On May 6, 2017, three runners attempted to break the two-hour marathon barrier. Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge ran the fastest marathon in history at 2 hours and 25 seconds.
Dr. Phillip Skiba was part of Nike’s scientific team for the Breaking2 project. He is board certified in both family medicine and sports medicine, with a PhD in Exercise Physiology.
He spent several years in the UK as Director of Sports Medicine at the University of Exeter, and developed the equations, algorithms and software systems used by the British Triathlon Federation in their successful quest for gold at the 2012 London Olympics.
Skiba's work is now in use at several Olympic training centers and helps train the fastest runners in the world.
If you haven’t watched the Breaking2 movie, you can do so for free on Youtube.
Although the target sub 2-hour goal wasn’t achieved, the project shows us what is possible, and more importantly, how we can go about improving performance.
There is so much to be learned in this episode. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
We discuss:
Is it possible to break the 2-hour barrier in the marathon?
Why was this project important?
The training variables they focused on with each runner.
What he would do differently next time.
Applications that can be used for every day mortals.