Now back into a final large block of training to prepare for his 10/5 double at USAs.
Doesn't need to do a 5000 to test his fitness at this stage of his career.
Will break up the training with his Pre mile race. Just like he did last year when her ran a 3:34.90/1500 @ NY Grand Prix a couple weeks before the Trials.
However, new training partner Sam 'Grant Light' Gilman is racing the 5000 later today (6/17) @ Pavo Nurmi Games.
Now back into a final large block of training to prepare for his 10/5 double at USAs.
Doesn't need to do a 5000 to test his fitness at this stage of his career.
Will break up the training with his Pre mile race. Just like he did last year when her ran a 3:34.90/1500 @ NY Grand Prix a couple weeks before the Trials.
Yes, 3:35.00 seems to be the "must have" speed to be competitive (these days, 12:50-12:55) at 5000, unless you're a diesel outlier like Ritz who ran 12:56 with 3:41.00/1500 base.
Given their injury history, I am really surprised to see Young and Blanks in this again, but it will be good practice and could be their sub-12:40 chance for the year. Young is certainly ready for it. I don't know whether the field will go hard but it is cooler in Europe this week and the race is at a perfect time of night. If they are running still in the football stadium outside of Paris in St. Denis, wind is minimized. They just need to get the pacer to go out in 7:35-7:38 this time and we could see a world record.
I´m also a bit sceptical about El Bakkali. So Ghost think he has potential to beat Nico? I doubt it.
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By the way: I think Gressier will win over the other French runners. Wouldn´t be surprised if he goes sub 12:50. Gressier ran high 12:54 indoors in Boston this year and has the European Road record in 12:57.
You're right about El Bakkali, and he's a great runner in his own right, running 3:31.90 without specific preparation, which points to 3:29.00/7:25.00/12:40-12:45 with more specificity.
Given their injury history, I am really surprised to see Young and Blanks in this again, but it will be good practice and could be their sub-12:40 chance for the year. Young is certainly ready for it. I don't know whether the field will go hard but it is cooler in Europe this week and the race is at a perfect time of night. If they are running still in the football stadium outside of Paris in St. Denis, wind is minimized. They just need to get the pacer to go out in 7:35-7:38 this time and we could see a world record.
I don’t recall Young ever having anything near a significant injury.
That brings the number of sub 13:00 runners down to 8. Good field but nothing special.
Your conversion for the new shoe technology, would bring Bekele down to 12:27 and 25:57.
I'm thinking super spikes have less of an advantage compared with super shoes for the road otherwise you would have seen people like Ritz run 1245 instead of 1256 and people like Lopes and Mamede sub 27:00. Nenow, 27:20.56 (Brussels September 1986) would have been a 26:55 runner with super spikes? Debatable.
12:45 would be a good pace. Young gained seven seconds off of 12:52 pace so 12:45 would give him a shot at 12:40.
I’m surprised that Young and Blanks are hammering two 5000m races just a week apart.
Ok but he wants the real AR not just the outdoor AR, especially since he knows he can run that fast.
I think the 2 5k races a week apart makes a lot of sense. Nico (I assume Blanks too) wanted experience racing the top guys and to test his fitness. He’s clearly in shape now, so striking while the iron is hot, then getting a good last training block before USAs makes sense. It’s similar to what Hocker and Fisher did indoors, which is target a couple high quality races to run fast times against tough competition, then going back to training.
12:45 would be a good pace. Young gained seven seconds off of 12:52 pace so 12:45 would give him a shot at 12:40.
I’m surprised that Young and Blanks are hammering two 5000m races just a week apart.
Ok but he wants the real AR not just the outdoor AR, especially since he knows he can run that fast.
I think the 2 5k races a week apart makes a lot of sense. Nico (I assume Blanks too) wanted experience racing the top guys and to test his fitness. He’s clearly in shape now, so striking while the iron is hot, then getting a good last training block before USAs makes sense. It’s similar to what Hocker and Fisher did indoors, which is target a couple high quality races to run fast times against tough competition, then going back to training.
Young tested his fitness in Oslo and with his 12:45, plus a significant negative split, he passed the test.
I don’t give the indoor times any weight at all. I will give Fisher credit for holding the BU Valentine Invitational meet record.
This post was edited 9 minutes after it was posted.
Yeah, I don’t understand why people are so high on El Bakkali. 12:55, or faster, would be a massive PR. A 3:32 and sub-8:00 in the Steeple doesn’t confirm prowess at 5000m. If he does run with his eyes closed, he’ll either keep going straight at the first turn or trip over the rail.
Yeah, I don’t understand why people are so high on El Bakkali. 12:55, or faster, would be a massive PR. A 3:32 and sub-8:00 in the Steeple doesn’t confirm prowess at 5000m. If he does run with his eyes closed, he’ll either keep going straight at the first turn or trip over the rail.
You are correct and in retrospect those words are probably not wise but I sincerely believe the Moroccan (El Bakkali) has the physical and mental capacity to run a very fast 5000 meters in the region of 12:50 or even faster. I'm predicting 12:42 -12:55. Worst case scenario -13:05, or dnf.
Yeah, I don’t understand why people are so high on El Bakkali. 12:55, or faster, would be a massive PR. A 3:32 and sub-8:00 in the Steeple doesn’t confirm prowess at 5000m. If he does run with his eyes closed, he’ll either keep going straight at the first turn or trip over the rail.
You are correct and in retrospect those words are probably not wise but I sincerely believe the Moroccan (El Bakkali) has the physical and mental capacity to run a very fast 5000 meters in the region of 12:50 or even faster. I'm predicting 12:42 -12:55. Worst case scenario -13:05, or dnf.
12:45 to a DNF certainly covers all the bases and will be an accurate prediction.
