- What does Eliud Kipchoge’s marathon training menu actually look like?
- What can recreational runners learn from it?
- If you wanted to borrow parts of Kipchoge’s training, which parts should you focus on?
If you’re a recreational runner training for the marathon, chances are you already know who Eliud Kipchoge is.
Kipchoge is a former marathon world record holder and one of the most decorated elite marathoners in history, with multiple Olympic and Abbott World Marathon Majors titles to his name.
You’ve probably heard about his approach to training from interviews — the idea that he never pushes past around 80% effort, even in his hardest sessions.
A portion of the training log Kipchoge followed on his way to winning the 2017 Berlin Marathon in 2:03:32 was published by Sweat Elite.
In this article, we’ll walk through that training log and break it down using current training theory.
By the end, you should have a clearer picture of what each session was designed to accomplish — and some ideas for structuring your own training.
I started running seriously after entering the workforce.
With theory-based training,
I challenge myself to see how far I can improve my record.
I am working on it with a competitive mindset
About me & PB history
Blood lactate concentration and blood glucose levels are also measured.
This is a scientific approach to marathon running.
★Personal bests
1500m 4:25(2022/08)
5000m 16:01(2022/09)
10000m 33:44(2021/12)
Half 1:12:29(2022/03)
Full 2:40:15(2026/03)
I started running seriously after entering the workforce.
With theory-based training,
I challenge myself to see how far I can improve my record.
I am working on it with a competitive mindset
About me & PB history
Blood lactate concentration and blood glucose levels are also
measured.
This is a scientific approach to marathon running.
★Personal bests
1500m 4:25(2022/08)
5000m 16:01(2022/09)
10000m 33:44(2021/12)
Half 1:12:29(2022/03)
Full 2:40:15(2026/03)
Eliud Kipchoge’s Training Log: 45 Days Before the 2017 Berlin Marathon
Below is Kipchoge’s training log for the 45 days leading up to the 2017 Berlin Marathon. The source is linked below.
| Date | Session | Type | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10 AM | 30.8km Tempo Run: 1hr42min | Long Run | 3:19/km |
| PM | 10km easy(40mins) | Easy | 4:00/km |
| Aug 11 AM | 16km easy-moderate (70mins) | Easy-moderate | 4:23/km |
| PM | 10km easy(40mins) | Easy | 4:00/km |
| Aug 12 AM | Fartlek: 10min warm up (1.9km), 4x10mins with 2min rest, reps were at right around 3:00/km (2:45-2:50 downhill, 3:10-3:15 uphill) and rest was very slow jogging. 15min easy cool down (2.2km) | Fartlek | |
| PM | 12km(50mins) | Easy | 4:10/km |
| Aug 13 AM | 22km (78mins) | Moderate | 3:33/km |
| PM | |||
| Aug 14 AM | 21km in 70mins moderate (Eldoret – flat course, mainly road) | Moderate | 3:20/km |
| PM | 10km easy(40mins) | Easy | 4:00/km |
| Aug 15 AM | Track: 15min warm up (3.1km). 1200m in 3:25, jog lap, 5x1km in 2:55 (1.30 rec), jog lap, 3x300m in 42-40 (1:00 rec), jog lap, 2x200m in 27s (1:00 rec). 15min cool down (3km) | Track | |
| PM | |||
| Aug 16 AM | 18km easy-moderate (71min) | Easy-moderate | 3:57/km |
| PM | 11km easy(44min) | Easy | 4:00/km |
