Whose trials prep is smarter: Hall's long buildup w/ few races, or Abdi's shorter specific build-up with lots of races??

"...but whose prep do you think will work better for THEM?"

Guessing that "THEM" is Hall and Abdi, you won't know unless you have them switch training methods.

Neither method is smarter, but after they compete in the same event (the trials?), then folks will jump in and say whichever one finishes ahead of the other used the right, better, correct, smarter, better, whatever method--and it still won't mean that much. Training methods are just baselines from which to build.

hopefully they both will provide us some pudding, in which proof will be a key ingredient.

You're wrong on so many fronts. If there are so many on this board who think there's only one way to prepare, perhaps you could start by naming some of them?

Secondly, Abdi is not running lots of races. He's run 9 races in 7 months, about what most of his peers have run. There is no "opposite" contrast here.

Finally, Abdi does not run a mere 90 miles a week for his marathon preparation.

They'll probably both make the team, finishing within 30 seconds of each other, or holding hands across the finish line, and the point will be moot. Still, it makes for an interesting debate.

I don't think so, but...

Maybe I exaggerated, but there are indeed several that feel that basically, there is a best way to train for almost everyone. For instance, JK wrote a "parable" of sorts saying that there is one "best spot" to take off from and perfectly fly off the mountain, or some such poetry, and that others that succeed from other spots might do well, but not as well as if they REALLY followed the one true path. Ok, without naming more names, there are many others that think that Lydiard has had it right all along, and that if you don't train mainly like he proposes, you are selling yourself short. They feel that's Snell's preparation of 22 milers was perfect for 800 runners. It might have been perfect for Snell, but others have done fantastic without ever doing anything close to such long runs. Anyway, there are quite a few that profess "the one way" (either saying the focus should be on mileage or speed, some saying without 120 miles a week, one can't truly prepare properly for a world class marathon, and so on). But that was HARDLY my point. I was really just saying these two have had a somewhat contrasting style of preparation for this marathon, especially when looking at # of races run in the last 6 months.

Um, I was contrasting Abdi's # vs what Hall has run. What "MOST" of Abdi's peers have done is not the issue. It's what Hall has run that was my contrasting approach, and what is that # , 2? Abdi has run at least 3 times the races Hall has run. It's a different approach, that's all I was saying, and it's a a fact. (and in fact, by saying most of Abdi's peers have run quite a few races over the last 6 months also shows that Hall's approach IS a contrasting one).

Well, I didn't say that was his high, but the article states that after recovering from the Trials, he was "back up to 90 miles a week", making it seem like that was a decent # for him, and a # he was using as part of his preparation period. But yeah, I wasn't saying that was his high amount, but he probably has still done less miles than Hall.

There has certainly been a contrasting approach of preparation between Hall and Abdi for this big day, with one having a few mini-peeks earlier this summer, and several shorter tune-up races, and the other focusing almost entirely on this one marathon, doing very few tune-ups, and seeming to make getting in the overall volume and specific marathon preparation as his #1 priority.

Sir lance alot

Most runners in the 2:20 to 2:10 range can reach a very good level of marathon fitness in 8-10 weeks. I think Abdi's build up is just right since it appears that he focused on doing well for the 10K and half marathon first and has now switch his training specifically for the marathon.

I think it's a mistake for runners in the 2:20-2:10 to do 16 to 20 weeks of marathon specific training. For some such a build up might work for most it is too long and they arrive on race day exhausted.

well if hall would of made the team i bet he would of been at worlds, and probably would of raced once or twice to help prepare for it. He didn't make the team so he decided to put all his focus on the trials. And maybe hall was planning on racing more but had minor injuries that made him not race.

Ritz didn't race the great north run when he was supposed too, you going to say he is taking the same approach as hall. Things just work out that way sometimes where minor issues prevent you from getting races in when if you were looking great you would of raced much more.

Good points. But even if Hall had made the team, he might not have run, because Abdi's coach didn't want him to run it.

And I was not even saying their approach's were entirely the plan from the start (Hall got a cold, Hall didn't make the 10k team as you said, Abdi's coach wanted him to skip WC 10k but Abdi overruled him, etc), but in the end their preparation has been their preparation, and each seem very comfortable with their different approachs. I am just trying to get the second-guessing started early! [ :-) partly kidding there, but... I really was just wondering if some people prefer one approach over the other (more racing or less, complete focus on one race or putting some focus on other races too, etc), and if some think that either approach will hurt either of these two on the big day [did Abdi get sharp too early? Did Hall not race enough?). Even Abdi's coach is questioning one aspect of Abdi's preparation: racing the WC's 10k. )

Personally, I think the Abdi shuffle will prevail, though I do wonder if he has been sharp too long.

Well it depends on what their training philosophy is. Some athletes race a lot because they work it in as part of there training. Such as Lydiard has a lot of time trials in his training philosophy so races become time trials for some. An example of a new england marathon preparing for the trials who has run 2:15 is Nate Jenkins, if you look at his training you will see that he was racing almost every weekend for a few months. At a track meet where i was preparing for my 3k race he was jogging around getting ready for the 5k that was up next. I asked him why he was racing so much and he that it was part of his training. His training log is kind of interesting, its on trackshark.

It doesn't matter. Abdi will win because he's African and therefore genetically superior.

So, I might like broccoli and you don't, what does that make us, different, like snowflakes and fingerprints. The only thing that matters on race day is mental confidence. Confidence comes from doing your homework, that which you have found works for you. World class athletes should never line up confused because another thinks they trained wrong. We all are born with two things, a butt and an opinion. Some opinions are just more informed than others. The best athletes on any day can have a bad day despite preparation. Ed Whitlock, the 75 yr old runner runs 20 miles everyday on the same course, and ran 2:55 a couple years ago. Thats called confidence