David Rudisha: Typical Monday (Base Period)
The Sweat Elite team spent May 2017 training with St Patrick’s athletics group in Iten, Kenya – David Rudisha’s training group. We learnt the ins and outs of their unique training program that has produced many sub 1:45 800m runners.
Base training for David Rudisha’s training group involves quantity of around 50-60 miles per week (80-96km), lots of steady state running and a large focus on stretching and core stability work, to prepare them for the track work beginning in late February.
Typical Monday – Base Period
Monday
6:30AM: Easy Jog
6-9km very easy jog.
The 800m runners will do 6km and the longer distance runners will do 9km. They do this run individually. We joined in with 2 of them in 2 occasions and both times the pace of the run was around 5:00-5:15/km.
10:00AM: Main Run
9.2km on “The Loop”
They do the same loop every monday at more or less the same intensity. The group will run together for the first 3-4km and then split up based on fitness levels and how they are feeling on the day. They’ll start at around 5min/km for the first 1km to warm up and by the 2km mark, they’ll be at 4min/km. Athletes will finish between 34mins and 37mins. The 5k-Marathon runners will typically run closer to 34mins (around 3:40/km average) and the 800m runners, 36-37min (around 3:55/km average). Keep in mind, this loop is very hilly. The effort factoring in the altitude and hills is around 25sec/km slower than running flat at sea level.
4:00PM: Flexibility and Core
4km Warm up + 1hour of stretching and core stability. There is nothing unusual about this workout, in terms of specific exercises. Stretching will normally last 30mins (standard stretches but with lap focus on the hip flexors) and core stability will be mostly different variations of planking.
See other Typical Days for David Rudisha in the list of David Rudisha articles here.
