Gretchen wrote:
If we look Yannis and his ways it seems that he goes against most conventional wisdom for training, physique and lifestyle but he has the best records.
Physique: built like an 800m runner not a marathoner
Sleep: slept a few hours a night not eight
Diet: consisted of very little fat, ate mostly carbohydrates
Injuries: ran straight through injuries in training
Training: trained low mileage with multiple runs per day
Discus.
Physique: small but muscular, which is the way to go for ultras, as bigger muscles can take in more damage.
Diet: during races, eating mostly carbs is the standard for ultra athletes.
Injuries: run straight through injuries... Like most runners.
Training: low mileage? He run 80 miles/week. There are other succesful ultra runners that train 60-80 miles/week, like the 100k Japanese guy that won the Hoka event, or Rob Krar when he won Western States twice.
He's the absolute GOAT ultrarunner, but I don't see anything unusual about his training, diet, build, etc. He's one tough SOB.