The Master – Haile Gebrselassie – How He Trained
[article by Scott Larsen of Sweat Elite.]
When Gebrelsassie announced his retirement from professional running, his statement typified his carrier and character:
“I’ll stop competing, certainly not running. I will run as long as I live, running is my life” – Haile Gebrselassie
Running is his life but so is Ethiopia. Heile Gebrelsassie is one of the greatest African athletes ever! His running carrier has enabled him to dedicate his life to the development of his country. With the money he earned he has built schools and created jobs. He trained the younger generations and became a Unicef ambassador, for his commitment to orphaned and AIDS patients.
Gebre’s background features, two Olympic gold medals, four world championships, twenty-six world records. Aside from these mega moments, he has also won a dozens of international marathons as well as races across all distances of middle-distance running. The world took notice of him in 1992, Seoul junior athletics championships. At 19 years of age he won gold in the 5,000 metres and then proceeded to back up in the 10,000 meters. This event dramatically unfolded as the race was dominated until the last lap by Kenyan Josephat Machuka. What will go down as one of the biggest upsets in track history, the young Gebre’s drew behind Machuka in the closing lap of the race. With the finish line in site Gebre’s put the final drive to the finish and passes Machuka who believed he had victory in hand. At the instant of Gebre’s overtaking, Machuka in rage, threw a fist in the youngsters back, disqualifying him as a result. Placing Haile in the history books, with his big smile, of course.
“In long distance, you have to be patient” – Haile Gebrselassie
Gebre’s winning ways continued, shutting out running legends such as Moses Tanui in 1993 over the 10,000m and claiming his first world record a short two years later over the 5,000m in Finland as part of the World Cup. The stage was set and for the next decade Haile became arguably most dominant middle distance runner the world has ever seen!
His Training Method
“A day without running is like a day without eating.” – Haile Gebrselassie
As is typical of African runners, his training is polarized. Almost 60% (110 km of his 190km a week) was at 6:15 min/mile or slower. About 8 % was at paces near marathon pace, and 6% faster than marathon pace (approximately 4:48 /mile that year) The majority of his distance training was conducted at altitude above 8000 feet. Thus, training performed near to marathon pace was adding additional pressures on his body, giving him the advantage over his sea level prepared competitors. According to estimates, Geb’s easy pace of 6:15 per mile would probably be equivalent to around 5:50 per mile at sea level. No matter how it is calculated it was clear that Geb was doing a substantial proportion of his training at pace which would have been fairly easy for him.
What came up in several interviews was Gebs careful decision to avoid too much stress.
“I generally have 13 training sessions a week. On Sunday I only run once. Each week, I try to do 3 speed sessions, one long run (1½/2 hours) and one or two Fartlek sessions. The rest of the sessions are endurance runs that I try not to run too fast. 8 of his 13 sessions are not too fast in order to facilitate recovery” – Haile Gebrselassie
He takes delight in running in the forest. He considers that one of the best pieces of advice about running he ever received was from his agent Jos Hermens. He states:
“Jos taught me not to run too many races and to train and rest well. When I started to do this, my performances got even better” – Haile Gebrselassie
Later in has carrier he stated;
“Now I don’t do speedwork. I focus on just longer runs. When you do speedwork at this age it’s easy to get injured.” – Haile Gebrselassie
To add to a very careful training regime Geb also stated the importance of adequate sleep and rest:
“I go to bed early (9.30 pm), but also wake up early (6 am). During the daytime …it is not so important to sleep, as long as I can take a rest. In the afternoon, I try to rest for two hours.” – Haile Gebrselassie
A typical day:
Gebrselassie would do a mix of running and gym based conditioning work in an average day, covering approximately two hundred kilometres per week. The routine starts with a gentle off road run. On this day starting at 5.30 am, the Ethiopian covered 20km on unpaved terrain in two hours, with a gradual increase in speed over the duration of the run.
Early afternoon, the session began in the gym; physical exercises but also exercises to strengthen the muscles, especially the twins of the calf. Muscle strengthening and toning was an important component of the training regime, to keep the body strong, avoiding injuries and adding to the overall strength.
Finally, in the mid-afternoon another ten kilometres of running, which could even become twenty, to close the day.
“You can always do something, even if you come from the poorest corner of Africa” – Haile Gebrselassie
A sample training week of Haile Gebrselassie’s
Base Training phase
“You know, there is no secret. I am just always very careful when I’m training. All athletes need three things: commitment, discipline and hard work” – Haile Gebrselassie
Monday:
1. Fartlek training on rolling hills 60min/17km — (3:31.8/km, 5:40.7/mile pace)
2. Recovery session 50min/12km — (4:10/km, 6:42.3/mile pace)
Daily Total = 29km / 18.02miles
Tuesday:
1. Base endurance 70min/18km — (3:53.3/km, 6:15.4/mile pace)
2. Easy run 10km + speed session 10x100m
Daily Total = 29km / 18.02miles
Wednesday:
Warm up / cool down + speedy run 48min/15km (3:12/km, 5:08.9/mile pace)
Daily Total = 15km / 9.3miles (*excluding warm up and cool down*)
Thursday:
1. Base endurance 80min/20km (4:00/km, 6:26.2/mile pace)
2. Easy run 10 km + weight training 60min.
Daily Total = 30km / 18.7miles
Friday:
1. Base run 75min/18km (4:10/km, 6:42.3/mile pace)
2. Easy run 10 km + speed session 10x100m
Daily Total = 29km / 18.02miles
Saturday:
1 Track speed session 6x2000m in 5:40min (2:50/km, 4:33.5/mile pace)
2. Recovery session 43min/10km (4:18/km, 6:55.1/mile pace)
Daily Total = ~22km / 13.7miles (*excluding warm up and cool down*)
Sunday:
Long run 90min/25km (3:36/km, 5:47.5/mile pace)
Daily Total = 25km / 15.5miles
Weekly Total = ~190km / ~120miles
