So how good will Webb be under Salazar?

How cool would it be if someday Salazar had Ritzenhein, Webb, and Rupp all running sub-13 for 5k? Sub-27 10k? Sub-7:30 for 3k? 2010 could be the year Americans seize the distance running world. Instead of a long single file of Kenyans shuffling other runners to the back of a fast 5k race, why not a bunch of Americans doing the same thing? I could see Ritzenhein, Webb, Rupp, Tegenkamp, Lagat, Solinsky, Jager, and Fernandez working together, owning the track. I'm pretty sure there's never been a time in history when Americans had greater depth in the middle-to-long distance events. Male and female.

kara goucher was an also-ran in college? 3k indoor champ 5k outdoor champ xc champ and 8th at the oly trials in the 5k...

"Galen Rupp has only decent footspeed..."

1:49 800m indoors

3:57 mile indoors

I would say better than decent, but not great foot speed. And I think he will have even better leg turnover in the near future.

2012 gold medal baby

you heard it hear first, at 2 in the morning

I think I've said this before, but Webb is much less likely to PR at any distence than Ritz was. He could "rebound" and maybe even add a medal to his resume, but his PRs are already top notch world-class times and way closer to his full potential (they may be his full potential)than Ritz' PRs were. His 3k-10k times could go down a bit, but he won't be running 12:5x or 27:1x, because he'll likely spend the next 2-3 good years he's got left being a miler (as he should).

If Webb can run 1:44.low/3:30-:31 next year and then keep running those times through 2012 (maybe snagging a medal in 11' or 12'), Sally will become a coaching god in my book.

-STS

Webb's 5k progression in 2004-2005 was 13:45, 13:30, 13:10. He ran 13:30 in the spring of the same year he ran 13:10, which was run at the end of the summer.

I think Salazar could amaze us with what he does with Webb, and by amaze, I mean get Webb to run 3:29, 7:32, 13:00. I don't think Webb will attempt a fast 10k for a long time, and if he does run some longer distance races(8k-12k), it won't be so much for time as it will be a training exercise like Steve Scott use to do. Salazar has already said he's not going to have Webb lifting any weights for the next 6 months. He said Webb needs to lose the bulk. My thoughts are Salazar is going to have him return to a primarily aerobic base, getting in a lot of easy miles and maybe getting back into some xc races in the off-season.

Webb hasn't lost his speed- he's lost his speed endurance. I think Salazar will help Webb find this endurance and we could see a much more fit Webb than we've seen in the past. I only say this because of what I've seen happen with Rupp, Goucher, Begley, and now Ritz. I think Salazar already sees coaching Webb as a mighty challenge, especially now that he has so many athletes under his wing, and athletes that need constant, close attention. He's basically coaching the best distance runners in America: The AR holder for the mile(Webb), the AR holder for 5k(Ritzenhein), the AR record holder for 5k indoors(Rupp), the top 10k female runner(Yoder-Begley) and the top female marathoner(Goucher).

I think Webb will do well under the highly respected Mexican, Senor Alberto Salazar. Jose Vigil, Arturo Venegas are other great Mexican coaches.

Webb will make Ritz look like a collegian.

I think the big change will be that Webb will have a coach that gives him direction in all aspects of his training. That along with all the resources that are available so close to the Nike headquarters maybe the biggest difference.

It won't matter, I'd guess with Webb's inability to change his game he'll only be coached by Salazar for less than a year. He'll be back in NoVA lifting by the end of 2010.

wwseand wrote:

-Kara Goucher was an also-ran in college, then turned to Salazar in her mid-late 20s and became a WC/Olympic contender.

She won multiple NCAA titles in college.

I don't think Webb will fit in so well emotionally and mentally with Alberto's coaching as Dathan, Galen, Amy and Karen seem to.

I see either two scenarios:

(i) Webb's future seasons all being equal to or worse than his 2008/2009 seasons; or

(ii) Webb doing great in 2010 (no global championship year) before sucking up in 2011 and 2012 and not making US teams.

some coked up brit wrote:

I don't think Webb will fit in so well emotionally and mentally with Alberto's coaching as Dathan, Galen, Amy and Karen seem to.

Who is Karen?

