Maksim Korolev: Physical or mental?

Just timed him in 87.

His splits are ridiculous

http://www.flashresults.com/2013_Meets/outdoor/06-05-NCAA/live/008-1-01.htm

I respect him for finishing the race. That can't be easy in the confines of a track with a big crowd when you are minutes behind everyone else.

I honestly believe he is more of a mental runner. He looked AMAZING when he won the indoor 3k at Heps this past winter, outkicking the field at the bell to win the event by 3 seconds (granted, Korolev had the entire building screaming for him since the conference meet was held at Harvard).

But I honestly think that he can mentally give up very easily when something isn't right (i.e., weather, health). Even his teammate, James Leakoes (who is also talented but just nearly as inconsistent as well), is quoted saying as such in the school newspaper after NCAA XC:

“Conditions were not exactly ideal for us going into that race, but I think we let the big stage get into our heads a little more than we had ought to,” Leakos said. “Next time we’ll have that experience with us and can be prepared.”

Either that or Korolev does a terrible job of managing his pace by going out too fast and then dying.

I remember watching him in high school in MO and was quite surprised by the result. It looks like he just tanked, but his prior comments for NCAA XC indicate he may let the pressure get to him. In high school, to e honest, it was always Daniel Everett (now at Columbia) who would blast to the front, with Korolev running more of an even paced race, coming from behind. Not sure what has happened to him, but I like the kid, and hope he figures it out.

It's pretty clearly mental... but you gotta respect his commitment to finishing. It's pretty easy to step off the track after a couple of 85s and start making up excuses. A guy at his level only gets a few chances to run in a championship event at a place like hayward field.

Lapped 3x? That is impressive

ks1 wrote:

I remember watching him in high school in MO and was quite surprised by the result. It looks like he just tanked, but his prior comments for NCAA XC indicate he may let the pressure get to him. In high school, to e honest, it was always Daniel Everett (now at Columbia) who would blast to the front, with Korolev running more of an even paced race, coming from behind. Not sure what has happened to him, but I like the kid, and hope he figures it out.

So he was not like this in high school? I wondered if this was a new thing or not. I found one high school interview where he seemed pretty level headed, but that was before the end of his XC season.

Korolev also bombed out of the regional 5k in a similar fashion, as well as Franklin and Bendtsen, who all already qualified in the 10k for nationals. Meanwhile, Everett is in the finals for the 5k.

Actually I recall the 2011 Kansas Relays in which he went to the front in the 3200 and handily beat the field in 9:13. But then in the 1600, although Korolev did tuck in behind Daniel Everett, Everett opened up a huge lead at about 500 to go, and led for all but the last 50 meters, when Kevin Colon (now at OK State) and Korolev caught him, with Colon winning in 4:19.

So possibly now he may just be running over his head with the NCAA leaders early, and just can't maintain the pressure of holding that pace in big races, even though he has laid down some similar times in lesser races. Who knows, but he has not had problems winning races in the past.

I remember watching him run Footlocker Midwest one year in high school -- he went out real fast, then died massively and failed to finish top 10. I may be combining years, but I believe he was a around a 9:00 or so 3200 guy at the time, so I was surprised to see him misjudge his effort so massively. Perhaps a precedent for his recent ups and downs in college?

(The worst I ever saw in high school was Michael Atchoo, now a sub 4 guy out of Stanford, who always went out like a bat out of hell and ended up looking stupid...went from top 3 to out of the top 20 within a mile or so at FLMW one year, and went out hard at the Midwest Distance Gala only to die a terrible, terrible death. Might've been the same year that Thode did the same thing, actually.)

Fun fact: Colon and Korolev would train together in the off-seasons, but rarely raced since they were in different classes. In high school, he always seemed pretty level headed and wasn't known as a terribly-paced or inconsistent runner. It could have happened a few times, but not enough to consider it a pattern. I don't quite know what's happened to him now though.

ks1 wrote:

Actually I recall the 2011 Kansas Relays in which he went to the front in the 3200 and handily beat the field in 9:13. But then in the 1600, although Korolev did tuck in behind Daniel Everett, Everett opened up a huge lead at about 500 to go, and led for all but the last 50 meters, when Kevin Colon (now at OK State) and Korolev caught him, with Colon winning in 4:19.

So possibly now he may just be running over his head with the NCAA leaders early, and just can't maintain the pressure of holding that pace in big races, even though he has laid down some similar times in lesser races. Who knows, but he has not had problems winning races in the past.

I mean he fell off 5:00 pace...

This sums it up perfectly:

http://www.letsrun.com/photos/2013/ncaa-outdoor-track-day2/thumbnails/tnKOROLEV%20Maksim%2013NCAA%20KL.JPG

Maybe he was ill.

Honestly I gotta give this guy credit for finishing.

I would've dropped out by 5k if that happened to me.

It takes a lot of balls to finish when having a performance like that.

Having seen his Heps races (indoors and out), I think "physical AND mental" might sum it up.

In his bad races (outdoor Heps), he looked like a guy whose feet hurt. But that may be an artifact of "sorry for myself" running, which can actually affect someone's mechanics.

I was going to say that his up-and-down-ness is characteristic of some other runners I've known (and coached), who suffered from anemia. But then it's hard to explain his performance in last fall's Heps xc race, wherein he was "well up" for much of the race and then utterly slacked off--runners with anemia problems on a given day generally look bad almost from Step One.

Anyway, the fact is that if you're not having a great race (or simply have a bad patch), it's easy to alter your mechanics unconsciously and rapidly make yourself even tireder. In line with this, over the years I've noticed that taller distance runners (Korolev certainly qualifies) seem more frequently to fall victim to this. (By contrast, smaller guys generally look great right until they crack.)

I wish him well, and hope he and his coaches get things sorted out.

Aren't all Harvard/IVY runner basket-cases.

Surprised this didn't get bumped up during NCAAs indoors where we saw the worst of Korolev - 3rd to last in 5k, last in 3k - after seeing the best of him at NCAA xc.

Can someone explain the guy to me? After doing horribly in the 5k, why wouldn't he just not run the 3k? It's like the 10k at NCAAs - just drop out buddy.

Harvard fans - does that mean he'll be good again come outdoors?

I have always liked him from his interviews...seems to have a good outlook on the sport. At Heps a couple of weeks ago he said he had been sick and was a bit banged up (shins). So it sounds like he was sick or injured or both at NCAA's. Link to the interview:

http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/251452-Ivy-League-Heptagonal-Indoor-Track-Field-Championships-2014/video/737372-Maksim-Korolev-on-getting-ready-for-NCAAs#.UyiwtPldWSo