| Aug 17 AM | 40km Tempo Run: 2hr26min – Very tough course, poor conditions (muddy etc) | Long Run | 3:39/km |
| PM | |||
| Aug 18 AM | 18km easy-moderate (70min) | Easy-moderate | 3:53/km |
| PM | 10km easy(39min) | Easy | 3:54/km |
| Aug 19 AM | Fartlek: 10min warm up (2km). 30 x (1min on, 1min o), with reps at an average speed of 2:45/km and recoveries an easy jog. Cross country course. 15min cool down (2.8km) | Fartlek | |
| PM | |||
| Aug 20 AM | 20km easy-moderate (77min) | Easy-moderate | 3:51/km |
| PM | |||
| Aug 21 AM | 21km easy-moderate (72min) | Easy-moderate | 3:26/km |
| PM | 11km easy(43min) | Easy | 3:55/km |
| Aug 22 AM | Track: 10min warm up. 12x800m (goal 2:10s): 2.13, 2.11, 2.13, 2.10, 2.11, 2.10, 2.10, 2.09, 2.11, 2.10, 2.09. 10x400m (goal 62s): 64, 64, 63, 64, 62, 62, 61, 62, 61, 61. Rest: 1.5min rest for all. 10min cool down. | Track | |
| PM | |||
| Aug 23 AM | 18km easy-moderate (77min) | Easy-moderate | 4:17/km |
| PM | 10km easy(41min) | Easy | 4:06/km |
| Aug 24 AM | 30km Tempo Run: 1hr38min – Good conditions today, fairly dry. Course undulating but not too hard. | Long Run | 3:16/km |
| PM | |||
| Aug 25 AM | 18km (76min) – starting at 5:45/km, working down to 3:30/km for the final 6km. | Easy-moderate | 4:13/km |
| PM | |||
| Aug 26 AM | Fartlek: 10min warm up (2km). 18 x (3min hard, 1min easy). Average pace in each repetition was around 3:00/km on the undulating course in Kaptagat (2400m altitude). Recoveries done very easy (jog). 15min cool down (2.8km) | Fartlek | |
| PM | |||
| Aug 27 AM | 22km easy-moderate (83min) | Easy-moderate | 3:46/km |
| PM | |||
| Aug 28 AM | 21km moderate (71min) in Eldoret (flat course) | Moderate | 3:23/km |
| PM | 11km easy(43min) | Easy | 3:55/km |
| Aug 29 AM | Track: 15min warm up (3.1km). 5 sets of (2km in 5:45-5:50, 1km in 2:50) with recovery of 100m walk, 100m jog. 15min cool down (3km) | Track | |
| PM | |||
| Aug 30 AM | 18km easy-moderate (72min) | Easy-moderate | 4:00/km |
| PM | 11km easy(44min) | Easy | 4:00/km |
| Aug 31 AM | 40km Tempo Run: 2hr13min | Long Run | 3:20/km |
| PM | |||
| Sep 1 AM | 18km easy-moderate (74min) | Easy-moderate | 4:07/km |
| PM | 10km easy(41min) | Easy | 4:06/km |
| Sep 2 AM | Fartlek: 10min warm up (2km). 25 x (1min hard, 1min easy) with reps at an average speed of 2:45/km and recoveries an easy jog. Cross country course. 15min cool down (2.8km) | Fartlek | |
| PM | |||
| Sep 3 AM | 20km easy-moderate (77min) | Easy-moderate | 3:51/km |
| PM | |||
| Sep 4 AM | 21km moderate (71min) on flat course (Eldoret) | Moderate | 3:23/km |
| PM | 11km easy(45min) | Easy | 4:05/km |
| Sep 5 AM | Track: 15min warm up (3km). 13 x 1km starting in 2:53, ending in 2:45 (average 2:50) with 1:30 recovery. 15min cool down (3km). | Track | |
| PM | |||
| Sep 6 AM | 18km moderate (75min) | Moderate | 4:10/km |
| PM | 10km easy(40min) | Easy | 4:00/km |
| Sep 7 AM | 30km Tempo Run: 1hr42min – challenging course and conditions today. | Long Run | 3:24/km |
| PM | |||
| Sep 8 AM | 16km easy-moderate (63min) | Easy-moderate | 3:56/km |
| PM | 11km easy(40min) | Easy | 3:38/km |
| Sep 9 AM | Fartlek: 10min warm up (2km). 13 x (3min hard, 1min easy) at an average pace of 2:55-3:00/km on cross country course. Recoveries very easy jogging. 15min cool down (3km) | Fartlek | |
