Webb Not at World Cross?

john walker, steve ovett - 2 milers who went to world xc and did well later in the season in the mile.

hicham el guerrouj, bernard lagat, kevin sullivan, paul korir, ivan heshko, cornelius chirchir, rui silva - 7 of the world's top milers who aren't running the 12k at world xc. in fact, most of the world's top milers aren't running even the 4k. but i can see why for alan webb of all people, running the 12k at world xc is completely necessary for his development.

That's because they can make big bucks during indoors.

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Rod Dixon

1971 Belgium Cross Country Championships - Silver Medal

1972 Olympic Games Bronze 1500m

1973 World Championships - Bronze Medal

1974 3:33.8 1500m, 2:17.2 1000m

"For middle distance runners, cross-country is an integral part of the winter training load.

You do not have to be winning races left, right and centre - but for 800m and 1500m athletes the endurance and stamina is perfect.

True, I didn't like it when I was slogging my way round through six inches of mud, but I did it...I won the Northern cross-country, sixth in the Inter-Counties (9 miles)...The indoors thing has been a huge problem in that it has become a big emphasis in some athletes' seasons." --Steve Cram

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/1782580.stm

Steve Ovett

1975 British Junior 10km XC Champ. (32:06)

Daniel Komen

1996: 28:27 6mi Durham XC, 3:34.1/7:20.67/12:45.09, '97 3:29 1500m

I'M NOT GOING TO LET SOME BULLSHIT RECREATIONAL RUNNERS WHO MAKE LESS MONEY THAN I DO TELL ME WHEN TO RACE! GO MAKE A WORLD TEAM THEN TALK. ALL OF MY FANS ARE ASSHOLES BUT AT LEAST I GOT FANS.

-A.W.

I love it when you insult me Alan.

A.H.

jesus webb, MAN UP!! what the hell are you waiting for?

Maybe that is why Webb has a Nike contract and you don't.

no, that is why this will be his LAST contract from nike or anyone else. good god, what a puss!

why would webb run a 12k right now when the spring is starting and he needs to prepare for the 1500?

expertise wrote:

why would webb run a 12k right now when the spring is starting and he needs to prepare for the 1500?

He needs to be ready to run the 1500 in late summer, not spring. He is currently 4 months away from having to run a fast 1500.

I traveled to Japan for Thanksgiving, do you think that is effecting my racing now? It was 4 months ago.

When is his goal 1500m race? When does he need to start specific preparation for that goal race?

I imagine he's looking at Aug. 22, the day of the 1500 semifinals and Aug. 24, the 1500m final. Certain aspects of 1500m preparation he can and (to my way of thinking) should be doing year round. Other, more intense buffering types of preparation should probably be done 6-8 weeks out from "the" race.

I still have yet to see what running a high calibur 12km WCCC (if only for experience -- has he ever raced on the int'l level?) could do to harm this athlete's 1500m hopes 5 months prior to his goal race. Even if you say the Trials are his goal race (which tends to be the case for the American mid/distance runner), so what? It's only going to make him a more expierenced racer and, hopefully, a stronger competitor.

THAS RIGHT YOU TELL'M. MY NIGGA WEBB KNOWS WHAT HES DOING. MY NIGGA WEBB!

I think it's a good idea that he's not running. He would get lapped if he did, and then his fragile confidence would shatter and he wouldn't stand a chance at getting out of the qualifying round at trials.

By avoiding the XC, I think he'll stay positive and glide into the final at the trials.

It will be a rousing success: Nike will be thankful that its athlete was in the race that decided who was going to the Olympics; Webb will realize he can compete with the best in the US; and Raczko will point to the rapid improvement his protege has made.

Yes sir, Mr. Webb is going somewhere now that he's skipping World XC.

Marty McSorley wrote:

john walker, steve ovett - 2 milers who went to world xc and did well later in the season in the mile.

hicham el guerrouj, bernard lagat, kevin sullivan, paul korir, ivan heshko, cornelius chirchir, rui silva - 7 of the world's top milers who aren't running the 12k at world xc. in fact, most of the world's top milers aren't running even the 4k. but i can see why for alan webb of all people, running the 12k at world xc is completely necessary for his development.

While not necessary I doubt it hurts him.

It continually amazes me how backseat drivers always think they know exactly what the person in the drivers seat should do. No one here knows why webb isn't running world XC, but the fact is its not even close to the race he wants to run (olympic 1500 final), and there are easily 50 good reasons for him to skip world xc, and 50 good reasons for him to go out of his way to run world xc. How anyone who doesn't know what his reasons are (and I'm sure there is more than one) can say he is wrong just goes to show you how arrogant we all are.

Speculate on why he choose to do something, say if you were in his shoes you would choose differently, just don't say he's wrong BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT THE BEST CHOICE IS ANYWAY.

maybe... but he doesn't know either and he is sticking to what HASN'T worked the last 2 years... not facing International competition and not travelling to Europe to find it.

Richard Neer wrote:

Marty McSorley wrote:

john walker, steve ovett - 2 milers who went to world xc and did well later in the season in the mile.

hicham el guerrouj, bernard lagat, kevin sullivan, paul korir, ivan heshko, cornelius chirchir, rui silva - 7 of the world's top milers who aren't running the 12k at world xc. in fact, most of the world's top milers aren't running even the 4k. but i can see why for alan webb of all people, running the 12k at world xc is completely necessary for his development.

While not necessary I doubt it hurts him.

you probably know more about alan webb and alan webb's training program than alan webb himself as well as his coach. maybe you should make the decisions for them.

show me a single miler who's running the 12k at world xc. why didn't robison, lunn, or berryhill run the 12k trials? why did nick willis waste his time running indoor track? where will hicham el guerrouj be when the 12k is run? because a couple other milers in the last couple decades have run world cross, alan webb has to do it or else be a complete failure? next person who insults alan webb's intelligence for not running the 12k, i want you to also admit that robison, lunn, berryhill, willis, el guerrouj, blincoe, lagat, and heshko are also morons who are afraid of competition and are not doing all that they can to ready themselves for the olympics.

Because they'd get their ass kicked and because they (the professionals) wouldn't make any money.

so why don't you start a thread on how much THOSE guys suck?

To further that, why doesn't Haile G. run WCCC anymore? Because he wasn't going to win, but he could win 50 big ones at world indoors. Same with el Guerrouj; money is king. Pride is everything. Bekele would mop the floor eith el Guerrouj over a muddy course, and el Guerrouj doesn't like to get beat. At the Ostrava Meeting, the meet director said that he wasn't taking any runners with sub13 credentials because el Guerrouj was going to win his senior 5000m debut.

That's why modern milers aren't running xc seriously -- they won't do as well as in indoor track and they won't get paid the same (appearance or prize money).