Ryan Hall seems to be ready

"HE WILL LOSE."

Horrible choice of music.

He can do 12 miles at 4:55/mile? That's good. Now he only has to go a little faster for 14 miles longer.

Ok, Ryan is fit and can run a steady, good pace for the marathon from all these 8-15 mile tempo runs he's always talking about. But what about when the Africans drop a sub 4:30 mile, or a mid 14 5k? How is Ryan going to respond?

the average male runner wrote:

Ok, Ryan is fit and can run a steady, good pace for the marathon from all these 8-15 mile tempo runs he's always talking about. But what about when the Africans drop a sub 4:30 mile, or a mid 14 5k? How is Ryan going to respond?

He will likely respond the same way he has for all his past marathons. He will glance at his watch and decide to keep his current pace.

On what day during the Olympics is the actual marathon?

I'm a huge ryan hall fan. But these videos don't mean much.

Its like watching videos of Fidel Castro or Kim Jung Il.

Really there is no way to replicate a marathon, but there could other workouts which are better indicators.

18 - 22 @ 90-95% MP is one, 12 - 15 @ MP is another.

Also his main issue is speed. So running less than MP doesn't mean much. I'd rather see and 8 mile progression at 106% or 6 x mile at 110%.

I hope he's ready, but this video is taken with 2 grains of salt.

mrningrunner wrote:

On what day during the Olympics is the actual marathon?

Anyone know?

same route wrote:

mrningrunner wrote:

On what day during the Olympics is the actual marathon?

Anyone know?

Women's marathon is August 5th. Men's marathon is August 12th.

There's a full schedule of the track and field events on the NBC Olympics website here:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/track-and-field/results-schedules/index.html

The men's marathon is on the last day of the Games, which is August 12th.

brogan1 wrote:

the average male runner wrote:

Ok, Ryan is fit and can run a steady, good pace for the marathon from all these 8-15 mile tempo runs he's always talking about. But what about when the Africans drop a sub 4:30 mile, or a mid 14 5k? How is Ryan going to respond?

He will likely respond the same way he has for all his past marathons. He will glance at his watch and decide to keep his current pace.

Have you run a marathon? Ever won one? Hall is top ten, not first in the world. If he drops a 4:30 and blows up you'll crucify him for bad tactics.

I swear before the 2008 Olympics and other major marathons since then Hall always talks about how fast he was doing tempo runs or some other run. He then talks about how ready he is to perform in the upcoming marathon. The race comes and he doesn't do well and then he talks about how he wasn't really ready or that he was too obsessed with the times of his training runs.

I am a Hall fan and wish him nothing but the best, but I am not buying his fitness claims. For one, you can't make but so much improvement from his recent races, which indicate a little over a month ago, he was in just about the worst shape of his life. Also, the marathon is about having a plan and part of that plan has to be being ready to adapt. Ryan's best races have been when things have went according to plan...adapting is what he has struggled with. If your goal is to run according to what your training says you are capable of, that's ok, but don't discuss the prospects of getting a medal against a half dozen athletes with a faster PR. If your goal is truely to get a medal, you have to take a risk, run beyond your comfort zone and expect to do the unexpected. If the leaders come through the half in 1:03 and you are a minute back...forget about it. Not only are they not coming back to you, they will probably pick it up. -Just keeping it real!

I for one will not critize anyone who blows up in the marathon while going for it.

All athletes either up-play or down-play their readiness. They either 1) say they're in their best shape ever to win to psych themselves and their oponents, or 2) say they've been injured or not training well and will do their best thereby lowering expectations making it easy to outperform. What is your point?

brogan1 wrote:

the average male runner wrote:

Ok, Ryan is fit and can run a steady, good pace for the marathon from all these 8-15 mile tempo runs he's always talking about. But what about when the Africans drop a sub 4:30 mile, or a mid 14 5k? How is Ryan going to respond?

He will likely respond the same way he has for all his past marathons. He will glance at his watch and decide to keep his current pace.

BUT he said he won't be wearing a watch in London. So, there shall be no watch glancing.

Liberty Park wrote:

I'm a huge ryan hall fan. But these videos don't mean much.

Its like watching videos of Fidel Castro or Kim Jung Il.

Really there is no way to replicate a marathon, but there could other workouts which are better indicators.

18 - 22 @ 90-95% MP is one, 12 - 15 @ MP is another.

Also his main issue is speed. So running less than MP doesn't mean much. I'd rather see and 8 mile progression at 106% or 6 x mile at 110%.

I hope he's ready, but this video is taken with 2 grains of salt.

This was a 12-15 mile run at MP, factoring in altitude, if this was at Flagstaff. He's done this very same workout at Mammoth or Big Bear numerous times. And every time he says that he should have gone to low altitude to get actual and not converted marathon pace. The legs will have to be moving at 4:43ish pace if it's a hot one, and definitely at 4:30ish pace at a certain point in the second half, for him to keep up, yet the muscles will not be used to that motion. 4:55 he can nail for the whole race but it won't bring contention.

It seems to me Ryan Hall's achilles heel is that he is so dependent on planning.

Now in a normal situation, in 99 races out of a hundred, this is a sound, even necessary method.

Unfortunately the Olympic marathon is one of those exceptions, where the ones who come out on top are the ones who are able to adapt. The going strategy in this big races has been for the lead Africans to go out hard, and to throw in surges, to see who'll keep up, and to try and ditch the rest. It really becomes a test, and for Hall, who is so wedded to rigorous planning, it is far to easy to simply lose contact, and when you make that psychological break from the led pack, you're done.

He would be wise to consider the story of Frank Shorter in the '72 marathon. He did not plan to make a move until much later in the race, but instead, around the 10 mile mark, the pack suddenly slowed down. He decided at that moment, that he felt fine, was running smart, and just kept doing what he had been doing. He took the lead, and never gave it up. If he had stuck to his plan, slowed down and waited to take the lead like he planned...things might've been far, far different.

Of course Hall has to have a plan, but he's gotta have contingencies, and has be flexible and able to respond wisely to whatever tactics the Kenyans and Ethiopians try if he wants to have a shot at the podium.

love seeing these training videos from Ryan...very inspirational...Thanks for allowing people to take an inside look at your training...Best wishes, in London...

You have no idea what kind of shape he was in a month ago. You have no idea what kind of shape he is in now. All your speculation and machinations about his race and race plans are ridiculous. I am glad you aren't my coach because you are probably terrible at your job.