Hall To Coach Self

b-runner wrote:

Very few runners are able to coach themselves at the level needed to be elite.

Is it true that you coach yourself these days?

Kenenisa: 

Yes, I’ve been planning and following my own training schedule for the past two years. A coach wouldn’t be much use to me. They would perhaps be able to help with 10 to 15 per cent of my training at most. Sometimes I get help from Woldemeskel Kostre [Ethiopia’s distance coach] when I do track sessions. I enjoy working out my own training schedule and race tactics.

I am pretty sure Josphat Menjo said he is self coached too.

Isn't self coaching tantamount to masturbation?

Terrible decision. This is the beginning of the end for his career. You can only push yourself so much while training alone, you need a group and a coach. Once he realizes this he'll attempt to join up with a group and coach, but the other runners who are getting better every day will be too far ahead. Pretty sad if you ask me what a waste of talent.

Fah Q. wrote:

Isn't self coaching tantamount to masturbation?

Sometimes, when I'm sure I'm all alone, I coach myself.

b-runner wrote:

Very few runners are able to coach themselves at the level needed to be elite.

I see it very differently. I think that very few people are able to coach an experienced, knowledgeable, elite distance runner better than he can coach himself. The vast majority of coaches are less than worthless to such a runner. And even for those very few coaches who can add real value to the runner's training program, there's still likely to be a long learning curve involved in getting to know the runner and how he responds to various training stimuli. Often, the elite runner just ends up with various advisors, listening to their ideas but ultimately making his own decisions about what to do.

As for Hall's future, I rather doubt that he'll return to, much less surpass, his previous peak. But I'm not saying that because I think that he's making a mistake. I'm just playing the odds.

flounder wrote:

Races Like a Girl wrote:

You know who also will suffer from this decision? His wife. She's finally started to make some progress in her racing after a couple of flat years. But I guess the husband always knows best.

Doesn't matter.

Role of the Wife in the Christianity

"encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored." Titus 2:4-5

"get married, bear children, keep house" 1 Timothy 5:14

"But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint." 1 Timothy 2:15

This bears repeating. Any true christian that believes that the Bible is Holy will realize women should not be in the workplace, and should be home supporting the men. If you call yourself christian and don't believe that then you're either just plain dumb or a lier.

Although the religion is such a scham and a lie anyway that to believe in it in the first place you're lying to yourself and everyone else around you when you take that bullshit to be truth.

Rather than poke fun at Ryan I am truly impressed by his decision to take his running to the next level by relying on the ultimate coach, God himself. I would love to hear more about his program as he progresses...and he will progress with this program by putting God first and at the center of his running. I have experienced personally the benefits of faith based running and I know Ryan will see the benefits to me as he starts this exciting new chapter.

Classic. He's going to be getting his interval workouts straight from jesus. Because obviously if there WAS an omnipotent being, he/she/it would clearly set aside some serious coaching time and consideration for a half-decent American distance runner. Never mind the billions of starving kids. The Halls are delusional lunatics, and what's worse, they are now officially has-beens. He will never podium.

Frank Shorter is also far, far more intelligent than Ryan Hall. Or Alan Culpepper, for that matter.

Garmon. wrote:

Let's not forget that Frank Shorter, arguably the best US Distance runner EVER was self-coached. Also in an era where there wasn't a lot of information on running (compared to today.

Let Ryan Hall worry about Ryan Hall.

This decision makes me sick to my stomach. Even for a religious zealot, the combination of arrogance and ignorance is astonishing. A previous poster hit the nail on the head, in that the 'next level' that Ryan's training is going to is a spiritual/existential level. He no longer expresses a desire to win, but rather, to go out there and 'do his best.' As such, one of the most gifted distance runners in American history has decided to run marathons solely for the purpose of spiritual masturbation. Unfortunately, although jerking off with jesus is probably as fun as it sounds, he's going to waste his prime years 'being in tune with his body' and never finding his limits.

Go Ritz?

Question for EVERYONE HERE?

Are you faster than Ryan Hall? What are your PR's compared to his? Have you ever ran in the Olympics?

....didn't think so....

Just sayinnn wrote:

Question for EVERYONE HERE?

Are you faster than Ryan Hall? What are your PR's compared to his? Have you ever ran in the Olympics?

....didn't think so....

Have you ever run 2:19? Then you have no right to criticise Hall's training if he runs that in his next marathon.

I'm starting to like Ritz more and more.

Professor T. Rawling wrote:

Just sayinnn wrote:

Question for EVERYONE HERE?

Are you faster than Ryan Hall? What are your PR's compared to his? Have you ever ran in the Olympics?

....didn't think so....

Have you ever run 2:19? Then you have no right to criticise Hall's training if he runs that in his next marathon.

You both are idiots.

I like it.

No one knows better what an athlete needs than the athlete. The only trouble is staying motivated.

I think its worth a punt.... Ryan has 15 years + of running experience with HIS body, he is a smart guy (Stanford Grad) and presumably pretty well read on a subject dear to his heart such as this... he has also been to more elite race press conferences /call rooms etc, mingle with a lot of good runners, trained with Meb etc etc etc...

During this time he has probably formulated some ideas about what makes him run fast and what he doesn't believe makes him run fast.

No matter who coaches Ryan, or what their credentials are if Ryan Hall doesn't believe that is the best training for him he is not going to get good value from it. He needs to test his ideas and do what he truly believes will make him the fastest runner.

This guy does have a few clues.

The more intriguing question is when has Ryan had to think for himself in the past? He had a pretty good college system and professional club. This could go really well or this could go poorly.

Anybody know his SAT scores? Odds are good that he's no Frank Shorter. Odds are good, though, that Frank Shorter and other smart guys would pick up the phone if Ryan gave them a call.

I think it's funny how you guys argue his time qualifies anyone with a faster time to talk smack. Okay, I'll play along. What did he finish in Philadelphia, like 14th? I bet plenty of people visit this board who have been top 14 there. I'm looking forward to their opinions since they're all better!

There is alot of uncalled-for criticism here.

First of all, for everyone here who claims that the only worthwhile goal in running is to go for a win or to be the best-why do any of you run?

sure, some of you may win a couple turkey trot 5ks in your lifetime, but are any of you going to be the best of the best? so that means you're running with SOME goal in mind OTHER than winning.

Are you making fun of Ryan Hall for joining your crowd? how about you turn the finger back around at yourself as you criticize him.

Secondly, running what are the odds that any american wins a major road marathon? if all of them only set their goals on winning, they would all be failures. For Ryan Hall to run to try to be his best, well yes, that is a good intention. If running to be his best puts him in the position to win Boston with 5 miles to go, you can bet he won't be doing airplanes to finish.

Thirdly, this guy is a Stanford graduate with an NCAA track championship, a team CC championship, an Olympian, and rakes in a six figure salary. I would consider him pretty successful, and compared with 98% of the junkies on here, he is legendary. Don't lie that almost all of us would switch places with him in a heartbeat if we got the chance. So how is it fair for you to say his religion is the source of all of his failure? If we use your preconception that his religion is the cause of his success/failure, and his religion has given him the above mentioned credentials, and your lack of religion has you being the spectator that buys shoes to fund his lifestyle, I would choose his religion over your lack of it anyday.