Track Session In Conversation with Eliud Kipchoge’s Coach – Patrick Sang
Coach Sang delivers the session to his athletes, interestingly all of the athletes were unaware of the session’s details until the coach told them, two minutes prior to commencing.
Five sets of 2000m, walk 100m, jog 100m, 1000m, walk 100m jog 100m. Paces were set at 5:50 for the 200m and 2:50 for the 1000m. The group was split into two, based on speed. Eliud was paced by alternating runners for the first few reps; they substituted in and out, in order to keep up the pace.
After joining some of the earlier reps in the session I spoke with Coach Sang in depth, he willingly bestowed gems of wisdom in between taking splits and relaying results to an assistant who noted it all down. Coach Sang was amicable and friendly, however he said that he is known to be a harsh disciplinarian at times; he believes the respect of the athletes is of the upmost importance (behind volume, we’ll get to that).
“The guys know me, they know that if they aren’t doing a session right, they need to repeat until it’s done properly. There are no exceptions; not for Eliud, not for anyone.”
We discussed marathon training in general, Sang is a proponent of athletes completing the set volume, and making sure that pace remains steady throughout a workout. Volatility in the pace appears to irk him.
“To me, volume is more important than speed. It’s more important that someone achieves the volume, at a steady, constant pace. I don’t like when athletes run quickly at the start of a session and lose speed towards the end, they need to be consistent for the whole volume.”
He expects this steadiness from all his athletes, and the athletes’ understanding of this was patently clear as we chatted and they maintained extended single file lines throughout the workout.
“I like order, if someone starts at the front and by the end of the rep they are lagging behind; I don’t like that. They need to keep their position. Why start at the front if you can’t hold it and get in everyone’s way? That is a problem.”
This insistence on steadiness and completion of the set volume came up several times in the conversation, according to Sang;
“If you shorten [recovery], or you increase the tempo, at the end of the day they don’t achieve the volume, [that is] the most critical. You start with the volume and then you build towards the target [pace] based on your ability.”
“Volume is very important; without volume, you cannot run a good marathon… unless you are jogging.” (jogging to achieve the volume)
Although, Sang agrees that there is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat of the marathon. I asked him about his opinion of Canova’s position on volume vs speed (which appears to be somewhat the inverse of Sang’s approach.
Patrick Sang: “What is the ultimate objective?”
Tait (Sweat Elite): “To run a fast marathon.”
Patrick Sang: “You can do it upside down, it’s allowed, but you see, the thing is to be there at the right time, when everything is all together. I mean, you’ve seen the people who make boats, the clay vessels where you put flowers, an artistic thing. It’s the same as this, you see, the most important thing is the end product, so if the end product is good, then it’s okay.”
Tait (Sweat Elite): “What do you think is the best way to get the right end product?”
Patrick Sang: “you know if you put three scientists, or ten scientists in a room, to debate on an issue, there will never be a consensus. So why are you using this route or this other one? It depends on the material you are working with [the athletes], and of course the common thing is where you want to go. I can give the ideal program to people, but if you are not considering their abilities, then you are not doing anything.”
As Eliud completed another lap, comfortably passing by, “BERLIN WR” emblazoned across his chest, I commented on Eliud’s great form to steer the conversation towards the big question… Will it happen? I asked Sang about his expectations for Berlin.
“Eliud is running well at the moment, but you know, it’s hard to know how someone will race; it comes down to many factors on the day.”
“An athlete can have a poor preparation, but then on the day they run very well. The most important is the mind; preparation can be amazing, but if they don’t have a good mind for the race, you know, the preparation doesn’t matter and they can run very poorly.”
And pacing? Patrick was a bit vague, I don’t know what to expect.
“Other athletes will be in Berlin but I can’t speak for them regarding pacing [whether they would act as pacers for Eliud]. The other problem is that very few people can handle his pace for very long; look at this session, the others are already beginning to fall apart [4th lap of the 2000m of the 4th set (still maintaining the required times but visibly struggling to keep pace with Eliud)]”
The final set was completed in the requisite pace, Coach was happy. The athletes started warming down, some came to see Sang before departing, their reverence for the man was clearly discernible. I joined the athletes for the cool down jog. As we walked over to the shuttle that would take us back to Kaptagat, I had a few words with Eliud. He said he was feeling good, but when asked about whether his shirt was prophetic he bashfully laughed it off.
Four weeks until game day. Eliud may be coy about it, and Sang won’t call the race as he believes that there are too many variables that can alter the performance on the day. However, based on the training we have witnessed over the past few weeks, and Eliud’s astonishing performance at Monza in May, the 2:02:57 barrier seems to be one that Eliud should be able to hurdle without breaking his stride.
