BODY
UPGRADE YOUR RUNNING WITH THESE FIVE KEY LESSONS FROM THE MARATHON GOAT AND HIS TEAM
ONE OF THE MOST remarkable things about the fastest marathoner in history is how unremarkable – and accessible – his training is. He has the best resources in the world at his disposal, but rather than relying on treadmills that cost more than a sports car or recovery devices worthy of Nasa missions, he follows simple training tenets that maximise how he recovers, what he eats, his mindset and the conditioning he does after his runs. We talked to Kipchoge and the team at his Global Sports Communication training camp in Kaptagat, as well as outside experts, to find out how anyone can apply his strategies.
1
SLEEP LIKE YOUR RUN DEPENDS ON IT
ELIUD KIPCHOGE SLEEPS up to nine hours at night, even after taking up to a two-hour midday nap. Most of us don’t have either the time or 120-mile weekly workload to justify clocking up 11 hours of sleep, but we can follow Kipchoge’s sleep hygiene cues.
At least 30 minutes before bed, he turns off all electronics. The habit reduces his exposure to blue light, known to delay the release of melatonin, leading to a decrease in sleepiness, says Kannan Ramar, former president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Then, instead of scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, he winds down by reading at least two chapters of a book.
‘If I have enough sleep, my body and my mind are free of stress and ready to go with the programmes,’ says Kipchoge. While you’re down, your body is doing more than resting. Crucially, your pituitary gland releases growth hormone, which helps your body to grow and repair, says Dr Ramar.
Most runners don’t need a nap if they get the recommended seven to nine hours on a consistent basis, Dr Ramar says. But when you don’t hit that target, naps can help counter – but not completely fix – short-term sleep loss and provide an energy boost for a late-day run, he adds. Dr Ramar suggests a 20-minute nap between midday and 3pm to relieve fatigue. Capping the power nap at 20 minutes will prevent you from entering a deep stage of sleep and feeling groggy after waking, he says.
2
REVIVE SORE MUSCLES WITH AN ICE BATH
TWICE A WEEK, Kipchoge takes a 10-minute plunge in his camp’s ice baths to aid his post-run recovery. The science behind cold water immersion (CWI) therapy is still being unravelled, but so far it’s promising. ‘Most research shows that, over 48 hours, athletes have reported an improvement in delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and sometimes corresponding improvements in strength and/or flexibility,’ says Rebecca Stearns, assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut, US.
