Kiplimo uses Galaxy Watch8

A running watch used to be a fancy stopwatch. Now it is close to a rolling lab, and Jacob Kiplimo says he uses Samsung’s Galaxy Watch8 data to decide when to push, when to back off, and how to pace a race. (news.samsung.com) The basic idea is simple: your wrist can collect signals your coach cannot see in real time. Samsung says the watch tracks pace, heart rate, asymmetry, cadence, ground contact time, and flight time while you run. (news.samsung.com) Heart rate is the easiest one to picture because it works like an engine gauge in a car. If your speed stays the same but your heart rate climbs higher than usual, your body is spending more fuel for the same road. (news.samsung.com) Pace is just speed stretched over distance, and elite runners treat it like a metronome. Kiplimo said he uses pace data to avoid going out too hard early and to hold the effort he planned instead of the effort the crowd pulls out of him. (news.samsung.com) Recovery is the part casual runners usually skip, even though it decides whether the next hard workout helps or hurts. Kiplimo said the watch helps him judge whether he is actually ready for another demanding session or needs more rest first. (news.samsung.com) Form data matters because small inefficiencies add up over 21.1 kilometers, which is 13.1 miles. Samsung’s running analysis on the Galaxy Watch8 includes left-right balance and asymmetry, which are basically checks on whether one side of your stride is doing more work than the other. (news.samsung.com) That is the backdrop for why Kiplimo is a useful example here. World Athletics said he ran 56:42 in Barcelona on February 16, 2025, cutting 48 seconds off the previous men’s half marathon world record and becoming the first man under 57 minutes for the distance. (worldathletics.org) Samsung’s new piece ties that kind of performance to everyday training decisions rather than race-day magic. In the interview published on April 10, 2026, Kiplimo said he uses his watch data after sessions to understand how his body responded and to shape the next workout. (news.samsung.com) Samsung also built the watch around that idea for non-elites. Its Galaxy Watch8 Running Coach starts with a 12-minute test, assigns a running level, and then builds a plan from 5 kilometers up to the half marathon. (news.samsung.com) The gap between a pro and an amateur is still enormous, but the workflow is starting to look similar. The same wrist device that helps Kiplimo watch heart rate, pace, and recovery is being sold as a tool for ordinary runners to make fewer guesses and more measured decisions. (news.samsung.com)