We merged to threads into 1. The 1st was "Molly Seidel out of Nagoya Marahton?" and the 2nd was "Seidel withdraws from Nagoya - is she DONE?". Here is her instagram post explaining "pulled my glute badly at the half champs".
I guess she doesn't owe us fans anything and that is what frustrates me about this sport.
If this was an actual professional sport there would be transparency and obligations for athletes to answer questions. But there isn't. Not Molly's fault, just the state of the sport.
The athletes themselves might consider doing more than hiding out in Flagstaff then showing up once in a blue moon at a race and expect people to care.
Lmao ya, these assclowns should come down out of the hills n race. Meanwhile...
Hehe look at my IG/Tiktok running clips hehe here I am, out in Flag, drivin my 4runner, hobbytraining and doing any other funnybusiness except race. Hehe
I'll take "Women who lost to Molly Seidel in the 2020 Trials" for $200, Alex
Remember that Matt Centrowitz beat Yared Nuguse at trials in 2021 too. Both your fact and my fact have in common that they are redundant to whether those athletes are "done" or not here in 2023.
Attempt at a good faith answer to "is Seidel done?"
Since the NY Marathon in 2021 Seidel has gone:
35min Road 10k - not good but was too soon after NYC so gets a pass.
8th USXC champs. Fine for a marathoner though not a super deep field, but still fine.
70min at uncertified Mesa half marathon. Solid result.
Boston - DNF
Boston half - 76min
US half marathon champs- 73min.
Nagoya marathon- DNS.
There's two fine races there and four very discouraging ones. It's also been over a year since her last race where she looked like she could fight with the top ddogs.
In the run in to the Trials in Atlanta she was coming off the back of a 70min and 69min half and a fistful of 32min Road 10ks.
Is she done? If she can get some steady 10kms going this summer and knock off a 69min half in the fall then you can't count Seidel out come trials in February. However if all she has to show for 2023 is a fistful of 71min or slower half marathons then it's hard to see evidence of the consistency that a marathon challenge requires, especially since the US women have really kicked on collectively since 2021.
Olympics are not Berlin or London. Berlin and London are easiest for east Africans regarding time zone differences. Berlin and London are only 2 & 3 time zones from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. At Berlin & London, the three nations listed are not limited to only three runners per nation. It is possible at Olympics for U.S. women to pick up a bronze in 10000m & Marathon. A U.S. woman needs to be at least a sub-30:15 10000m woman and a U.S. woman Marathoner needs to be at least a sub-2:22:30 lady. I don't see a 2:24:xx lady sneaking in a claiming an Olympic Marathon bronze again.
I don't think her fans have "lost interest," and certainly not "a long time ago." Her Olympic bronze performance was only 1 year, 7 months ago, and she followed that up 3 months later with a 4th place at NYC in the fastest time ever by an American woman. I know some of her social media posts have rubbed some people the wrong way but she is only 28 years old and hasn't even reached her peak in the marathon yet. She has to be considered a favorite to make the team in Paris. I don't see lightning striking twice and her walking away with another Olympic medal but her status is already sealed. Ten women's Olympic marathons and the US only has three medals - and she has one of them.
I agree her successes are not that long ago but she certainly doesn’t have to be considered a favorite. Obviously if she runs to her peak ability she would be a favorite but her getting to that point is far from a guarantee. Between injuries and personal issues she’s working through, it’s probably unlikely unfortunately. Pushing through the intensity of training required to run an elite marathon is not easy and even harder if you’re not in a good state of mind. If I am dealing with a lot of stress in my life or going through a depressed period, I find it very difficult to complete any planned intense workouts or long runs. I will sometimes spontaneously still do them but not enough to run to my potential
This post was edited 4 minutes after it was posted.
She would have had one good race where Africans dropped out. I get its the Olympics but she's had one really good marathon. That's like saying Billy Mills is easily one of the best American runners ever for having one good race
Great response. I’ll add that Seidel is only 28. Even if she doesn’t make the 2024 team, she’ll only be 34 when the 2028 Olympics begin, younger than D’Amato and Hall were when they ran their best times and younger than Flanagan was when she won NYC. The key for Molly, as noted above by robert678, is staying happy and healthy. If she can do that, I wouldn’t write her off.
I believe the hip impingement she had going into Boston is the problem. It could be more than one hip at this point. Hip impingements are painful, and in some cases require FAI surgery. Emily Infeld and Nick Willis are successful examples who had the surgery. If it becomes serous, it’s not an easy thing to just all the sudden subside.
My feeling is this injury really effected her running into and after Boston, and in turn her mental state. One way to get around the hip pain from an impingement is PT. I’m sure she’s doing plenty of that, but the body tends to compensate when there are areas of weakness. Straining a glute is an example of that.
If I had to guess, she’s done a lot of work to work around that hip impingement. But at a certain point, especially with her mileage, she may have to bite the bullet and do the surgery Nick and Emily had.
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