Week 4 saw my training in Kenya gather momentum, and my body had finally built enough fitness for me to try mile repeats – always a useful indicator of my current fitness level.

Day 1

AM: 0.4 miles warmup, 12 miles “Boston loop” – hilly 85’ (7:08 pace)

PM: 4.8 miles recovery + 45min core

Day 2

AM: 3 miles warmup, 8 x 1 mile (on dirt track) @ 5:20 (5:17, 5:19, 5:21, 5:19, 5:17, 5:19, 5:18, 5:13), 400m recovery jog (1:45 – 2:00), 3 miles cooldown

*Doing mile repeats on Kamariny dirt track was inspiring. With hundreds of athletes hammering away, training for distances from 800m to the marathon, you can always find a group to do some of your running with, and you can always be awe-struck by the sheer speed of some of the guys around you. I had the pleasure of sharing the track with Asbel Kiprop and his training group on this occasion. They were doing a series of 200m sprints (very fast) with 200m walk recovery. The way that Asbel made 200m repeats look so easy left me with no doubt that he’s in good shape and the man to watch this Olympic season in the 1500m.

PM: 5.2 miles recovery (8:20 pace)

Day 3

AM: 9.6 miles VERY easy (forest run – technical and hilly – 9:17 pace)

PM: 6.25 miles recovery

Day 4

AM: Light turnover - 16 x 200m @ smooth pace (35-36) with 200 jog (4 miles total on track)
*done on synthetic track - windy
3 miles warmup
Splits: 34.1, 34.2, 35.0, 34.5, 35.1, 34.4, 34.5, 34.6, 34.2, 35.2, 35.7, 35.0, 35.9, 33.9, 33.8, 33.7
3.15 miles cooldown

AM Total: 10.15 miles

PM: 6 miles recovery

Day 5

AM: 11.75 miles easy (7:21 pace)

PM: 4.72 miles recovery (8:03 pace)

Day 6

20 miles long run with French national team – 4km easy, 5 x 2km pickups with 90sec jog, finish off easy-moderate.

*I folded in with a group of 8 French marathon runners and their coach, Phillipe Remond (2:11 PB, completed 83 marathons in his career). The French were kind enough to wait for me to provide me with water support, and waited for me to finish my run last (I was going the longest on the day). Good group of athletes ranging from 2:15 – 2:24 standard, perfect group for me to train with.

Day 7

REST

Week total: 105 miles

Next up, Week 5 of training, and burger and fries with a certain Eluid Kipchoge.

Stay tuned.

-Rui