“He practiced more in training and it has already worked in big city marathons.” No Stones Unturned “He gets his drink every 5km so that when he comes to racing his body is already used to getting it in,” Trouw says. Since Breaking2, Kipchoge’s team has taken fluid intake more seriously, simulating their race strategy in his long runs of 21 to 25 miles (35 to 40km). “It was simply too hard for him at that high pace.”

“Eliud’s fueling will be a little bit different from Monza in 2017, because we realized there the drinking wasn’t good enough-he didn’t get in enough,” says his long-term manager Valentijn Trouw.

For all his laudable qualities and hard work, it seems even the great Kenyan-who will make his second all-out bid to break two hours next month in Vienna-can err in his preparations. Just ask Eliud Kipchoge, the fastest man over 26.2 miles on the planet. Deciding what to focus on most when you are training towards a hoped-for landmark marathon performance can be a tricky business.

Download ineos 159