Eliud Kipchoge's workout this morning, 9 weeks before London Marathon. Stronger than prior to Berlin?

Take it easy E.K. wrote:

I want to see Eliud Kipchoge do well at 2020 Olympics. All out Marathons take a toll on everyone. I do not believe anyone has raced three sub-2:05 Marathons over a 12 month period. I hope Eliud Kipchoge races Marathons only to win between now and 2020 Olympics. He is getting older.

How many men have won 8 of their 9 marathons? Surely, his average must be

Mzungu in Iten wrote:

Tue, 05.03.2019

AM Track: 3km warm-up(15min) + 15x1k w/1'30 recovery, 3km cool-down(15min) . Total : 25.5km in 1h35min

Splits: 2'54 /2'55 / 2'54/ 2'51 / 2'55 / 2'51 / 2'52 / 2'50 / 2'51 / 2'51 / 2'53 / 2'52 / 2'50 / 2'53 / 2'48

1'30 recovery after each km repetition (around 300m each time)

PM : Rest

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Day's total 25.5km, altitude 2200m . Weather : AM +15C,partly cloudy

Thank you so much for the updates!

It'll be interesting to see which shoes will EK be wearing in London.

Vf 4% flyknit elite or as last year in london Vf 4% flyprint.

Wouldn't he breach the iaaf rules if he were to wear the 4% flyprint?

vf4% wrote:

It'll be interesting to see which shoes will EK be wearing in London.

Vf 4% flyknit elite or as last year in london Vf 4% flyprint.

Wouldn't he breach the iaaf rules if he were to wear the 4% flyprint?

How many threads are you going to post this on?

Thu, 07.03.2019

AM : 40km long progression run in 2h23min. ( very tough cross country course) + 1km wu/cd in around 5min each

10km splits: 38'31/ 36'15 / 35'44 / 32'38

PM : Rest

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Day's total 42km, altitude 2300-2500m . Weather : AM +15C, partly cloudy

Sat, 09.03.2019

AM Track: 3km warm-up(15min) + 15x1k w/1' recovery, 3km cool-down(15min) . Total : 24km in 1h28min

Splits: 2'53 / 2'57 / 2'56/ 2'58 / 2'54 / 2'55 / 2'53 / 2'56 / 2'56 / 2'52 / 2'54 / 2'51 / 2'53 / 2'53 / 2'48

1' recovery after each km repetition (around 200m each time)

PM : Rest

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Day's total 24km, altitude 2200m . Weather : AM +16C, sunny

Mzungu in Iten wrote:

Sat, 09.03.2019

AM Track: 3km warm-up(15min) + 15x1k w/1' recovery, 3km cool-down(15min) . Total : 24km in 1h28min

Splits: 2'53 / 2'57 / 2'56/ 2'58 / 2'54 / 2'55 / 2'53 / 2'56 / 2'56 / 2'52 / 2'54 / 2'51 / 2'53 / 2'53 / 2'48

1' recovery after each km repetition (around 200m each time)

PM : Rest

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Day's total 24km, altitude 2200m . Weather : AM +16C, sunny

I'm sincerely enjoying your updates. THANK YOU!

Yea this is amazing stuff, please keep the updates coming!

I agree this is great detail and a real insight into how Kip grinds everyday and not just at tempo. We already knew Kipchoge was the best. Even without exceptional sessions (for him, I don't see who else could possibly handle these except Kamworor at peak, doubt that Bekele could hang with this) this remarkable quality, consistency and brutality explain why he's uncatchable at the thon.

Mzungu, do you think he's in super-Berlin shape now? And do you tell him, many mzungu are reading of your training accomplishments in Kenya on LR and are staggered by them?

Pass it along... Kipchoge represents everything that's best about t&f. I hope he wins big in London.

