The second fastest marathon runner in history is the total package. Machine on the track, machine on the roads. Amazing kick, and a major championship performer.We took a look at a bunch of sessions that Bekele completes on a regular basis in the lead-up to a major marathon.
The great coach Renato Canova has a unique approach to marathon training. For Canova, training for the marathon is all about race pace training, not mileage. Race pace sessions are by far the most important element to preparing for the marathon, every other aspect of training is geared towards this goal.
Canova argues that fast long runs, is the reason why the world has seen such a reduction in world record times. Ron Clarke led the way, he was well known for smashing his long runs at close to 3 minutes per km.
Canova’s approach to marathon training is unique to the traditional line of thinking. Below are the key elements to Canova’s philosophy:
The G.O.A.T. of marathon running lives a pretty simple life. Train, rest, repeat. It is a winning formula followed by generations of successful distance runners. We dived deep into what this simple life of endless miles, huge sacrifices and lots of rest means when discussing the greatest to ever live.
Pre was an animal when it came to training. Quality over quantity, no long runs over 12 miles, morning runs most days, intense track sessions. Runner’s Tribe picked out 5 of Pre’s favourite sessions. For a more detailed account of Pre’s training program check out Pre’s training HERE
Being injured or carrying a bit of pain without any clear path forward can feel incredibly isolating, especially when it’s experienced amidst genuine physical isolation. I’m sure there are people out there pushing themselves pretty hard, but I’m using this as a time to work on some weaknesses that have had me running with my foot slightly on the clutch, rather than full throttle.
I’ve often found that running is the easy part, with strength work the first thing to be let go when I’m tired, but now I see this as my chance to get back on top of things. My physio [Brad Beer] is based on the Gold Coast (about 1,100km away) but the online consults and app with all my exercises have given me some much-needed structure and accountability.
A key workout for coach Colm and various Kenyan’s, is called ‘Diagonals’. Performed once or sometimes twice per week, the session is a form of fartlek training, a mix between speed and endurance. The session is not intended to be a ‘max effort’ but more of a strong fartlek, that helps build both speed and endurance without overly flattening an athlete. The session is often completed not as a hard workout but is often done on an ‘in-between’ day. It’s a way to build fitness and speed, while still keeping athletes fresh for upcoming harder workouts.
On a Saturday morning, a 52-year-old man collapsed, having had a cardiac arrest during a fun run. I noticed the commotion as I was driving past on my way to work and stopped. Several other runners, including a general practitioner, had already stopped to help and the ambulance service was in attendance. With everyone’s input, the man was resuscitated, taken to hospital and received stenting to the main artery down the front of his heart. The outcome was so good that it later made the front page of our local newspaper.
September 29th 2019, and Kenenisa Bekele made history, clocking the second fastest marathon in history – 2:01:41, missing the world record by just two seconds.Bekele has many years of aerobic conditioning in his legs. However, his race specific training for Berlin 2019 only spanned over an 8 week period during. A remarkably short period of time.Bekele’s training diary leading in to the 209 Berlin Marathon is below. Most of this training was performed at sea level in the Netherlands.
Nike are the kings at marketing, among other things. And few shoes exemplify this more than the Infinity React. Nike’s marketing machine had people spinning with talk about injury risk reduction. They cited an external study by the British Columbia Sports Medicine Research Foundation (BCSMRF) on 226 runners using the Nike React Infinity Run as well as the Nike Structure 22. It indicated that runners using the former had a 52% lower injury rate. It’s an area in which more research is required.
So, is this all complete BS, or are the shoes legit? Runner’s Tribe took them through 310kms and below is our unpaid for review.
Recently I received an email message from an athlete who is following one of my online training plans. In it, he asked, “Why do you only have one day off every three weeks?”
Although I did not ask the athlete why he asked this question, my assumption was that he...