If Salazar can straighten out Webbs head, I can see the next two years looking like this-

2010- Webb tops out at about theses times for these distances (if he runs them)-

1500- 332

Mile-351-353

3000- seven38 (seven key is broken)

5000-1313

And that would be a great year for him, finally getting back on the horse and running decent times, I dont think we will see him run super fast next year, hes got a lot of work to do. However-

2011-

1500-3 29-330

Mile- 3 48

3000-seven 34

5000-13 04

ultimately, Webbs PRs at the end of his career will look something like this-

1500-3 28-29 (Will be the AR for a little bit)

Mile- same as it is now (will be the AR for a long time)

3000-seven 30

5000-12 52 (wont be the AR)

10,000-twenty seven 03

He will snag a medal in either 2011, or 2012.

Viva La Raza wrote:

I think Webb will do well under the highly respected Mexican, Senor Alberto Salazar.

When did AS change his citizenship to Mexico? He was born a Cuban...

It's completely up to Alan. If he can mature and get his head screwed on straight, I think he will win WC next year or the following. The guy has ridiculous endurance/speed. I feel sure Salazar has the resources to keep him where he should be competitively. But being consistently the best requires physical and mental talent. Alan has demonstrated the former but he needs to develop the latter.

I was watching the Bekele run last night. Given that Alan has a similar build (short and solid), imagine Alan could run as smooth and as fluidly as KB? Who knows what will happen when he drops 5-10lbs of unnecessary muscle and works with Al? Should be fun to watch.

Dingler wrote:

She won multiple NCAA titles in college.

my apologies. i didn't really follow her career, i just remember her referring to herself as a collegiate also-ran (or something like that) in an interview with her and Adam. either she was being modest or i'm remembering it wrong.

either way, she definitely had some down years after college, so she still had a huge rebound when she joined up with Salazar.

considering that a sports psychiatrist will be intimately involved in the process, i think that "getting his head on straight" is one of Webb's main priorities. add in the nearly limitless training resources that will be at his disposal under Salazar - not to mention the best training group (Ritz, Rupp) in America - and you've got yourself a recipe for success.

i predict a 3:32 1500m, as well as a 1:44 800m and/or 13:10 5000m, in 2010. as for 2011, i predict a WC medal for Webb

As someone else mentioned the biggest concern with Webb is whether or not he sticks with Salazar. But i think he will stay. I mean hes like 27. IF he makes another change now he will never get back to where he was. It would be too late and he knows that. I think he made the right decision and I can't wait to see what he does. However, I don't expect him to have the immediate success Ritz does. Ritz may not have been shining the past 4 or 5 years but he has alot of qaulity marathon training behind him. Webb has been running like a college runner for the past couple of years and we have no idea what the quality of his running has been since his AR year. That being said it may take a year or more just to get him a good base and some confidence back. Maybe thats a good thing and he will really start rolling in 2011 and be at his best in 2012.

The second problem is that we have no idea how good Slazar is with milers. This alone, makes me jump on the bandwagon that encourages Webb to move up to the 5k. Again, he will need alot more endurance training (supposedly he ran 1310 off like 70-75 miles a week. But Salazar is the master at that kind of training so it would be perfect. I honestly think he could be the best ever 5000 meter runner in the US. I also think Ritz will move up to bigger and better things in the 10k or marathon but most likely the 10k. I also think he will be better than Rupp will ever be at that distance. He is way more talented. He won 2 foot locker meets and doesn't anyone remember that year he beat Hall at NCAA XC after not running all summer. Hes a beast and natural competitor. I think he has the best chance of medaling in 2012 out of anyone.

I almost lost my train of thought. I also want to highlight the part of the video with Dathan where he mentions how revived he felt out in Oregon and how he finally enjoyed running again. Webb is in a slump and if he gets some encouragement who knows what he'll do. Thats the best part of Salazar as a coach he revives careers. I think Adam Goucher was way more down and out and a bit older than these guys when he joined Salazar and he was running 13:10 in no time. Imagine what Webb can do never having flirted with 100 mile weeks and already having run 13:10 as a secondary event.

Webb had the number one time in the world.

Have any of Salazar's athletes done that.

I would be pretty impressed if he got Webb to PR in the 1500.