The highlight of Week 5 wasn’t the big 12 x 1000m workout I did with a Kenyan training group led by the Italian agent Demadonna. Nor was it the 22.5 miles long run, the longest of my 2016 year so far.

The highlight was having burgers and fries with the number 1 marathoner in the world, Eliud Kipchoge.

But first, the week in training.

Day 1

AM: 12 miles (miles 3-10 faster) – 82min

PM: 5 miles recovery + 45min core

Day 2

AM: 2.5 miles warmup, 12 x 1000m on Kamariny dirt track, 2min recovery jog. Splits: (3:17, 3:13, 3:14, 3:13, 3:12, 3:13, 3:13, 3:14, 3:13, 3:13, 3:11, 3:02), 2.15 miles cooldown. 12.5 miles total.

*These kilometer repeats, done at 7800ft altitude and on a dirt track that runs a little long, makes each kilometer feel about 5-7 seconds harder than it would feel at sea level. Easily one of the best workouts I’ve ever done.

PM: 6 miles recovery

Day 3

AM: 10 miles easy (80min)

PM: 5 miles recovery

Day 4

AM: 5.2 miles warmup, 10 x ~225m hill strides (jog down recovery), 3.1 miles cooldown

PM: 5.3 miles recovery

Day 5

AM: 8.4 miles easy

PM: 6 miles recovery

Day 6

22.5 miles long run (first 11 miles easy ~7:10/mile, progressed after to mid/low 6min pace)

Day 7

REST

Week total: 104.8 miles

I was able to build strongly off my previous 4 weeks at altitude, and do a great Tuesday workout and a big Saturday long run. Both told me that I had come a long way since first training in Kenya.

Now, on to that lunch.

Eliud Kipchoge and I first met at the 2012 World Half Marathon Championships in Karvana, Bulgaria. He couldn’t access his email and Facebook on his phone for some reason, and so borrowed my laptop to retrieve his messages.

Back then, neither of us had ever run a marathon. How much 4 years can change things. Kipchoge is now 6 wins in 7 marathon starts, with his only defeat being second place at the 2013 Berlin Marathon (and Wilson Kipsang had to break the World Record to beat him).

When Eliud read about me going to Kenya, he gave me his phone number so we could link up. Ever the humble, gracious person he is, Eliud drove 2 hours from his training camp in Kaptagat to meet me in the village of Iten, where we went to Kerio View for lunch. We opted for the diet of champions – burgers and fries.

I had a great time speaking to Eliud about life in Kenya, his training, the differences in training for a track race as compared to a marathon race, our families, and many other things. I came to realize a few things:

1)   He trains HARD (35km fast long runs, long track sessions, high mileage, it’s all in a week’s work)

2)   He recovers well (naps every day)

3)   He makes sacrifices – Kipchoge owns a nice house in Eldoret, courtesy of the winning he has made by being a multiple marathon champion and a former star on the track, but he leaves his family for months at a time to train in a training camp in kaptagat with basic amenities. Why? I ask.

“This is what made me good. I don’t want to lose the edge.”

While many of us try to make life more comfortable by fighting for more money, bigger houses, more comfortable lifestyles, the best in the world in the craft of distance running are careful not to lose that edge – it is a painful sport, after all. And so long as this difference in mentality persists, it is not hard to figure out why the Kenyans will be the best in the world at distance running for many years to come.

-Rui