Kiptum’s insanely high-level training regime revealed

Kelvin Kiptum continues to dominate headlines since he broke Eliud Kipchoge's record when he won the Chicago Marathon in superb fashion.

By running in 2:00:35 to shatter Kipchoge's 2:01:09 record that had been set in the Berlin Marathon in 2022, Kiptum became the new record holder.

His training regime has now been explained, and it involves a busy schedule all throughout the week.

Kiptum's coach

The 23-year-old has been working with Gervais Hakizimana, a Rwandan, for two years.

“[I worked with him] a little bit [before Valencia]. Not so much. He was giving me tips on how to train. At the beginning of this year, he has taken on a big role," Kiptum said, as quoted by LETSRUN.com.

Of note, Hakizimana holds the Rwandan record in the steeplechase (8:39.05) and ran 29:15 for 10km on the roads in 2015.

Kiptum's training regime involves running more kilometres than Kipchoge, as has now been revealed.

“Every week, Eliud Kipchoge does between 180 and 220 km (111 and 136 miles). Kelvin Kiptum is between 250 and 280 km (155–173 miles), sometimes more than 300 km (186 miles). It’s an adventure.

"During the preparation for London, we did three weeks of more than 300 km. He has a very large volume. He works a lot on endurance. When he trains, he is strong," the publication, quoting Kiptum's coach, adds.

The training programme for the reigning London Marathon champion is also broken down in months.

“Our marathon program is established over four months, with a lot of bodybuilding and strengthening at the start.

"The first month he runs around 900 km (559 miles) in total, the second month between 280 and 300 km (173–186 miles) per week. In the fourth month, we gradually reduce the volume to have some rest before the race," LETSRUN.com continues.

Kiptum's training regime

On Monday, Kiptum jogs in the morning between 25 and 28 km at a pace ranging from 4’10 per kilometer to 3'40, or 12 km jogging in the afternoon.

On Tuesday, he does a track session or fartlek (a split race alternating between fast and slow paces). For example, 3′ fast/1′ slow, 3′ fast/1′ slow, all for an hour. 12 kilometres of jogging in the afternoon

And on Wednesday, just like on Monday, he does between 25 and 28 km in the morning and around 12km in the afternoon.

Thursday has been described as a 'difficult' day as he does between 30 and 40km at a close to marathon pace, and he has no activity in the afternoon.

He jogs between 25 and 28 km in the morning and 12km in the afternoon on Friday, and on Saturday, like Tuesday, tracks or splits on the road, jogging in the afternoon.

Kiptum does not rest on Sunday, as he will undertake between 32 and 40km at a fast pace but will have no activity planned in the afternoon.

Before the Chicago Marathon heroics, Kiptum ran the fastest debut marathon ever, 2:01:53, to win Valencia in December 2022, and five months later, he won the London Marathon by smashing Kipchoge's course record by running 2:01:25.