Mike Smith is a pragmatist. He knew they were out last week and set up a special race with pacing to hit an easier target to move up a few spots. Don’t blame him for gaming the system but he certainly doesn’t buy the conversion either for his altitude-adjusted athletes.
Then how come he took them all the way to UW to race at sea level? Or BU before that? And how come Sahlman seems to perform as good at sea level, or even better, than the conversion suggests?
He knew his guys were in shape to run that fast, which is why he threw his stopwatch after the race went slow and the guys just missed it.
Again, the conversion is FAR too generous for people who live at altitude. Kipsang isn't a 3:25 1500 runner
I remember when Sahlman ran 4:03 on NAU's track and everyone said the 3:54 conversion was too generous. Fast forward a couple weeks and he ran 3:53.1 at sea level.
He just ran 1:46 then doubled back for 7:40 at sea level (7:40 in a race with a big kick).
The conversion isn't generous, at least not for Sahlman. He's in 7:37 shape, or better.
You’re missing the part where you’re comparing chill intramural home meets vs. loaded college races. If you want to factor they aren’t going as hard or being pushed as much when they run in the dome…fine. We’ve seen Bosley quite a few times this year and the conversion is indeed generous.
Mike Smith is a pragmatist. He knew they were out last week and set up a special race with pacing to hit an easier target to move up a few spots. Don’t blame him for gaming the system but he certainly doesn’t buy the conversion either for his altitude-adjusted athletes.
Then how come he took them all the way to UW to race at sea level? Or BU before that? And how come Sahlman seems to perform as good at sea level, or even better, than the conversion suggests?
He knew his guys were in shape to run that fast, which is why he threw his stopwatch after the race went slow and the guys just missed it.
Preach, Peach! You are smart and well-informed. These other dudes are just jealous of NAU’s greatness.
Then how come he took them all the way to UW to race at sea level? Or BU before that? And how come Sahlman seems to perform as good at sea level, or even better, than the conversion suggests?
He knew his guys were in shape to run that fast, which is why he threw his stopwatch after the race went slow and the guys just missed it.
Because he wants them to race the best and hit top times in a real meet? This was a smart plan B.
You’re missing the part where you’re comparing chill intramural home meets vs. loaded college races. If you want to factor they aren’t going as hard or being pushed as much when they run in the dome…fine. We’ve seen Bosley quite a few times this year and the conversion is indeed generous.
You’re missing the part where Bosley has gotten better every time he’s raced this year because he’s getting fitter and sharper each week. The conversion is accurate.
Sahlman and Bosley have moved themselves up quite a bit on the NCAA 3k list after the conversion of their final results (7:37/7:38).
Any reason Mularkey DNF?
Insanely aggressive conversion. I’d be shocked if they’re All American indoors.
The NCAA should make a rule for this situation, like the conversions stand but they shouldn’t overtake the places in the rankings of someone who ran the official time at sea level. Maybe make it so you can add some extra entries to the distance events, let’s say 4 max that ran in the top 16 in the mile-5k but were altitude converted.
Then how come he took them all the way to UW to race at sea level? Or BU before that? And how come Sahlman seems to perform as good at sea level, or even better, than the conversion suggests?
He knew his guys were in shape to run that fast, which is why he threw his stopwatch after the race went slow and the guys just missed it.
Because he wants them to race the best and hit top times in a real meet? This was a smart plan B.
Every coach tries to game the system, that's why so many efforts are at BU, ND, UW, jdl flat track, etc. If coaches thought running at altitude was easier, they would take their runners to altitude meets.
This debate raged a few years ago around unknown Christian Soratos and his altitude conversion times. Like Sahlman, he came down to sea level and ran the converted time, shutting up the haters.
Insanely aggressive conversion. I’d be shocked if they’re All American indoors.
Anyone doubting the conversion should test it out for themselves. Run an all out 3k at sea level. Then see if you can come within 20 seconds of that time in Flagstaff. I dare you!
The conversion is accurate for lower altitude based runners who go up to higher altitude for a meet or race.
...it extremely generous and convoluted in the inverse, living at altitude full time and racing a meet or time trial at that altitude. It's completely gaming the system. Like someone pointed out, Kipsang is not going to run a 3:25 at sea level just because a mythical chart says that's what it converts to.
A 20 second conversion is wild but the two NAU guys this year who previously ran 3k at NAU and sea level dropped 36 seconds and 41 seconds at sea level. For Mullarkey that was 823 at NAU and 742 at sea level.
A 20 second conversion is wild but the two NAU guys this year who previously ran 3k at NAU and sea level dropped 36 seconds and 41 seconds at sea level. For Mullarkey that was 823 at NAU and 742 at sea level.
I think it’s an agree to disagree situation. The NAU kids runs good performances at the dome and then step up at sea level in my eyes. Maybe it’s semantics because the conversion will bear out anyway.
They were ready to run 20 seconds faster at UW but the pace was too slow, which was why the whole field was bunched up the last laps waiting to go. There was no alpha in great shape in the race to push the pace hard.
We are not talking about guys who for the most part were born and raised at altitude and especially not like the Kenyans in the Eldoret area whose ancestors have lived at altitude for the past 500 to 700 years and who consequently have adapted to it, though not as much as Andeans and Himalayans. That is why Keino could crush Ryun at altitude and altitude born athletes could pick up almost all the distance medals but Keino couldn't touch Ryun at sea level. So the conversions are too favorable for Kenyans but not for Americans. Just look at the NAU mile results this year. All but one guy who ran at altitude and sea level dropped 9 or more seconds and incidentally every NAU runner has improved his time in every race this indoor but one or two.
Mike Smith is a pragmatist. He knew they were out last week and set up a special race with pacing to hit an easier target to move up a few spots. Don’t blame him for gaming the system but he certainly doesn’t buy the conversion either for his altitude-adjusted athletes.
Then how come he took them all the way to UW to race at sea level? Or BU before that? And how come Sahlman seems to perform as good at sea level, or even better, than the conversion suggests?
He knew his guys were in shape to run that fast, which is why he threw his stopwatch after the race went slow and the guys just missed it.
He more or less bowled his stopwatch not threw it.
He was all over Sahlman late in that race. I wish we could hear what he was telling him.
The argument over if it’s 17s or 20s, although seemingly splitting hairs, is a valid one because it’s the difference between them getting into to NCAAs and not. I stand by my statement that they’ll finish below where they are ranked (outside of the top 8 All American spots).
Insanely aggressive conversion. I’d be shocked if they’re All American indoors.
Anyone doubting the conversion should test it out for themselves. Run an all out 3k at sea level. Then see if you can come within 20 seconds of that time in Flagstaff. I dare you!
I trained at altitude and still always got twerked on racing up in flagstaff.
Racing inside the dome is no joke. I’d argue for some reconsideration if it was NAU’s #6/7 guys hitting these marks- however, it was Drew Bosley and Colin Sahlman. Who are we kidding, both are capable of running those conversions.
Every year someone complains about the altitude conversions, and every time we see the athletes come down to sea level and back it up.
NAU ran that super fast dome mile last year and then a week later went to BU and all their guys ran at or slightly faster than their altitude conversions.