Eliud Kipchoge's routine towards another world record: eat the same, sleep the same, run the same

• Chronicle Eliud Kipchoge breaks his own marathon world record and stands before the two-hour border

• Interview Interview with Eliud Kipchoge: "The marathon beat me once, but I'll be back in a big way"

, the Spanish physiotherapist who is part of

's team, tells us

that not long ago they were offered a steamroller to flatten their training track in Kaptagat and rejected the proposal.

"The results prove us right," he says.

Monotony, what method, the best.

For years, for decades, the successes of Kenyan - and Ethiopian - athletes were reduced to two reasons: genetics and altitude.

"With such long legs and those plains at more than 2,700 meters anyone can do it," he repeated to himself.

But it was a lie.

Or at least an exaggerated simplification.

Record after record, astonishment after astonishment, Kipchoge has shown the world that planning, discipline, simplicity and work are behind everything.

There is no other secret.

“Even today he does not miss a single training session.

He is very methodical and enjoys the process, going out for a run every day, following the steps that have to be followed, ”says Roig about who this Sunday pushed the human being before the two-hour marathon border.

He didn't get over her, but he brushed her.

In Berlin, on that dream circuit due to its non-existent slope, he celebrated his fourth victory and, most importantly, broke the world record for the second time.

If on the previous occasion, four years ago, he accelerated the present with an impossible mark (2:01:39), this time he directly reached the future (2:01:09).

The first mark below two hours will not be celebrated by our children or our grandchildren.

It will arrive sooner rather than later, today it can be confirmed.

TOBIAS SCHWARZAFP

In fact, Kipchoge went through the half marathon in less than an hour (59:51) and did not finish his feat because he was left alone at kilometer 27, both by hares - his compatriots

and

- and by opponents -Ethiopians

and

-.

Perhaps with them he would not have succeeded either, but the doubt will remain.

Two years after that strange eighth place in London, his only failure in 19 marathons held -in Berlin 2013 he also lost but he did it with honors-, the Kenyan regained excellence thanks to the usual trick: his method.

Food, rest, reading

«For that result in London it did not change.

She accepted it as part of the sport: he had done everything in his power and that day he did not go out.

He also suffered some discomfort in the ear, some vertigo, things that happen.

He simply concentrated on getting back to his core, doing things well done », analyzes Roig, although in those « things well done » there are many details.

Nutrition, with ugali - a kind of porridge, a paste made from corn - as a recurring dish, even boring.

The rest, with immovable naps, and early evenings.

Reading, which relaxes him and takes him away from the highly addictive cell phones, the entertainment of his younger companions.

And in short, everything that surrounds him in the Global Sports Communication training camp in Kaptagat.

There he lives during the week away from his family, his wife

and his three children

,

and

, who live in Eldoret, about 25 kilometers away, whom he usually sees on weekends.

The facilities of the place are modest -even the gym or the mentioned track-, but exaggeratedly functional seen what has been seen.

Kipchoge stands out from the training group as a kind of captain, a leader, a point of reference after all that he directs without the need to speak.

His order speaks for him.

All those present deal with the tasks of the center, cleaning the bathrooms included, and nobody can get away.

A few years ago, in 2018, one of his most successful colleagues,

, traveled to Valencia to run the World Half Marathon -which he would win- and at the hotel they were surprised to see that he had made the two beds that were in his room.

technological development

"His best virtue is that he listens," assured

, Kipchoge's coach, questioned by EL MUNDO, for the discipline of his best pupil.

According to the coach, records such as the one achieved this Sunday in Berlin are also based on the fact that he never does a kilometer less and, above all, he never does a kilometer more.

Confidence in the plan is absolute.

Philip Singerefe

Then there is technological development.

In Kipchoge's years, hydration and nutrition in the race have improved a lot and the boom in running shoes has been experienced, although over time the Kenyan's results dissipate their importance.

Nike's Vaporfly/Alphafly have been on sale for years, available to anyone, and only he -four times- and

-once- have been able to lose 2:02:45 in a marathon.

Soon there will be those who lose the two hours, but for this they must follow in the footsteps of Kipchoge.

«Or maybe he succeeds, with Eliud nothing can be ruled out.

His goal until now was to get to Berlin and now it is not known what he will do.

He never worries about the next day.

He enjoys the journey”, concludes Marc Roig, one of those who knows Eliud Kipchoge best, after the latest feat of a man as extraordinary as he is routine.

In the planning, the discipline, the simplicity, the work is the secret of it.

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