Mzungu in Iten wrote:

Sat, 09.03.2019

AM Track: 3km warm-up(15min) + 15x1k w/1' recovery, 3km cool-down(15min) . Total : 24km in 1h28min

Splits: 2'53 / 2'57 / 2'56/ 2'58 / 2'54 / 2'55 / 2'53 / 2'56 / 2'56 / 2'52 / 2'54 / 2'51 / 2'53 / 2'53 / 2'48

1' recovery after each km repetition (around 200m each time)

PM : Rest

------------------------------

Day's total 24km, altitude 2200m . Weather : AM +16C, sunny

Reps at marathon pace, basically. An interesting approach to a 2-hour run.

rumpley wrote:

Mzungu in Iten wrote:

Sat, 09.03.2019

AM Track: 3km warm-up(15min) + 15x1k w/1' recovery, 3km cool-down(15min) . Total : 24km in 1h28min

Splits: 2'53 / 2'57 / 2'56/ 2'58 / 2'54 / 2'55 / 2'53 / 2'56 / 2'56 / 2'52 / 2'54 / 2'51 / 2'53 / 2'53 / 2'48

1' recovery after each km repetition (around 200m each time)

PM : Rest

------------------------------

Day's total 24km, altitude 2200m . Weather : AM +16C, sunny

Reps at marathon pace, basically. An interesting approach to a 2-hour run.

According to vdot, 2200m elevation, "Altitude effect: 16.1 seconds per mile; 10 seconds per km" so that workout is about half marathon pace.

Altitude effect or is it affects? wrote:

rumpley wrote:

Reps at marathon pace, basically. An interesting approach to a 2-hour run.

According to vdot, 2200m elevation, "Altitude effect: 16.1 seconds per mile; 10 seconds per km" so that workout is about half marathon pace.

I do think that our lack of knowledge of the precise training conditions (despite Mzungu's exceptional reporting of weather and altitude; I mean of course that we don't have intimate knowledge of the courses, surfaces, hills, etc and how they affect Eliud) seriously impacts our ability to assess his training as a whole. While I'm not sure how accurate that vdot conversion is for Kipchoge, I think we can all agree that if Eliud were to complete this workout at the same effort on the streets of Berlin he would run substantially faster. In particular, it does seem more in the neighborhood of 15xk @ HM pace rather than @ MP (although it's hard to tell since his MP is so unbelievably fast!).

Overall it seems that by Western standards his approach is highly unconventional (Of course, Eliud is hardly a conventional athlete!). Here's a quick summary of the workouts Mzungu has shared:

2/23 12x(1k fast, 1k float) around 2:50 fast, 3:20 float. @2200m altitude

2/26 5x(3k hard, 1k easy) average 8:43 (2:54/k) , the easy quite slow 4-4:15. @2200m

2/28 40k long progression run in 2:15. Middle 30k avg 16:53/5k, last 5k in 15:42.

3/2 10x(1k with 3' jog rest 500-700m) avg 2:45. @2200m

3/5 15x(1k with 1'30 jog rest 300m) avg 2:52. @2200m

3/7 40k long progression 2:23. Middle 20k about 18:00/5k, last 10k in 32:38.

3/9 15x(1k on 1' jog recovery 200m) avg 2:54. @2200m

In 15 days we have one session of Canova-like alterations, 2 40k long progression runs, and 4 track workouts. 2 of the track workouts were virtually identical (15xk), and one was quicker with less volume (10x1k), and the other was similar pace but longer repetitions and recoveries (5x3k). In 15 days I count 67k (abot 42 miles!) of work at ~2:55/k or faster.

From this snapshot it seems the primary sessions are the kilometer repetitions at around MP (although perhaps more like HM effort given the conditions). Because he speeds up substantially in the last 3-6miles of his long runs I'm making the presumption that they are not overly grueling for him - we have nothing like 10easy + 10MP or what have you. The longest continuous distance at MP is 3k (although clearly the jog rests are pretty minimal). It seems we have specificity of pace but not specificity of distance? I'm just speculating wildly at this point, but it seems many Western runners (not to mention the Japanese system) would focus more on volume and completing long tempos and threshold work just below or at MP. I also don't see anything like Canova's very intense 40k @ 93% or whatever those sessions are. It's just 15 days and Kipchoge is certainly an experiment of one so perhaps not much we can take from it but interesting to try nonetheless.

SaRchOsuuQusImperator wrote:

I agree this is great detail and a real insight into how Kip grinds everyday and not just at tempo. We already knew Kipchoge was the best. Even without exceptional sessions (for him, I don't see who else could possibly handle these except Kamworor at peak, doubt that Bekele could hang with this) this remarkable quality, consistency and brutality explain why he's uncatchable at the thon.

