Here's the timeline since the 3:43 mile last September...
Oct-Jan: "barely ran for the past four months" (he said in an interview in January)
Feb: Mostly jogged it seems.
March: Back to normal training.
So by May 25th, he'll have about 3 months of normal training under him. What are the chances he, not only regains all of that lost fitness, but actually gets into 3:42 shape in just 3 months? I'm sticking with 0%.
Here's the timeline since the 3:43 mile last September...
Oct-Jan: "barely ran for the past four months" (he said in an interview in January)
Feb: Mostly jogged it seems.
March: Back to normal training.
So by May 25th, he'll have about 3 months of normal training under him. What are the chances he, not only regains all of that lost fitness, but actually gets into 3:42 shape in just 3 months? I'm sticking with 0%.
Here's the timeline since the 3:43 mile last September...
Oct-Jan: "barely ran for the past four months" (he said in an interview in January)
Feb: Mostly jogged it seems.
March: Back to normal training.
So by May 25th, he'll have about 3 months of normal training under him. What are the chances he, not only regains all of that lost fitness, but actually gets into 3:42 shape in just 3 months? I'm sticking with 0%.
Cross training exists, and works really well.
The Olympics also exist and they are in August. There is no reason for Jakob to be in peak mile shape in May. He wouldn’t be going for the world record in Eugene even if he had been healthy all winter, and certainly won’t be going for it now.
He’ll run a fast 1500m in Monaco a month out from the Olympics (just like he did in Silesia last year) and then a few more afterwards before the Diamond League Final. There won’t be a mile record attempt unless the organizers in Lausanne or Zurich agree to run it, and that will depend on him returning to last year’s level.
The Olympics also exist and they are in August. There is no reason for Jakob to be in peak mile shape in May. He wouldn’t be going for the world record in Eugene even if he had been healthy all winter, and certainly won’t be going for it now.
He’ll run a fast 1500m in Monaco a month out from the Olympics (just like he did in Silesia last year) and then a few more afterwards before the Diamond League Final. There won’t be a mile record attempt unless the organizers in Lausanne or Zurich agree to run it, and that will depend on him returning to last year’s level.
Then how did he run 3:27 and 7:54 when the world championships were in August?
Here's the timeline since the 3:43 mile last September...
Oct-Jan: "barely ran for the past four months" (he said in an interview in January)
Feb: Mostly jogged it seems.
March: Back to normal training.
So by May 25th, he'll have about 3 months of normal training under him. What are the chances he, not only regains all of that lost fitness, but actually gets into 3:42 shape in just 3 months? I'm sticking with 0%.
He's on performance enhancing drugs, so it's possible.
The Olympics also exist and they are in August. There is no reason for Jakob to be in peak mile shape in May. He wouldn’t be going for the world record in Eugene even if he had been healthy all winter, and certainly won’t be going for it now.
He’ll run a fast 1500m in Monaco a month out from the Olympics (just like he did in Silesia last year) and then a few more afterwards before the Diamond League Final. There won’t be a mile record attempt unless the organizers in Lausanne or Zurich agree to run it, and that will depend on him returning to last year’s level.
Then how did he run 3:27 and 7:54 when the world championships were in August?
By not being injured for 4 months in the build up to last season.
The Olympics also exist and they are in August. There is no reason for Jakob to be in peak mile shape in May. He wouldn’t be going for the world record in Eugene even if he had been healthy all winter, and certainly won’t be going for it now.
He’ll run a fast 1500m in Monaco a month out from the Olympics (just like he did in Silesia last year) and then a few more afterwards before the Diamond League Final. There won’t be a mile record attempt unless the organizers in Lausanne or Zurich agree to run it, and that will depend on him returning to last year’s level.
Then how did he run 3:27 and 7:54 when the world championships were in August?
In the same way in which he actually lost the world championships.
Ingebrigtsen manager Daniel Wessfeldt explains the image to NRK as follows: - The shoe that Jakob is wearing is a prototype that he is testing. They are not out there yet and still don't have a name. A bit like when Mercedes tests a new camouflaged car... He emphasizes that the Norwegian is at the forefront of the initiative by the shoe giant Nike.
(Karsten Warholm's Olympic shoes have also been kept out of public view for the time being, but he too posted a post with scuffed shoes on the photo-sharing service towards the end of last year.)
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is right now in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Norwegian is scheduled to spend the next two months in the USA to prepare for the new season. He starts the season with a thrilling duel against Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse in Eugene, May 25. Then Bislett Games awaits on 30 May. The summer offers at least four fixed highlights for Ingebrigtsen: The birth of his wife in June. EC in Rome from 7 to 12 June and NM on home ground in Sandnes from 26 to 28 June. The big goal of the season is the Olympics in Paris. For the first part of his stay in the USA, he has his pregnant wife, Elisabeth Asserson Ingebrigtsen, with him. She shares glimpses of her running day on social media. also read
Ingebrigtsen struggled with an inflammation of the Achilles tendon for large parts of the autumn and therefore had to stay at altitude twice. He had to train alternatively on an elliptical machine for a long time, but now seems to be in full swing with normal running training.
If he wins, people will say he peaked at the wrong time. If he loses, people will say he is done.
If he wins, nobody will be surprised.
I will be as I'm expecting Kerr and goose to be fitter. Jakob has nothing to lose.. gets to test his fitness, race sharpness and most importantly his mental readiness. If he loses he gets a chance to shake it off and manage it appropriately.. better losing now than in Paris.
