A day of rest

A popular belief among many runners and coaches is that you have to train every day of the week in order to be the best. Kenyans kind of put that philosophy to shame. Now, I'm not saying I know every Kenyan and how they train and yes there are several who indeed train on Sunday, but let me mention several who do not and how successful they are...

David Rudisha doesn't train on Sunday and among many things he has done a 1:42:01 for 800m is not too shabby.

Stephen Cheruiyot Cherono (Saif Saaeed Shaheen) doesn't train on Sunday and he is a gold medalist and current world record holder of the steeplechase.

Jeruto Kiptum doesn't train on Sunday and SHE has run 2:04 for the 800m, 4:08 for the 1500m and 9:01 for the 3000m.

Ezekiel Kemboi doesn't train on Sunday and he won a gold medal in the 2004 Olympic steeplechase.

Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet doesn't either and she owns a bronze medal for the 5000m at the 2006 African Games.

At one of the most famous running camps in Kenya, the Armed Forces camp, they do 3 workouts each day and then Sunday is a day of rest.

One of the most famous female runners in history, Catherine Ndereba doesn't train on Sunday "for religious reasons".

Felix Limo doesn't train on Sunday and he boasts a 61:15 for the half-marathon and a 2:06:14 for a full-marathon.

Salina Kosgei has run 67:52 for the half and 2:23:22 for the full which is close to the U.S. Men's Marathon Olympic Trials standard for 2008 and she's a woman! She doesn't train on Sunday either.

I will conclude with Robert "Mwafrika" Kipkoech Cheruiyot who won the Boston Marathon in 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008 along with the Chicago Marathon in 2006 and he doesn't train on Sunday either.

Is it a coincidence that many of the top runners do not train on Sunday? I think they realize that if the hard days during the week are really hard and the easy days are easy then the body needs a day of total rest both physically, mentally and emotionally. I end this blog with my personal witness that when we honor Sunday as a Sabbath day or holy day then God honors us and gives us power to run even better than we thought possible. Run fearless!