Alan has the greatest range of any runner in the US ever. From 46.xx in the 400 to 27:34 for 10K.
To top that off he has the BMI of a somewhat normal man!
What many people don't factor in, maybe even Alan himself?, is that the brain gets bored very easily. It needs new stimulus to keep building deeper and deeper layers of understanding of the internal and external worlds inside/around it.
He broke Jim Ryun's HS sophomore record at the age of 16 and obviously his running started getting a ton of attention with that not only from the running community, but from himself. The "7 year itch" doesn't just happen to married couples; it's consistent in all relationships and endeavors because the brain gets bored. If you go 6-8 years out from when he first started setting records, he was then 22-24 years of age. Those were his best seasons, and it's of no surprise for someone who understands the psychology behind it since he was biologically mature enough at an early enough age to peak by then.
Alan is totally the man and I could see how he would have had a lot of tough years competitively and emotionally after that 7-year-itch really started to get to him. It's now been an additional 7 years and he is for sure totally fried and needs to move on from running, in my opinion, for at least a 7 year stretch before coming back to it if he ever wants to.
He is built for triathlon; always has been. If he wants to jump into it seriously he could be one of the best ever at that too if his brain found it exciting.