Mzungu, do you think he's in super-Berlin shape now? And do you tell him, many mzungu are reading of your training accomplishments in Kenya on LR and are staggered by them?

Pass it along... Kipchoge represents everything that's best about t&f. I hope he wins big in London.

You're all welcome. It's hard to assess someone's fitness at such fine margins, but i believe he's on the right path and will peak in London.

I guess his shape will be very similar to the one before his WR. Let's hope for a formidable race. As for his training, he and Sang work together and know what might work best for him. It's their running philosophy and if it worked wonders so far, why change it?

The difference per km according to vdot is absolutely wrong.

After good adaptation, an d several periods in altitude, also athletes coming from sea level have differences around 4 sec. per km, that become around 6 for the different situations of the roads (they lose 2-3 secs per km due to the lack of grip and the difficulties of the surfaces).

For example, Sondre Moen ran, last Thursday, 16 km (alternating 2 km + 3 km + 2 km + 3 km + 2 km with 1 km recovery at 85% of the fast speed) in 48'51" (average about 3'03") with 5'46" / 3'26" - 8'37" / 3'32" - 5'54" / 3'29" - 8'49" / 3'26" - 5'51", all in Moiben at 2200m of altitude. If the conversion is correct according the vdot, this means something like 5'26" - 8'07" - 5'34" - 8'19" - 5'31" that is absolutely not possible.

Therefore, stop to look at obsolete conversion's tables studied before OG in Mexico City (1968) when training in altitude was not yet a common strategy, and we supposed the difference was very much more consistant.

And don't forget we speak about athletes born, living and always training in altitude....

Spot on. I totally agree with this. Athletes have to be taken as individuals and they don't adapt the same at altitude for example.

Kipchoge's training surfaces are dirt roads/gravel track/asphalt when it's too muddy or Sang asks them specifically to have a long run/tempo on it.

Just for the record Renato, do you have any updates on the formidable trio? ( E.Kiptanui, D.Kipchumba, J.Boit ) I know Eric will defend his title in the Berlin Half and won a tactical race in Barcelona, what shape is he in compared to last year?

Eric will run Lisbon next week. He's not yet in the same shape of last year, too many times disturbed by travels to Nairobi, called by his chief in Defense. However, he's not bad.

Josphat Boit is preparing his Marathon debut in Rotterdam. He ran 43 km not too fast yesterday (Sunday) after running a fast 16 km on Thursday, the same workout I described for Sondre Moen (they were together), but faster in the last two tests (48'30" vs 48'51").

Daniel has some problem in one tendon, probably due to a new pair of shoes. I hope he can recover quickly, because has to run 30 km in London.

Who is growin very well is Noah Kipkemboi. He will run his first marathon in Hamburg, after being the last pacer till 30 km in 1h28'16" in Tokyo.

Sondre will run a HM in Gdninya (Poland) nex Sunday, on the same course of the next WHMCh. Solved the problem of last year (a partial rupture of the tendon of the adductor), now is in good training again in Kenya, from where he leaves on Wednesday.

Thanks for the updates. I really hope Daniel will get back close to top fitness as he would be an invaluable asset in London as a pacemaker.

I guess Sondre can contend for the win in Gdynia on sunday considering his fitness. Did you already plan where will be his next marathon?

Tue, 12.03.2019

AM Track: 3km warm-up(15min) + 10x1k w/2' recovery, 3km cool-down(15min) . Total : 20km in 1h16min

Splits: 2'42 / 2'41 / 2'41 / 2'44 / 2'41 / 2'42 / 2'40 / 2'43 / 2'45 / 2'39

2' recovery after each km repetition (around 400m each time)

PM : 12km easy (approx 50min) - scheduled

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Day's total 32km, altitude 2200m . Weather : AM +17C, sunny

Mzungu in Iten wrote:

Tue, 12.03.2019

AM Track: 3km warm-up(15min) + 10x1k w/2' recovery, 3km cool-down(15min) . Total : 20km in 1h16min

Splits: 2'42 / 2'41 / 2'41 / 2'44 / 2'41 / 2'42 / 2'40 / 2'43 / 2'45 / 2'39

2' recovery after each km repetition (around 400m each time)

PM : 12km easy (approx 50min) - scheduled

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Day's total 32km, altitude 2200m . Weather : AM +17C, sunny

Are you able to find out Bekele's training for us too?