Great insight from Jos Hermens on Kenenisa Bekele

I'm pretty sure he already knows what it takes to run a fast marathon.

I hope he reads this thread though. He could still gain some valuable insights and motivation. The dude is obviously a slacker now. One calf is smaller. Hasn't won anything in a year. Doesn't even know what's important anymore. He has obviously lost his way. And his poor agent has to put up with this unprofessional behavior from an athlete!

Good thing Rupp has consistent coaching and is properly focused on his priorities. He could break 2:09 in Chicago if the weather cooperates. But he's easily a 2:05 guy. Because he's dedicated.

Slackerrrrrrrrr wrote:

One calf is smaller. .

Maybe the other one has actually goten bigger and that's wrecked his perfect balance.

dsrunner wrote:

Bekele's mistake is trying to train 'like a marathoner' ...excessive volume and diminished quality. He listened to bad advice.

If he can run < 59' for a half, he can do the WR marathon on 90 mpw

Those incentive clauses also increase the drop out rate.

Bad races don't pay aside from appearance fees

What specifics on KB's training do you have over the last 2 years that the rest of us don't? Or are you just talking out of your @$$ as is typical here? I'm genuinely interested if you have the specific training in his buildups over the last 2 years.

fatted calf wrote:

Slackerrrrrrrrr wrote:

One calf is smaller. .

Maybe the other one has actually goten bigger and that's wrecked his perfect balance.

Completely wrecked. He couldn't even hang with Kipchoge and some rookie.

gdffdsdagsdf wrote:

(...) his business empire and the good intentions that come along with it, to give back to his people and make Ethiopia stronger.

I don't know much about Haile and I'm not even sure he said that himself, but this is typical businessman talk. The goal of a business is to make money. For the owner.

Slackerrrrrrrrr wrote:

He couldn't even hang with Kipchoge and some rookie.

Yes, these news are good in a way: he has run 2:3:3 as a hobby jogger. Imagine if he ever decides to give it a go as a professional.

Good article. I was disappointed by his dnf in Berlin.

He can accomplish a lot if he approaches the marathon with the seriousness it deserves.

I believe some factors affecting Bekele's performance in the marathon are injury, being distracted because of his business, lack of discipline, and trying to do more with less training.

Hope the message from his manager is being heard by Bekele.

Bekele is done. He can't get motivated enough to not show up to a race overweight. I don't blame him either!

Nike and Jos should drop him. They shouldn't have to put up with this kind of crap from a runner.

And he could get a pair of Adidas and at last break that WR.

I would think that owning a hotel would bring in more money than that of a professional runner.

Slackerrrrrrrrr wrote:

Nike and Jos should drop him. They shouldn't have to put up with this kind of crap from a runner.

If my manager talked to me like this I would tell him to "f_ck off" and go and find another manager. He must really be scared of what Jos has on him to put up with his crap.

As for Nike, they maybe the reason for lower limb problems.

You guys still haven't figured out yet? Bekele is just like Kipchoge, both didn't wear shoes until they were 16 years old. Fortunately for Kipchoge he's retained his barefoot stride. The reason Bekele was unstoppable back when he ran XC is because he ran in minimal shoes that helped him retain that beautiful forefoot stride. This carried to the tracks. Now he runs in bulky cushioned shoes and almost heel strikes. Everyone is saying his from is off and it's true because the shoes don't work for him, he should of worn what Adul had on. Those big bulky Nike shoes eliminate all ground feel eliminating proprioception changing your stride, it's like putting a blind fold on a professional dart player and expecting them to know where to aim.

You might be right about the shoes and barefoot history etc.

shooz wrote:

You might be right about the shoes and barefoot history etc.

What? Credit where credit is due, ⤴I wrote it first.

crapmostank wrote:

You guys still haven't figured out yet? Bekele is just like Kipchoge, both didn't wear shoes until they were 16 years old. Fortunately for Kipchoge he's retained his barefoot stride. The reason Bekele was unstoppable back when he ran XC is because he ran in minimal shoes that helped him retain that beautiful forefoot stride. This carried to the tracks. Now he runs in bulky cushioned shoes and almost heel strikes. Everyone is saying his from is off and it's true because the shoes don't work for him, he should of worn what Adul had on. Those big bulky Nike shoes eliminate all ground feel eliminating proprioception changing your stride, it's like putting a blind fold on a professional dart player and expecting them to know where to aim.

Bekele has said in interviews that he purposely changed his form for the marathon distance. It hasn't been crazily thrown off by the shoes. I also question why you wouldn't want more cushioning for road-running than for track or XC.

Some good advice from Hermens, but still plenty of blame to go around. Why did he enter Bekele in this particular race with all its hype knowing he had to be at a certain level of fitness to make the podium? Also, given how his other two marathons this year went, this defeat must be confidence crushing. All Jos’ fault. He should’ve picked a lesser marathon to set him up for something bigger next year.

Ok man, thank you for that Kenyan love but Rudisha definitely did not want to be a marathon runner. I hangout with him a lot in 2006 when he won the high school championships in the 400m (47.XX) and the 800m (1:52.xx?). He wanted to be a 400m and had to be coerced into the 800m by bro Colm. Of course it helped that he went on to win the World Juniors in China that year.

Kiprop in the 10,000? Nah. He himself told me in 2010 at the gym at Lorna's camp that he was meant for the 800m but found it to be too short and not much opportunity for growth. I think we can all agree he still has those 800m chops!

Please stop your armchair analytics on Kenya vs Ethiopia and get to know us in person. Come live with us for a few months bwana!

During their conversation yesterday, Bekele asked why, if he was not prepared to run in Berlin, Hermens had not canceled the race. Hermens responded that it was not his decision to make. Hermens was not with Bekele in practice every day; only Bekele knew what kind of shape he was in. Bekele did not have a large financial incentive to run Berlin — “the money was shit,” according to Hermens — but, mesmerized by a shot at the world record that he so craves, he gave it a shot anyway.

Surely with his experience Bekele should have known what was going to happen and that he was in no shape to challenge for a 2:03 or better?

G. Mutai's been pretty "good" at not starting up recently because he thought his preparation wasn't good enough.