if and when one of them get popped.

Why didn't Mr Jonathan Gault ask Ouma specifically about Kiprop? We know that he (Kiprop) was the 'mentor' of George.

Anyway, it's good to know that WADA now has a lab only a few miles from Rongai.

You’ll be waiting a long time, mister. No one from this type of group, and this kind of coach, will get popped. Your problem is that most of you see the world’s largest distance running community, Kenya, as a monolith. You’re unable to distinguish between individuals and groups. Like everywhere else, a tiny percentage may be dirty, but Kenya is unfortunate in that any positives unfairly tarnish the whole brand mainly because, on this subject, western journalists (certainly most I’ve read) are lazy and don’t do their job well. We need more articles like Jon Gault’s which is why I’m serious LetsRun should submit it for whatever sports journalism awards out there that it may be eligible for. It’s that good. Also, as a Kenyan, quite refreshing to read a piece devoid of the usual stereotypes and tired cliches. Kudos, Jon. I’ll be sharing this as much as I can in my networks.

As for your vendetta against George, a 17-year-old, it is quite bizarre, though transparent. You hate that a young Kenyan is coming through the junior ranks, showing the kind of promise of someone who could dominate for a decade. Also, he’s always said Elijah is his mentor.