| PM | |||
| Sep 10 AM | 22km easy-moderate (83min) | Easy-moderate | 3:46/km |
| PM | |||
| Sep 11 AM | 21km moderate (71min) | Moderate | 3:23/km |
| PM | 10km easy(40min) | Easy | 4:00/km |
| Sep 12 AM | Track: 15min warm up (3km). 14 x 800m in 2:10-2:12 with 90sec recovery. 15min cool down (3km) | Track | |
| PM | |||
| Sep 13 AM | 18km moderate (75min) | Moderate | 4:10/km |
| PM | 10km easy(40min) | Easy | 4:00/km |
| Sep 14 PM | 40km Tempo Run: 2hrs15min – challenging cross country course | Long Run | 3:23/km |
| PM | |||
| Sep 15 AM | 18km easy-moderate (74min) | Easy-moderate | 4:07/km |
| PM | 10km easy(41min) | Easy | 4:06/km |
| Sep 16 AM | Fartlek: 10min warm up (2km). 20 x (2min on, 1min off) with reps at an average pace of around 2:50-2:55/km and recoveries an easy jog. 15min cool down (3km) | Fartlek | |
| PM | |||
| Sep 17 AM | 20km easy-moderate (77min) | Easy-moderate | 3:51/km |
| PM | |||
| Sep 18 AM | 21km moderate (71min) | Moderate | 3:23/km |
| PM | 11km easy(45min) | Easy | 4:05/km |
| Sep 19 AM | Track: 15min warm up (3km). 12 x 400m in 63-64s with 90sec recovery. 15min cool down (3km) | Track | |
| PM | |||
| Sep 20 AM | Travel from Eldoret to Berlin | – | |
Analyzing Kipchoge’s Training
Let’s break down what’s going on in Kipchoge’s training.
Training Cycle and Intensity
Looking closely at the log, Kipchoge follows a repeating cycle:
- Long Run: Moderate intensity
- Easy Jog: below Easy intensity
- Fartlek: Threshold intensity ±5 sec/km
- Easy Jog: below Easy intensity
- Easy-Moderate Jog: Moderate intensity
- Track: Threshold to Interval intensity
- Easy Jog: below Easy intensity
Keep in mind that this log covers the 45 days right before the race, so it’s a highly marathon-specific block, not a general representation of his training year-round.
The overall cycle is fairly conventional: three key sessions a week, including the long run, alternating hard days with easy days.
The chart below shows the training paces at 2,400m altitude that a VDOT Calculator generates for a 2:03:32 marathon finish time.
We’ll use these reference paces to analyze Kipchoge’s training below.
Overall Cycle Characteristics
Here are the standout features of Kipchoge’s training cycle as a whole:
- Fartlek, track, and long run each appear once per week
- Each key session has slightly different content week to week
- The day after every key session is always an Easy Jog
- The day after a fartlek session is treated as a partial recovery day (still Easy Jog)
- From early in the block, there’s no PM session on key-workout days
- Long runs and fartlek sessions are, in many cases, run on less-than-ideal terrain
It’s unclear whether he adds strides or other work not listed in the log on easy or key-session days, but overall he’s clearly following a hard/easy structure.
At Kipchoge’s level, weekly mileage runs 160–220 km※1. The block shown here works out to well over 800 km a month — a standard training volume for a world-class runner.
What matters most is that the bulk of that volume is low-to-moderate intensity. Research on world-class runners shows that more than 80% of total mileage falls below the lactate threshold (LT1)※1. This is what’s known as a “polarized” or “pyramidal” intensity distribution.
