Building consistency at a race pace is an important skill for all runners regardless of the race distance. This is a session Eliud Kipchoge did a couple of weeks ago in the build-up to this weekend’s attempt at running a marathon in under 2 hours. This session is great for runners and triathletes running events up to Marathon distances and longer.
Each week I will be posting the Friday Fartlek Run Sessions that you can do to enhance your running. Fartlek is a Swedish term that is often used by runners and it means speed-play. See a previous post about training intensity (levels) to know how hard to work.
The inspiration for this session comes from a YouTube video of a track session Eliud Kipchoge has recently done in Kenya (at an altitude of 2,200m) in the build-up to #INEOS59.
Eliud Kipchoge’s Track Session before #INEOS59
- 10min WU Level II;
- 5x
- 2,000m Level III, 1:45min RI;
- 1,000m Level III, 1:45min RI;
- 10min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
The Warm Up (WU) should be done at an intensity that is steady, but not overconsuming at Level II for ten minutes.
The main set is made up of five reps. Each rep has two sub-reps. Start off with 2,000m at Level III, follow this with a Rest Interval (RI) of 1:45 minutes. Keep the legs slightly active during this period by walking about in this time. The next sub-rep is only 1,000m also at Level III, prior to another Rest Interval (RI) of 1:45 minutes. Once again keep your legs slightly active during this period by walking about during this time. Then complete the next rep. The workout should look like: 2,000m – 1:45min RI – 1,000m – 1:45min RI – 2,000m – 1:45min RI – 1,000m – 1:45min RI – 2,000m – 1:45min RI – 1,000m – 1:45min RI – 2,000m – 1:45min RI – 1,000m – 1:45min RI – 2,000m – 1:45min RI – 1,000m – 1:45min RI
The Cool Down (CD) is at a low intensity, jogging (Level II) for a minimum of ten minutes.
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
Kipchoge ran this session extremely fast as you would expect from someone who is aiming to run a marathon in under two hours. The times he ran for the 2,000m segments in 5:41; 5:48; 5:46; 5:46; 5:43 and the 1,000m sub-reps in 2:49; 2:51; 2:47; 2:48; 2:43. Remember these are Kipchoge’s Level III!!! That is how he managed to maintain his pace with only a very short rest. If he was doing these at Level IV he would have been running the 2,000m segments in about 5:30 and all the 1,000m legs under 2:46. To maintain this pace he would have needed a longer rest. If he was to run at Level V he would have needed a longer Rest Interval (RI) to maintain the higher intensity and his times would have been in the vicinity of 5:00 minutes for the 2,000m leg and about 2:30 minutes for the 1,000m leg!!!!
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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Download the Garmin (.FIT) files for this workout for FREE
If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published.
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