Webb wins in 14:06ish

Yeah, I agree, but that guy was a sstrong as a bull for Big 10, etc. I think his achilles was a freak thing- strained on a rocky hill or something?

He was strong as an ox when he entered the program. He was beating All-Americans from the get-go.

Slowfatoldguy,

No

My question... why did he run in a race with B class Americans when he could have gone to Stanford and run with at least A class Americans and Scheibler?

I guess because it was more of a last minute thing than a planned event. At the end of a week of hard training he drove down to Raleigh and jumped into the 5000.

Quick note- Webb has run 5 races this year at 5 different distances and 5 PR's (although none very impressive). I believe his next three races are the steeplechase, 400 IH and then maybe a 1200 leg at Penn. (3 more PR's!)

With the 2nd place runner hitting 14:07, only the Craggs and Torres (top 5k'ers) could run 15, 20, 30 seconds faster in that setting.

Nice job by Webb.

Conditions were terrible, hot and really muggy....thats a good time for webb. its a 13:50 on a perfect day (and that is about as fast as webb could run in great shape), and don't forget webb is training for the mile....

I imagine Webb ran Raliegh since it was close to home, and the 5k is not his event (it was more of a workout anyway)....Why fly across the country to run stanford to do a workout when you can drive 20minutes to another very good race (it is usually won in the high 13:40's) to do your workout instead....it seems pretty smart to me. I would imagine he would fly to stanford if he was running the 800, or the mile.....but why waste the time for a 5k and get your body all out of sync (time change/temperature difference)....good way to get sick (risk isn't worth it)

wow, 20 minutes from virginia to raleigh... he must been really truckin.

Webb made a very smart move. Most college coaches are not thinking about the long term health of the athlete and Michigan is no exception. He most likely would have been destroyed by the narrow minded focus of the coach and would have very little to show for his efforts after four years in college. Now, he has everything working in his favor and he gets paid big money to do what he loves. Even if he fails to live up to his expectations, he will have earned a decent living from the sport. So, rather than a bag full of injuries, he gets a bag full of money. It's a no brainer in my book.

By the way, I was also my best in college my first year in Cross. It helped that I was already able to hang with the better runners in the conference my first week in college.

I can tell you that it was all down hill for the next four years and I was not able to get close to my first year in cross.

Webb was smart to move on, and I was not.

ok...it's freakin' MARCH! Webb is not and should not be peaking right now, especially if he's going to Europe (like you guys say he needs to). So that's exactly what he's doing running a 5k at Raleigh...he's preparing for Europe. Peace.

shotgun cat wrote:

wow, 20 minutes from virginia to raleigh... he must been really truckin.

Clearly he was truckin, shotgun; he's a 3:53 miler.

I have to agree with (some of) the naysayers on this one. The JoBros put it this way on the front page: "Admittedly, it's a performance nowhere near worthy of $250,000 per year but it was decent nonetheless." My question is, since it was "nowhere near worthy" and only "decent", how can we praise said performance? I think that those who are putting the it in context (e.g. an ultra-talented guy who does nothing but run every day, etc.) are doing the right thing. Now, does this mean that Webb sucks and does make every one right who said that his flight from Michigan was the biggest blunder ever? Of course not. I'm sure that there are plenty of reasons why he didn't run faster than he did, but that doesn't mean that he ran all that well in my book.

The Dude believes that the fact that Mr. Webb won the race is skewing your opinions of how he won the race. If Webb ran 14:06 and was outkicked or placed 4th or 5th would you still feel the same about his 14:06? The Dude thinks not.

The Dude also remembers that Mr. Webb ran 14:45ish his senior year of high school on a cross country course. When Webb was at Michigan, did he not break 30 twice in the 10k?

The Dude was also there in Raleigh on Friday night and found the conditions rather pleasant. It was neither too hot or too muggy for Raleigh standards where The Dude has lived and ran all his life.

The Dude also doesn't understand why--if it was a workout-- Webb ran behind someone for the entire race until the last 300 meters. Since when is there glory in winning a workout? The Dude would think that Webb would run hard for a better time/workout rather than sitting and kicking.

The Dude returns to his first point: what is Webb doing? The Dude is neither an idiot nor a Webb-basher. The Dude is merely confused.

Warmest Regards,

His Most Regal Dudeness

The Dude,

I would agree with you on pretty much everything. I don't know where the guy was who said conditions weren't good. I thought it was a very good night for distance running.

Keep in mind a few points on Webb:

#1- he was probably just running to win and using the race as a workout and something to keep him from getting bored in the monotony of training all the time.

#2- seeing as how he is probably gearing up for the summer season, he is still a few months from really being in racing shape

If you seriously think that 14:06 is the fastest that he can go, you don't know anything about Webb and therefore are in no place to criticize. Lay off the guy a little and maybe focus on your own training and for God's sake, quit pretending like you own the distance world and know everything there is to know about Webb and running. Sure you can have your opinions, but why do they always have to be destructive?

XCPotential,

The Dude is equally baffled by your remarks. The Dude's questions was: if this was a workout, then why did he "run for the win"? The Dude always ran workouts to run well not for place. The Dude would be more impressed if Mr. Webb ran 13:50 and placed 10th.

The Dude certainly believes that Webb can run faster than 14:06. The Dude's question is why didn't he?

Finally, the Dude's training is going fine and The Dude never pretends.

Deeply Confused but always,

His Most Confident Dudeness

mr. webb looked like he was doing all sorts of weird stretches and drills for a long time after the race (and then again on saturday). perhaps mr. webb is focusing a lot on non-running aspects of training right now, much like they say mr. stember was doing not too long ago.

Shotgun,

The Dude deeply appreciates your response as you are the first person to address The Dude's question(s). The Dude also noticed that Mr. Webb's form has changed from his earlier days. The Dude is open to other theories as to why Webb ran this workout.

Deepest regrards,

His Royal Dudity

It's March....when we get to Sept. and Webb is still running crap times, I'll join the crowd. In the meantime, I still believe great things will come. Give the kid a break....for now.