Eliud Kipchoge – Recovery
Jogging through the dark, alongside the main road to Eldoret, we made our way to the gates of the Global camp by 6:15am, just in time to join Eliud and the rest of the squad for their recovery run. It had rained again overnight, and the mud was even worse than during the long run the day prior, caking to the soles of shoes and leaving the unsealed roads a slippery, dangerous mess.
The run was set to be around 18km. We set off at a gentle pace, sticking to the main, sealed road. The first kilometre took us around five minutes, cruising between the fields of maize, as the sun started to rise and the first workers appeared. The air was still crisp. It takes a while to warm up at this altitude. Matt and I were in shorts and singlets, however, the rest of the runners were in full tracksuits. The pace gradually increased to around 4:30min/km, and kept moving up towards 4:00min/km. As I was unacclimated to the altitude, and hadn’t been in training prior to the trip, I really started to feel the onset of fatigue as we sped up. In stark contrast, it was clear that none of the Kenyan athletes were labouring.
Running at over 2400 metres above sea level, the air pressure is significantly lower than at sea level. This means that each lungful of air contains less oxygen and the pressure driving the uptake of that oxygen in the alveoli of the lungs is diminished. Lethargy sets in earlier than normal; at what should be an easy pace muscles start to feel heavy and weak. Ravenous gasps of air still leave you feeling deprived of oxygen.
The human body has many mechanisms for compensating for these changes; primarily by releasing erythropoietin (EPO) from the kidneys (which stimulates the bone marrow to increase red blood cell production), as well as by augmenting the density of capillaries carrying blood (and oxygen) to the exercising muscles. However, these adaptations take time, and three days into our stay in Kaptagat I was by no means ready for this kind of exertion.
A life spent in these conditions means that the athletes are very well adapted to the altitude. The runners were very comfortable, keeping a light-hearted banter going as they ran. One of the younger runners, Benjamin, spoke with me for most of the session. He was only seventeen, but had already run a sub-29 minute 10,000m on track. He had moved from the region around Mount Elgon, near the Ugandan border, to train with the squad.
Matt and I asked about the climate, and whether the rainy season was grounds for considering training in a different region. This suggestion was laughed off by the athletes. Next, we questioned their attire. By this point, with the increasing temperature and increasing intensity of running, the athletes had built up a sweat, as had Matt and I. However, they insisted that running in tracksuits meant they weren’t cold when they started – cold seemingly being one of the strongest aversions held by all of the athletes – and that the profuse sweating during runs “keeps them light.” Notably, Eliud had run the entire thirty kilometres in a tracksuit top the previous day.
As the kilometres clocked over, the pace continued to build, and eventually we were running through the fields at 3:30-3:40min/km. By this point any semblance of conversation had stopped on my end, as I gasped for air and struggled to hold onto the back of the group. Benjamin dropped back to try to bring me back up with the rest of the runners. I politely panted my thanks but told him that I was done and that he should continue with the rest of the group. I slowed to a light jog, watching the pack disappear over the hill. Somewhat losing my way on the final few kilometres back to the camp, I eventually arrived to see the group in the same shelter at the back of the house. I gladly took some chai and sat down with the crew.
This session, which for me was a baptism of fire, was an approximation of what the squad did nearly every day that they didn’t have a ‘workout’. However, interestingly, the sessions predominantly are based on how the athletes feel. As we would discover through our stay in Kaptagat, these recovery sessions vary between 10km to 21km, and can be anything from a consistently slow pace of around 4:45min/km, to roughly what we had just experienced, with the pace greatly varying and building throughout the session.
Many athletes would also go out for late afternoon excursions on the roads, squeezing in a few extra easy kilometres. This loose planning was something that really struck us during our time with the group. Their typical schedule included workout sessions on Tuesday (track), Thursday (long run) and Saturday (fartlek/intervals). Many of the athletes are devoutly religious, hence —Sundays are usually taken as a rest day.
This is an excerpt from the new book: Eliud Kipchoge. History’s fastest marathoner. An insight into the Kenyan life that shapes legends. Chapter: Recovery (Page 13-14)
