Elite Marathon Training Series: Hendrik Pfeiffer – Diet, Sleep & Stretching Part 1
In terms of your warm up, in training sessions or races, do you think you do anything different to the normal? Most people would run 2-5km and do some dynamic stretches and some strides – do you do anything individual yourself that’s a bit different? It could be anything ranging from drinking or eating something or anything you think is a little bit unique?
I think I do relatively short warm ups, 1km or 2km only – a very short jog. I enjoy it and I’m looking at the atmosphere around me, and that’s something that makes me strong, because that’s very big difference compared to a very tough training session. Not the same thing, although sometimes I feel more tired after a tough workout than competition, but that’s something that’s unique for me. I’m not afraid of competition and there are people who say “oh no its competition time again” but I’m looking forward to it. These moods I keep in my warm up.
So I do only 1-2km very, very easy jogging – that’s something I saw that the Kenyan runners do the same way, that they jog at 7min pace and I do it the same way. There’s not a big difference to if I warm up for 10K or marathon or 3K race, I do 1-2kilometres, stretching, an easy gymnastics session and I do some strides to change my running technique. I just keep the mood, that’s important to me.
Do you listen to any music whilst warming up for a competition?
For me, no music before a competition but I always listen to music when I’m training, except if someone joins me. Before a competition music does not help me because I want to see the atmosphere and music prevents me from that. In training sessions I love listening to music. I enjoy music with a lot of base, or rap. Usually something American!
Shifting topics to Diet, are you strict with your diet?
I have a very clear opinion on diet – I do not care about diet or only eating vegetables, I don’t care about eating no meat, I just do what I like. When I was young my dad always cooked for me and he had a big variety of food and that’s something I’d like to keep on. I know a lot of people who say “don’t eat meat it’s bad for you” and I say that the only thing that’s bad for me is skipping training. Maybe I don’t care at all, maybe it’s a mistake but i don’t think so, I feel stronger when I eat what I like to eat. Of course the right way for me to eat is not to just eat chocolate every day, but I think after a tough workout it’s not even bad to eat a whole bunch of chocolate. It’s something that some people tell me is unprofessional, but maybe that’s the key to do what you like, because during training and in everyday life you cannot do a lot of things and eating the stuff you like is like breathing for me.
If you are in the middle of a very hard training block and your race is not until a few months, and you want to go and eat a very high calorie, kind of crappy meal, what is your preference?
I don’t like fast food, even after a competition I see teammates who go to McDonald’s – that’s something I don’t like to do. That’s something I think my parents taught me, that’s not good stuff to eat. I prefer chocolate or a piece of cake, that’s cool, but fast food no. If i eat a burger, then one hour after I feel a pain in my stomach and that’s something I don’t want to do.
When it comes to hydration, what are your opinions on that? Some like electrolytes during training, some drink a particular type of supplement, what’s your preference?
Continued in Part 2
