Traditional tips and innovative technology teach you how to become a marathon world champion

In order to break the 2-hour marathon mark, athletes need to reduce the existing marathon world record of 2 hours, 2 minutes and 57 seconds by about 3%.

This means that over the entire 42.195 kilometers (26.2 miles), the time per kilometer needs to be reduced by approximately 4.3 seconds.

In the eyes of most people, this seems to be an impossible challenge, but for Nike, it is a goal worth pursuing.

Lelisa Desisa and her team are training for running in Ethiopia. Three athletes who are not afraid of challenges accepted Nike's invitation to try to complete the marathon within 2 hours. They are Eliud Kipchoge, Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese.

After months of testing and data analysis on the world's top long-distance runners, Nike finally selected the three elite athletes whose physical condition is best suited to meet this challenge.

The main reason for choosing them is that they perform far better than other runners when it comes to running fast for long periods of time.

Their years of experience and expertise give them a unique advantage, which is why Breaking2’s coaching and scientific research team believes it’s important to adjust their daily training and feeding strategies rather than make radical changes to their original habits.

Trying to find the best way for athletes to achieve their goals, which will be the biggest challenge in long-distance running to date.

The athletes and their coaching teams played an integral role in developing their training plans and were key factors in getting them to where they are today.

Dr. Brad Wilkins, a physiologist and director of new products for Nike Sports Research Laboratory Discovery Research Team, and Dr. Brett Kirby, a researcher and chief physiologist at Nike Sports Research Laboratory, were invited to supervise the daily scientific research work of the Breaking2 project.

"As elite athletes, their current training programs are quite mature." said Dr. Brad Wilkins. "Our goal is to work with the athletes and their coaching teams to provide appropriate data analysis and feedback." Because of this,

By gathering forces from different fields, the dream of completing a marathon within 2 hours can become a reality.

Experience determines effectiveness. The training plan is constantly adjusted as the athlete's condition changes. Eliud Kipchoge's weekly training plan is diverse and targeted, and is gradually improved as the entire plan progresses.

He does two sets of training every day, including long runs, fast track runs and variable speed runs.

Brett Kirby mentioned that "Eliud Kipchoge's body coordination is very coordinated, and he often adjusts his pace based on his body's reaction and feeling." Lelisa Desisa's initial training focus was endurance training, during which she conducted a lot of long-distance, light-weight training

Basic running training at moderate intensity.

In subsequent training, more targeted track training was also added to increase speed and intensity later in the program.

Brett Kirby said: "Zersenay Tadese's strategy is almost the opposite of Lelisa Desisa's. His first half of training focuses on speed, which can show that he is familiar with the race speed, and his goal in the later period is to extend the duration of high-speed running so that he can maintain enough strength for a long time.

Pace." The pre-run warm-up was (for the most part) simple. During the warm-up, all athletes did a typical sliding jog (sometimes so slow that it almost looked like they were starting from a standing position, according to Brett Kirby.

shuffle your feet) and gradually pick up the pace for about 30 minutes.

Lelisa Desisa and her team do a more "ceremonial" pre-run warm-up that consists of dynamic stretching and lasts about 30 minutes.

"It looks like dancing," said Brett Kirby.

Teamwork and individual training are equally important. Generally speaking, in order to obtain sufficient running motivation and companionship, athletes will choose to run with many people.

Lelisa Desisa's team consists of 6 to 8 members, providing him with all the support he needs.

Eliud Kipchoge will run with a team of 60 people made up of locals, professional athletes or coaches.

But when they want a highly focused workout, they choose to run alone or with a small group of people.

Brett Kirby said, "Zersenay Tadese chooses to run alone in most cases. Get enough sleep to maintain optimal exercise condition. These athletes usually do not relax in the way that everyone imagines. For athletes who run more than 160 kilometers per week,

The most important part of a training routine is recovery. "Zersenay Tadese is known as the 'Sleep God' because when he's not running, he's sleeping," said Brett Kirby. When not training, Lelisa Desisa chooses to relax.

. In the camp, Eliud Kipchoge spent a lot of time balancing rest and daily life, Brett Kirby said: "In addition to taking naps and drinking tea with his teammates, he would also do some chores, such as fetching water from the well or.

Help out at camp.