George won because he was healthy AND fresh. No long season under coach to burn him out or beat him up. He had the early season magic that OAC often does during the early bits of the season because he took time to recover and just get strong and fast.
George won because he was healthy AND fresh. No long season under coach to burn him out or beat him up. He had the early season magic that OAC often does during the early bits of the season because he took time to recover and just get strong and fast.
Beamish was a mediocre 3:56 miler with a 13:30 5k PR when he left NAU. Constantly injured and never ran steeplechase.
Ritz taught Beamish a new event, and kept him much healthier than Mike Smith ever did. And that is impressive considering the high impact and injury risk of steeple.
Yet nobody criticizes Mike Smith when Nico underperformed in the 10k, or when Woody and Rupp are constantly injured. Now even Grijalva is injured. Smith even injured his own wife last year.
Yes, and the same thing has happened to many runners. Roger Bannister took an extended rest and his 400m workout improved dramatically before the sub 4. Bob Kennedy the same thing injury before his 5k record. When Kennedy was asked if the time off help he balked "Absolutely Not". He never ran that fast again.