Thirsty (for knowledge) Thursday: Kipchoge's Training Schedule

Outside Magazine posted a story last year that I am somehow just finding. Their writer Cathal Dennehy spent 3 days with Eliud Kipchoge (the fastest marathoner in history) to learn about his training. It was surprisingly simple. Here are some pieces worth sharing:

For Kipchoge, recovery runs start at a shuffle, typically an 8:30-to-8:45-minute-mile pace, and slowly build up to finish around 6:30 to 7 minutes per mile. That’s starting at four minutes per mile slower than his marathon pace, and still two minutes per mile off his marathon pace at the end. The goal here is to build overall volume - Kipchoge runs 124 to 136 miles each week - and ensure he’s ready to run fast for his next workout.

I've often heard the saying "run slow to run fast." And Kipchoge seems to live that. He says "I try not to run 100 percent. I perform 80 percent on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and then at 50 percent Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday."

In terms of strength training, Kipchoge does 2 sessions for 60 mins each every week. He's not doing any heavy lifting (obviously) as most of what he's doing is with a resistance band. He does some balance exercises and some gentle stretching to finish. He doesn’t lift weights, and the goal behind these exercises is mainly injury prevention.

Kipchoge gets his proper rest:

For Kipchoge, every day starts at 5:45 A.M., and he’s in bed by 9 P.M. each night. During the day he’ll nap for an hour, while his spare time is spent reading or chatting with his teammates at the camp. Despite the many demands on his time, he’s very, very good at doing nothing.

He drinks a lot of water (3 liters/day) and consumes plenty of protein. His meals contain a lot of homemade bread, local fresh fruits and veggies, tea, meat, and one of his favorite foods: ugali, which is a dense corn flour porridge. Kipchoge doesn't take any supplements, and he gets a massage twice/week.

Kipchoge (orange shorts on the right) during a 19 mile training run
at an average pace of 5:15/mile (and at a considerable altitude).

Kipchoge logs everything in a notebook. He started this in 2003, and has filled 18 notebooks since:

"I document the time, the kilometers, the massage, the exercises, the shoes I’m using, the feeling about those shoes," he says. "Everything." He is known to review these details and learn from them for future training cycles.

And they make a remarkable record of marathoning excellence. "I trust one day I will go through them and see what has been happening in the whole system," Kipchoge says. "When I call off the sport, I will combine them and write about them one day."

As for his training, Kipchoge runs fast three days/week, and then just coasts through the rest of his runs, sometimes at a comically slow pace. His marathon-training blocks have been as long as seven months and as short as three months, but typically they last around 16 weeks. Here's a typical week in an early stage of marathon training:

Monday

6 A.M.: 12 miles easy

4 P.M.: 6 miles easy

Tuesday

9 A.M.: A track workout totaling 9 to 10 miles of speed, run at marathon pace or slightly faster, on a rough dirt track.

Examples: 8 x 1,600 meters, run in 4 minutes 40 seconds, with two minutes of recovery; 8 x 400 meters, run in 63 to 64 seconds, with 30 to 50 seconds of recovery.

4 P.M.: 6 miles easy

Wednesday

6 A.M.: 12 miles easy

10 A.M.: 60 minutes of strength and mobility exercises

4 P.M.: 6 miles easy

Thursday

6 A.M.: A 19- or 25-mile run (alternate weeks)

Friday

6 A.M.: 12 miles easy

10 A.M.: 60 minutes of strength and mobility exercises

4 P.M.: 6 miles easy

Saturday

6 A.M.: Fartlek (13 x 3 minutes fast/1-minute jog)

4 P.M.: 6 miles easy

Sunday

Any time: 2 hours easy

For more "Thirsty Thursday" posts that highlight workouts, body science, and all kinds of interesting information, CLICK HERE. As always, back with some "Friday Funnies" tomorrow.