Klecker undone by sea level/humidity

The dude just got 16th at the olympics, and it was a big deal for him to just make the USA team. I think he did just fine, and he's on the up-swing. He'll likely continue to get a little better the next few years, if that happens he'll probably be a top 10 guy at the olympics, maybe a medal contender if the stars align. He should stay right where he's at and keep doing what he's doing.

Nigel_Bikes wrote:

Except Park City is a very dry climate and Tokyo in the summer is a very humid climate. Temperature at the start was 86F/30C with a lot of humidity at 8:30pm. Park City doesn't replicate that very well.

I don't accept your socialist weather beliefs. In fact, you are intruding on my personal liberty. You would live in fear of humidity with a name like Nigel ...

SDSU Aztec wrote:

Salazar took himself to Houston before the 1984 Olympic Marathon and it didn't do him much good. The holes in his singlet did take a minute off his time, though. If his brilliant ice hat idea had occurred to him then, he would have medaled.

All of Alberto's LA preparations were just the final nail in the coffin for his career that had already been spinning around the toilet bowel for a while.

In all honesty, when I heard about Klecker's heat training shenanigans I thought it was a bit much. You either stay in Boulder and play the altitude card or you go back home to Minnesota or somewhere and try to adapt to the conditions a bit. I think the second choice would have probably been better, it's not like you can't train hard and improve fitness at sea level. Probably ended up cooking his goose slightly with the double stimulus of altitude and all the heat stuff. A good run for him would have been top ten, so this was really just a C performance. Now go find a couple races in Europe and break 13 and 3:35.

Just got 16th at the olympics wrote:

The dude just got 16th at the olympics, and it was a big deal for him to just make the USA team. I think he did just fine, and he's on the up-swing. He'll likely continue to get a little better the next few years, if that happens he'll probably be a top 10 guy at the olympics, maybe a medal contender if the stars align. He should stay right where he's at and keep doing what he's doing.

Great point, actually.

Okay I’m closing the thread now.

Thanks everyone

Drunk Letsrun wrote:

skdhxjak wrote:

This poster knows nothing about running.

I love it when someone objects to my posts but fails to notice the user name.

https://giphy.com/gifs/CBSAllAccess-season-3-episode-14-cheers-kfKiAKoH9ndLY4hlsc

You're right. I apologize. I reread your post with a tinge of sarcasm and realize I fell for it hard. It was such a bad take! I personally think the Tom Selleck look is what got him to the Olympics in the first place.

paging Dr. Brown wrote:

Houston, of all places. Geez, what a coincidence. I wonder what they did between training sessions.

Well done. +1

Klecker undone by lack of tempo runs.

But yeah, everyone has known since day one that Tokyo would be hot and humid. Train where it's hot and humid. Is that too complicated?

he looked very tired when he fell off the pack and then i lost track of him. i think he did pretty well considering a lot of haters on here thought he would get lapped. as a bigger guy competing against smol beans he was definitely at a disadvantage in those conditions. i agree that running in cold weather gear at altitude in the summer was probably dumb, but whatever. i doubt it hurt him too much.

RomexKipruto wrote:

he looked very tired when he fell off the pack and then i lost track of him. i think he did pretty well considering a lot of haters on here thought he would get lapped. as a bigger guy competing against smol beans he was definitely at a disadvantage in those conditions. i agree that running in cold weather gear at altitude in the summer was probably dumb, but whatever. i doubt it hurt him too much.

He finished a half-lap down in a 27:43 race. It's a good thing the race didn't go another 30 seconds faster, which STILL would have been slow.

Klecker finished a few steps behind Woody Kincaid, who has to be more disappointed in himself than Klecker.

So much for Woody’s devastating kick….

free shipping with purchases wrote:

Fisher obviously was immaculately prepared for the conditions due to the time he spent in Park City.

Followed by time in Hawaii

It sounds like he had a foot injury of some sort. But he's pretty young and just turned pro recently, he still has many years ahead of him.

Roooso wrote:

It sounds like he had a foot injury of some sort. But he's pretty young and just turned pro recently, he still has many years ahead of him.

You think so?

Salazar would take his athletes to conditions in Houston that resembled the Olympics because he understood that the body needs to adapt. Even Fisher was running in Oregon where it got up well over 100 degrees several times recently. But Salazar did whatever it took. Why more athletes don't do that, I have no idea. African athletes have shown time and again that they are better adapted to hot weather, on average, than athletes of European ancestry, even if they live at altitude. So, guys like Klecker need to take the time to adjust to the conditions of the race. Nevertheless, he wasn't going to be a favorite with guys who can run 30-70 seconds faster than he has ever run.

tarckstar wrote:

Klecker undone by lack of tempo runs.

But yeah, everyone has known since day one that Tokyo would be hot and humid. Train where it's hot and humid. Is that too complicated?

Yes, it is actually much more complictated than that. The Africans did not train under such conditions.

amchugh89 wrote:

Klecker is, as the kids say, built different. He looks like a center fullback for England.

I really like Joe Klecker. He's got some talent and obviously is very strong mentally. His post-race comments were excellent. But .. he only looks big standing next to the 98-pounders on the start line. Harry Maguire is 6-4, 220, and Joe is 6-0, maybe 155?

When Klecker was in Boulder, Fisher was closing out his pre-Olympic training in Hawaii, with the rest of BTC, getting acclimated to the heat and humidity.

Yeah, but Klecker ran "Mags." Did Fisher ever do that? Advantage: Klecker.

Is ON just too cheap to send an Olympian on a junket to Hawaii or somewhere warm and humid or did Ritz and Klecker deem it unnecessary?