Letesenbet Gidey Targets Sub-2:10 Marathon
Letesenbet Gidey's coach Haile Eyasu thinks she can run sub-2:10 in the marathon.
On December 1, 2022, Eyasu shared his thoughts with Jonathan Gault.
Letesenbet Gidey is making her marathon debut in the Valencia Marathon on Sunday.
Her coach Haile Eyasu is very bullish on her marathon prospects.
Gidey has taken almost a month off after winning the 10,000 and finishing 5th in the 5,000 at the World Championships in Eugene in July.
She has been training for the marathon with higher mileage and lower intensity.
Eyasu says Gidey's training went well, with her highest volume week being 185 kilometers.
Gidey ran 30k one week and 40k the next, with her longest run totaling 42 km.
Gidey's coach is impressed by her longer sessions.
One month out from the race, Gidey ran 35k in two hours: 2:24 marathon pace for 21.7 miles at over 7,000 feet of elevation.
Eyasu expects Gidey to excel in the marathon.
He says the best event for her is the marathon, as her performance is best on the long run.
Letesenbet Gidey seemed to go fairly unnoticed by other passengers at Frankfurt Airport.
She was on a flight to Valencia with her coach Haile Eyasu.
Eyasu wants Gidey to go out on the slower side and pick it up late in the race.
That is how Gidey likes to run, and it's how she broke her world records in the 5k.
Gidey's training base is in Addis Ababa, where she ran 25k in an hour and 20 minutes: 2:15:01 marathon pace for 15.5 miles.
Eyasu is not surprised that Gidey has taken well to the training, given her gradual move up in distance throughout her career.
Letesenbet Gidey has broken world records in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, and half marathon.
Her coach Haile Eyasu believes she can break the world record in the marathon as well.
The Valencia Marathon is on Sunday, December 4, 2022.
Letesenbet Gidey's coach Haile Eyasu will iron out exact paces with Gidey, her pacers, and her agent Valentijn Trouw closer to race day.
Letesenbet Gidey's marathon debut is highly anticipated.
Her coach Haile Eyasu thinks she can run sub-2:10 in the marathon, which would be a remarkable achievement.