Observing the talented Sammy Mitei, Pace Management coach in action

It was such a great learning experience for me when I visited Pace Sports Management’s Sammy Mitei in 2015, as he coached his runners in Eldoret. I saw a lot for myself and learned more as I listened to him. 

“What did I just tell you?!” he had asked, and I could not hide my astonishment.

Mitei Coaching Psychology

After explaining to me how, as an experienced coach, he had learned to give out workouts to his athletes depending on how he has come to know each and every one of them – there are those who often complain that the work out is too much and also those who would feel that they still wish to add in some more at the end of the session – one of his athletes who had just been doing some 800m intervals on the track actually came up to where we stood and asked him if he could add some more 300m intervals! He gave him the okay.

“For athletes who are used to asking for more workouts, I normally give them slightly less so that when they ask and I allow them to do the “extra workouts” they actually end up meeting the threshold that I had designed for them in the first place; for those who complain, I give them a little a little extra and will allow them to stop when they have done what I had in mind for them,” explained Sammy.

Sammy Mitei worked with athletes running distances ranging from 800m to the marathon. He started coaching in 2005 working with the Kenyan military team. Most of these athletes ended up signing with Pace Management and it became a matter of time before Sammy too moved to be with them at their training camp in Kaptagat. But, even though the majority of the athletes in this camp belonged to the Kenya Defense Forces’ team, there were also athletes who are civilians and others from the Kenya Police.

Because he dealt with a large number of athletes, Mitei, for most days, had to be on the track for almost the entire day, as other groups arrived after he finished with the first group.

As a new group arrives, he talks with them briefly to see how they feel and whether any of them have problems. He also checks with them to see if anyone is focusing on an upcoming race, briefly explains what the athletes would benefit from in the workouts at hand, and what times to aim for in the track intervals.

For his own reasons, he had to ask athletes in a particular group to remove their watches and run at a moderate pace during 2,000m intervals. “I know why I am doing that,” was all the explanation he gave to the athletes.

A notebook and two stopwatches

Mitei would often be dressed casually at the track, like any other man you would meet on the streets, but you would not miss the two sports watches hanging from his neck as he shouted time splits to his athletes. He would later transfer all the times recorded in the watches to a notebook after the workouts.

Amid all this, he still found time to explain more about his work, how he handled various training challenges, and the prospects for his athletes that year.

“To know whether an athlete is in his best form to compete, I would have to monitor him for at least one month, observe his times during intervals on the track, see how easy he runs and whether he is showing any signs of straining,” Mitei says regarding judging the shape of his athletes.

How to maintain an athlete’s top form for a long time, according to Mitei

He believes that an athlete can maintain his best form for a long time if only he is open with his coach and freely communicates how he feels. “If an athlete is at his best to compete and yet his race is still many days ahead, I often advise them to take some short breaks from training,” he offered his valuable advice.

“And, even while in training, the workouts for athletes who have already reached peak form should be different from those who haven’t. I give out lighter workouts for athletes in form and vice versa to those who are still struggling,” he added.

According to him, overtraining is a common problem among athletes and often a mistake. “A coach may ask athletes to go for an easy run, but as soon as they are out of sight, they start running hard and end up burning themselves out,” Mitei said.

Some of the athletes who have trained under Mitei at Pace Management include Vivian Cheruiyot, Winnie Chebet in the women’s 800m, Bethwel Birgen in the men’s 1500m, Jeremiah Mutai in the men’s 800m and Mercy Njoroge in the women 3,000m Steeplechase, Mark Kiptoo in marathon, Mika Kogo and Mike Kigen, among many others.