How to Train the Kenyan Way
Observations from my time with the Kenyan Olympic Team
Over the last two weeks it has been my privilege to work with the members of the Kenyan Olympic Athletic Squad, at their holding camp at Bristol, prior to the Olympic Games in London.
This gave me an ideal opportunity to observe them up close and to see all of their training routines, what they did outside of training, what they ate and how they conducted themselves in training and in life.
Some food for thought
In this first blog post I simply want list of some of the sometimes surprising aspects I learned about the Kenyans during my time with them. In later posts I’ll then expand on many of these points.
N.B. The aim of this specific post isn’t to dissect or analyse their training methods and practices (I’ll leave that for follow-up posts). Here I just want to give a brief account of my overall impressions having spent two weeks working with the squad.
If you’d like some particular insight then please comment and I can tailor follow-up blog posts to cover these points in further depth.
- They did every training session as a group. This is how all British training used to be completed; the power of the group will improve performance
- Their warm up routine was long and meticulous
- They conducted a great deal of ballistic movement in this warm up
- Kenyan running is truly organic they do not limit themselves by modern gadgets. The coach had to borrow my watch; neither of the female athletes I worked with owned a watch
- They are excellent at avoiding injury and would often not complete a set if they felt a niggle. This was not laziness.
- I never once saw them eat between meals
- I never once saw any form of sports nutrition
- Their main sets were short and sharp. 2 x 450m flat out was the extent of one session. They went through 400m in 51s
- I never once saw them unhappy; they seemed consistently cheerful and positive
- When asked about their average weekly mileage they had no idea
- When they were tired they did not push; when they felt good they went flat out
- They never once ran on the road. It was track or grass only
- Technically they were naturally adept but not perfect
- They worked a great deal on ankle strengthening and flexibility even though they naturally excelled in both
- They do gym work but the great majority of their training is running
- They work hard
- I never once saw them run barefoot nor did I see them in minimalist footwear
About The Author Neil Scholes
Neil is one of the most knowledgeable endurance coaches you'll ever be likely to meet, both in terms of qualifications and valuable experience. He's well into his second decade in the sport of triathlon and third decade as a competitive runner.
In recent years Neil has worked with Runners, from those looking to complete their first 5k through to Elites racing the Olympic Marathon, and Triathletes, from those looking to finish their first ever sprint event, through Age Group medallists at World Championships, Ironman Age Group winners to the Elite Squad at University of Bath.
As an accomplished Ironman triathlete, Neil races for Royal Navy Triathlon and has represented Great Britain at Age Group Level across various distances.
2013 sees him initially planning to run sub 3hrs at the Rotterdam Marathon, then competing in the 56 mile Comrades Ultra Marathon in South Africa in June before making his return to racing Ironman Triathlon.
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My God, so interesting to this! I want more!!!!
Thanks Gregory, it was fascinating working with the group. More to follow!
really interesting, sounds like listening to your body rather than gadgets is a good thing. can’t wait to read more, particularly around nutrition.
Hi Joanne, thanks for your comments. Gadgets can have their place in terms of honing a pace but if you knew a courses distance you could get away with just a watch for pace. Listening to and knowing your own body will ultimately reap rewards; you will then know if you are going too slowly or too quickly regardless what your gadget tells you.
I’ll definitely include nutrition in a future blog post but like many things in Kenya they do keep it simple!
Can’t wait to read more…..loved the book ‘Running with the Kenyans’ inspiring read. Your list above already has me thinking about my training routine – the power of training as a group is so simple yet clearly works.
Very excited to hear your follow up.
Shona
Hi Shona
Yes like you I love Adharanand’s book and in fact I am going to Iten, Kenya in March next year for a couple of weeks – can’t wait! Group training is something that was the staple of British runners and the Kenyans merely implemented it from days gone by. From a psychological perspective it disassociates you from the negative feedback your body is sending you; feelings of being hot, how much this hurts, etc are put aside as you concentrate on keeping up with the group. We are after all pack animals and I think this resonates deep within us. We also are competitive so keeping up with others is an innate desire.
Go find your local running club and awaken that pack desire!
