dnixon wrote:
I'm already impressed. Keep in mind 4 things:
(1) her recent 4:35 is the equivalent of 4:15-16, not 4:17-18
(2) she did it in late February
(3) according to her, she has done little or no speedwork
(3) she had a MASSIVE negative split — 2:12 for the last half.
translate: there's more in the tank
She's improving, and I suspect she'll dip under 4:10 this year as long as she stays healthy. Her future is in the 5K and up, but she's doing just what she needs to do now by concentrating on the shorter distances.
She's also proven that she's tough as nails, being a consistent high finisher in CC as a freshman.
How 'bout we appreciate what she's accomplished so far rather than be cynical about what she hasn't.
I Love LetsRun! Only here can we have people nit-pick the details and miss the greater context of the question. I wasn't making any comment on her personally in the sense that I think she is sub-par or failing in any way. I think she is showing herself to be great relative to her past performances. She isn't running at the highest level in her age group, but she is very close. I was really curious, since so many on this board deride her for being over-rated (which I don't think she is...she was an outstanding HS runner) when she is actually developing an excellent base and transitioning into a new program, to see what approximate time many believed would show Jordan to be gainning ground and developing toward a world class runner rather than being a very good college class runner.
Some of the replys are great, some have been over-the-top ridiculous, but I like Jordan's positive influence and believe she is good for the sport. I wasn't attempting to put her down in any way. If that was unclear in the original post, my apologies.