A systematic review of elite runners’ intensity distribution found that marathon specialists typically follow a pyramidal pattern — the most volume at low intensity, less at threshold intensity, and the least at the highest intensities※2. Kipchoge’s training fits this pattern: fartlek and track, his two “hard” sessions, are just two of the three key sessions each week.
The long runs and fartlek sessions are probably harder in practice than their listed paces suggest, since much of the running is done on uneven dirt rather than smooth pavement.
The terrain is also hilly, which adds considerably more load than running the same pace on flat ground would.
Given the 2,400m altitude, the effort at fartlek and track pace corresponds to something between half marathon and 5K race effort.
Aside from the long run, nearly every key session is broken into intervals — but with so many reps, the total volume of hard running still adds up to a lot.
The key sessions also change slightly week to week. It looks like he’s varying the stimulus a little each time rather than repeating the exact same workout.
One more important point: Kipchoge trains at roughly 2,400m altitude in Kaptagat. Most elite African runners spend the majority of the year living and training at 2,000–2,500m as a standard part of their approach※1.
Living at altitude stimulates the release of erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone that boosts red blood cell production. Meaningful benefits generally require at least 12 hours a day at 2,000m or higher for four weeks or more※3. More red blood cells mean greater oxygen-carrying capacity in the blood, which translates into a performance boost once the athlete returns to sea level.
One reason for the PM sessions is that splitting the same total load across two runs puts less physiological stress on the body than doing it in one continuous session. Studies comparing a single long session against two shorter sessions with equal total volume show lower heart rate, lower lactate, lower perceived effort in the second half, and less residual fatigue the following morning with the split approach※7.
Dropping the PM sessions right before the race looks like a sensible tapering decision — shedding fatigue in time to race fresh.
Breaking Down Each Workout Type
Let’s go through each session type one at a time. Since most of Kipchoge’s training takes place around 2,400m altitude in Kaptagat, the intensity discussion below is framed around that altitude. Note that “Eldoret,” which appears in the log, is a separate location — a flat road course at roughly 2,200m, used for the moderate jog sessions.
Easy Jog
Easy Jog sits below even the low end of the VDOT Calculator’s Easy pace range. It’s used almost without exception the day after a key session and for PM runs.
At this intensity, Kipchoge is presumably prioritizing recovery. Runs can stretch past 20 km, but by keeping the pace this conservative, he’s evidently confident it still favors recovery over accumulating fatigue.
Moderate Jog
Moderate Jog is placed two days after a fartlek session (the day after an Easy Jog). It’s clearly kept distinct from the Easy Jog sessions.
Rather than run two straight days of Easy Jog, he bumps the intensity up to Moderate — a deliberate way to add a bit more load without stacking two very easy days back to back.
Moderate intensity itself varies — sometimes it’s the midpoint of Easy intensity, other times it drifts up toward the range between the top of Easy and marathon pace. It’s likely dictated by how his body feels that day.
Rather than letting the easy days blur into aimless jogging, he seems to deliberately insert Moderate intensity to keep the average training load up.
Long Run
The main purpose of the long run is to build running economy (how efficiently the body uses oxygen at a given pace) along with the muscular endurance and fat-utilization capacity a marathon demands. Research shows that accumulating aerobic mileage — long runs in particular — is one of the most effective ways to improve running economy※6.
Kipchoge alternates between roughly 30 km (about 100 minutes) and 40 km (about 140 minutes) for his long runs. Whether that’s specific to this pre-race block isn’t clear from the log alone.
The pace sits somewhere between Easy and marathon pace — Moderate intensity on paper. Given the rough terrain, the actual physiological load is probably closer to marathon effort.
Kipchoge runs the actual marathon in a little over two hours, yet his training includes long runs that stretch past 2 hours 20 minutes — suggesting he sees value in going beyond race duration in training, not just up to it.
That said, even Kipchoge doesn’t appear to run his long runs at anything close to marathon race pace — presumably because the residual damage to the legs would be too costly.
