Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich

Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich (born 15 March 1982) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes primarily in the marathon. He won the bronze medal in the event at the 2012 Summer Olympics and held the world record from 2013 to 2014. Quotes For me, I prefer gold. When I went to the Olympics last year I wanted to go for the gold, and maybe go for the World record this year. It is still my target to go for gold at the World Championships or the Olympics. That was not really a disappointment for me, though,” he said. “I can say it was a plus for me, because then I could think ‘I am just away by four seconds’, and it inspired my training. When I crossed the 40km mark I tried to see the split time, and I saw it was 1:57.13. When I had got to that point in Frankfurt it was 1:57.20, so then I knew I could get inside it. I felt good, and then I started to push hard. I checked the course, and Geoffrey talked to me about it, and then I went back to Kenya to prepare. The World record can easily be broken. There are a lot of new guys now training harder who want to go for the record. For me, I think I can do a sub-2:03. It’s possible. The main problem in the Marathon is to control your mind for two hours,You have to be aware of how you are feeling, what time you are doing your splits, what are your targets, when do you break away from the group. Mind control is really difficult, but you find that if you concentrate too much at the beginning of the race you lose a lot of energy. You should be doing that at the end. At the start you keep running with the group, you just relax, relax. But you have to keep a look out. Sometimes you can see someone go off like crazy and he’s gone. You have got to keep a close eye on the other runners. At the water stations you have to be careful who is doing what. You try to see how the others are running. I think the level of competition is really high now. There are more guys running fast and training in a more professional way. They are working at a higher level than the guys who used to run before. But the big difficulty is timing. Many runners are working with the same schedules, the same routines. But you have to know what training you should do three months, two months, a month, a week before the race. Sometimes runners are in top shape two months before a race and then they don’t perform; or sometimes runners start too late, and on race day they are not at the right level. Everybody does the same programme, but the most important thing is knowing how your body reacts and getting the timing right. "Monaco press points – Wilson Kipsang" World Athletics (November 15 2013) The only way that I manage to be consistent is lots of experience in training and racing. I am self-coached, so for me I mostly analyse my form from previous trainings and the previous [race] performances. Then I try to go back and make it more interesting the next session, so it doesn’t become too much repetition. In training I find that all sessions are important – the build-up, the speed work, the endurance. All of the sessions combined lead to a good race. And the most important thing is how you combine those sessions to produce a good time and to perform consistently. I am not very aggressive in training, I like to take it easy. I always tell them [the other guys in the group] ‘we don’t compete in training, we compete in the race’. Now I have run 15 maybe 16 marathons, so now you will find that the kind of approach with training and everything you just feel that you are more confident. You don’t fear the running. You are just ready to compete. You don’t feel the nerves anymore. I don’t look at my heart rate, I just feel it. Not during the race and not in training. I just listen to my body. That’s the most important thing. The one thing I normally look forward to after a big race is a break from the normal routine. You see, we’d be waking up, run, training, so it is nice to take some time and do your own things, no training, just breakfast and doing other activities. Just rest and break up that routine. I’d be taking some time. "The Marathon, it's a long way" World Athletics (October 24, 2017) External links Category:Sportspeople from Kenya Category:Track and field athletes Category:1982 births Category:Marathon runners Category:Living people