WOW!!! That’s very encouraging for me! Just starting out with training and racing, and hearing so many so called ‘experts’ saying everything from needing the latest and greatest to minimalist shoes…. it’s all rather confusing at times. But it’s nice to hear that none of that really is necessary, and we can run just for the pleasure of running!
Hi Suzanne, thanks for your insightful comment, you are spot on! The act of running is truly a natural act and whilst we can improve performance and reduce injuries with better technique and appropriate strength and conditioning we really were “born to run”. What we were not born to do is sit at a computer, at the wheel of a car or slouched on a sofa all day. No footwear is going to correct that. A really good resource which independently cuts through much of the “advice” you will read out there is here http://www.kinetic-revolution.com/book-review-of-tread-lightly/
We at Kinetic Revolution very much go along with Pete Larson’s viewpoints and do not promote a particular footwear or foot strike (forefoot, mid foot, heel strike) more it is WHERE your foot strikes rather than how or what the foot is shod in when it strikes. Running IS pleasurable so keep on running!
I am particularly interested in any specifics on ankle strengthening and flexibility!
Really interesting read and looking forward to finding out more.
I always train with my son at his running club. They always run together and the coaches never over train them and just 1 dad has a stop watch (which is timing the recovery) again, any injuries the kid slows down and misses out a set. It’s a great setup and I’m improving all the time
Hi Deborah, thanks for your input to the blog. Club running was always the staple of the British running scene and all of our great athletes have come from this type of environment. It sounds like you and your son are part of a great setup. The increased level of competition ensures you are honest with the sessions you do and you are always looking to catch that person in front. The recovery times are important to monitor to ensure adequate rest to be able to perform in the next repeat but equally not too long a rest such that you are not loading the system.
Keep up your own training and enjoy being part of that club structure!
[...] my left ankle. Pain seemed to rise up the inside of my calf. I terminated the session immediately (this is the Kenyan way – if there is a niggle, you simply do not train!) and gingerly walked home. Spent the evening with a pack of frozen peas firmly pressed to my left [...]
[...] this second article, based on my observations working with the Kenyan Olympic Team, I wanted to highlight three elements of their training that we can all bring into our own [...]
Great oberservations and very much resonates with what I observe when have our athletes here in the UK from Ethiopia and Kenya. The group mentality is so dominant yet here we tend to see athletics/track work/ etc as an individualistic sport….the group comes into play from time to time but not an integral part of training.
This is great, thanks! Can I ask what ankle strengthening and flexibility exercises they did?
I believe they work hard, but can you give more detail on that. Your brief observation of their work out gives the opposite impression
Yes initially it was the impression that I got until I thought about it. What I observed however is that they exemplified the mantra “make your easy sessions easy and your hard sessions hard”; although the session volume looked light the intervals were performed with true intensity. There was no mediocrity here at all. Their intervals were not run at a comfortable pace they were run flat out. In terms of working “hard” they worked incredibly professionally; they were very relaxed before and after the session but when the session was on they were completely focussed on what they were doing. That in itself was a real lesson.
They work hard? What a novel idea, particularly as we are generally told that the key to improved perormance is in very expensive energy drinks and gadgets.
Great article and looking forward to hearing more. Particularly interested in how they seem to “run by feel” as Matt Fiztgerald wrote, running hard when they felt good, holding back when they didn’t and not running if they felt injured. So many people I know get injured because a spreadsheet they are following tells them they “have” to complete a session.
And having no idea of their weekly mileage? That would probably torment me.
James
Thanks for your comments and glad you enjoyed the article.
The first thing I do with 95% of my athletes is getting them to run to feel and understand what easy, steady, tempo and fast means and ‘feels’ like. I’m sure they get sick of me saying “Kenyans don’t own Garmins”. I take the point about spreadsheets however athletes need plans; if you are experienced to know the difference between really not being able to train and just not wanting to train or not being able to train then that is different but the process is about breaking your body down, recovering and adapting to come back stronger so if you are injured then do something different but if it’s raining and you have had a bad day at work or the partner is nagging you then sorry you need to do the session – after all what are you going to do in a race when it starts getting hard? DNF? You need to learn to deal with adversity.
Neil