Fartlek
Kipchoge’s fartlek sessions mainly rotate through a few formats:
- 1 min on / 1 min off × N sets
- 2 min on / 1 min off × N sets
- 3 min on / 1 min off × N sets
It’s not entirely clear why he rotates between these formats, but varying the structure is likely a way to expose the body to slightly different stimuli each week.
Based on the pace and work-to-rest ratio, fartlek is best understood as threshold training — meant to raise the lactate threshold (LT).
Threshold training means holding an intensity that keeps blood lactate roughly in the 2–4.5 mmol/L range. Repeating this stimulus shifts the lactate threshold itself to the right — letting you sustain faster paces before lactate accumulates※4.
Research on world-class runners shows that threshold sessions are typically done 2–4 times a week※1. Kipchoge’s single weekly fartlek — or two, if you count the long run as being near threshold intensity too — is consistent with that.
Since fartlek is run by feel rather than to a fixed pace, it’s likely executed at a level of effort that’s demanding but sustainable.
Track Sessions
Track sessions are Kipchoge’s speed work. The target pace is usually close to 5K race pace.
One of the most important physiological determinants of distance-running performance is VO2 max — how many milliliters of oxygen the body can consume per kilogram of body weight per minute, a direct measure of the cardiorespiratory system’s ceiling※5.
Interval work at the track, run near this intensity, is what drives improvements in VO2 max.
Where fartlek is mainly about raising the lactate threshold, track work pushes harder and targets VO2 max more directly. Adding one high-intensity stimulus like this per week is a defining feature of Kipchoge’s training cycle.
Compared to fartlek, the pace is faster and the recovery between reps is somewhat longer — a clear sign that track work is serving a different purpose than the fartlek sessions.
What Recreational Runners Can Take From This
If a recreational runner wanted to adapt Kipchoge’s approach, the training cycle might look something like this:
- Long Run: 100–150 min
- Easy Jog: 60–80 min
- Fartlek or LT intervals: half marathon–10K race pace
→ 30–45 min of total work time - Easy Jog: 60–80 min
- Moderate Jog: 60–80 min
- VO2 max intervals: 5K race pace
→ 20–25 min of total work distance - Easy Jog
If you’re a recreational runner borrowing from Kipchoge’s training, keep the following in mind:
- Set the long run by time, not distance
- Don’t chase a target pace on Easy Jogs — run whatever distance and speed still leaves you favoring recovery
- If three key sessions a week (including the long run) is too much, scale back to two
Compared to an elite runner, we cover less weekly mileage at a slower pace. Rather than trying to match the distances, it’s more useful to focus on time spent training and on your own relative intensity.
References
※1 Haugen T, Sandbakk Ø, Seiler S et al. (2022) “The Training Characteristics of World-Class Distance Runners: An Integration of Scientific Literature and Results-Proven Practice” Sports Med Open
※2 Casado A, González-Mohíno F, González-Ravé JM et al. (2022) “Training Periodization, Methods, Intensity Distribution, and Volume in Highly Trained and Elite Distance Runners: A Systematic Review” Int J Sports Physiol Perform
※3 Wilber RL (2007) “Application of altitude/hypoxic training by elite athletes” Med Sci Sports Exerc
※4 Casado A, Foster C, Bakken M, Tjelta LI (2023) “Does Lactate-Guided Threshold Interval Training within a High-Volume Low-Intensity Approach Represent the ‘Next Step’ in the Evolution of Distance Running Training?” Int J Environ Res Public Health
※5 Bassett DR Jr, Howley ET (2000) “Limiting factors for maximum oxygen uptake and determinants of endurance performance” Med Sci Sports Exerc
※6 Barnes KR, Kilding AE (2015) “Strategies to improve running economy” Sports Medicine
※7 Talsnes RK, Torvik PØ, Skovereng K, Sandbakk Ø (2024) “Comparison of acute physiological responses between one long and two short sessions of moderate-intensity training in endurance athletes” Front Physiol
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