Shalane Flanagan on skipping US Nationals

For athletes at that level with one major goal, choices have to be made. And it makes perhaps sense if her marathon choice is the earliest of the fall majors, the one requiring the earliest build-up, Berlin, which there's at ;east a 50 percent chance it will be. By at least 50 percent I mean 80 percent.

The marathon is farther than a 10k.

To me, it makes no sense to skip a 10k race in June, when it could be used as part of preparation for the marathon.

Also I think Flanagan has no chance to break 2:20 at this point, but 2:25 is possible.

I, too, think that a sub 2:25 is possible for Shalane Flanagan given her 2:22.02 in boston this year.

J.R. wrote:

but 2:25 is possible.

Great insight!

Yeah, but this is a USATF national championship 10K, not your local Turkey Trot. Shalane doesn't want to go there and run a bad time because she is in the middle of high mileage weeks at altitude. So the choice is between scaling back the marathon training for now in order to run and win the USATF 10K or skipping it to concentrate 100% on the marathon. She picked the marathon. If the USATF championships would have happened to fall at a more optimal point for running a 10K race in her marathon build up, I'm sure she would have run them but considering that wasn't the case, she made the choice to skip it.

Just in case anyone could have gotten through the rest of your post without realizing how dumb you are, you end with this little nugget. Great prediction Nostradamus, but if Shalane can run 2:22 on Boston this April then sub 2:20 is a reasonable goal for Chicago or Berlin this fall.

Shalane just "fvcks sh_t up!"

She can't run a 10k in June because she's running a marathon in October? Come on. What a joke. This is why American pro running is boring to follow.

Somewhere in Japan, Yuki Kawauchi is chuckling at the notion put forth by Jerry and Shalane...

I don't see an issue with this as her focus is being a marathoner not a track runner right now.

It's different than the healthy track runners that skipped nationals.

German F. wrote:

Shalane doesn't want to go there and run a bad time because she is in the middle of high mileage weeks at altitude. So the choice is between scaling back the marathon training for now in order to run and win the USATF 10K or skipping it to concentrate 100% on the marathon.

That is nonsense. I raced often during full training for marathons and many top runners have done the same with good benefits, for example Carlos Lopes & Steve Jones.

J.R. wrote:

Also I think Flanagan has no chance to break 2:20 at this point, but 2:25 is possible.

Great prediction Nostradamus

Thanks

Could you imagine the utter despair and disappointment if Shalane had taken a couple days easy, won the 10k at Nationals and then run a 2:20:04 this fall?

That would crush the spirit of any elite athlete and would be difficult to recover from.

J.R. wrote:

German F. wrote:

Shalane doesn't want to go there and run a bad time because she is in the middle of high mileage weeks at altitude. So the choice is between scaling back the marathon training for now in order to run and win the USATF 10K or skipping it to concentrate 100% on the marathon.

That is nonsense. I raced often during full training for marathons and many top runners have done the same with good benefits, for example Carlos Lopes & Steve Jones.

J.R. wrote:

Also I think Flanagan has no chance to break 2:20 at this point, but 2:25 is possible.

Great prediction Nostradamus

Thanks

Ooh I bet you raced every weekend. And you probably didn't run as fast as Shalane sir, for either event.

Commitment for elites is so very important. Her excuse is 100% logical.

Frank Shorter ran the 10k in 72 Olympics about a week before the marathon.

J.R. wrote:

That is nonsense. I raced often during full training for marathons and many top runners have done the same with good benefits, for example Carlos Lopes & Steve Jones.

Again, no one really cares about your tales of Turkey Trot fame.

Whether or not an elite does a shorter prep race during a marathon program depends on the timing of said race during their training cycle. This one didn't work out perfectly so Shalane is putting all her eggs in the 2:20 basket.

German F. wrote:

J.R. wrote:

That is nonsense. I raced often during full training for marathons and many top runners have done the same with good benefits, for example Carlos Lopes & Steve Jones.

Again, no one really cares about your tales of Turkey Trot fame.

Whether or not an elite does a shorter prep race during a marathon program depends on the timing of said race during their training cycle. This one didn't work out perfectly so Shalane is putting all her eggs in the 2:20 basket.

The 2:20 basket? LOL- she keeps talking big and never comes through. She will NEVER run sub:2:20 - it is foolhardy to even pretend. I will bet you any amount of money she never does. You game?

I don't really care if she does or not. But if she really wants to go for it and is willing to skip USATFs to give herself the best possible shot at this goal than more power to her and she's got my respect for actually putting herself on the line publicly.

Though consider that she ran 2:22:02 this year at Boston with a half split of 1:09:24 in which she had to do a lot of the pace pushing by herself.

If she is running Chicago or Berlin than sub 2:20 is a very logical and sensible goal. If the race has a few rabbits that can nail down a first half in about 1:10 then I would think her likely do it.

The best goal setters are only successful half the time though so we'll see.

Hingle McCringleberry wrote:

German F. wrote:

Again, no one really cares about your tales of Turkey Trot fame.

Whether or not an elite does a shorter prep race during a marathon program depends on the timing of said race during their training cycle. This one didn't work out perfectly so Shalane is putting all her eggs in the 2:20 basket.

The 2:20 basket? LOL- she keeps talking big and never comes through. She will NEVER run sub:2:20 - it is foolhardy to even pretend. I will bet you any amount of money she never does. You game?

She's run a lot faster than you ever have, or will. In fact, she beats your PRs several times a week during training runs.

Hingle McCringleberry wrote:

The 2:20 basket? LOL- she keeps talking big and never comes through. She will NEVER run sub:2:20 - it is foolhardy to even pretend. I will bet you any amount of money she never does. You game?

+++

German F. wrote:

if she really wants to go for it and is willing to skip USATFs to give herself the best possible shot at this goal than more power to her and she's got my respect for actually putting herself on the line publicly.

Skipping a race a few months ahead of a marathon does nothing to improve anyone's chances in a marathon. Running the race could have been a beneficial part of the training.

If she is running Chicago or Berlin than sub 2:20 is a very logical and sensible goal

Running a pace on a downhill course with a wind behind her back does not indicate she's going to run faster on the flat, but slower.

I think the reason she skipped the 10k was because her training has not been going well, she was not prepared, and is hoping to be in better shape in the fall.

fan of the sport wrote:

Frank Shorter ran the 10k in 72 Olympics about a week before the marathon.

Frank Shorter placed 5th in an AR of 27:51.0 (which was a top-10 all-time performance and performer), 5 days before winning gold in the Munich Olympic marathon.