Cool David Torrence blog post

Bismarck wrote:

Interesting that he omits Rupp when discussing great American indoor performances from this season. Does every other athlete just hate on Salazar's group? Geez

the miler doesn't like the 10K guy running 3:50's unchallenged?!

Guanajuato is at 6,600 feet. Sounds like a cool city (UNESCO world heritage, too) and apparently another great place for running.

altitude training? wrote:

So is SLP the best place in Mexico for this? I mean, are they just going to keep going to the same city in Mexico every year, or are there some other places to go? Any other spots in Mexico that are on the radar for running?

Plus there's Toluca right outside of Mexico City where a few Kenyans train. It's around 8500-9000 ft.

A Duck wrote:

this year wrote:

symmonds tweeted out a picture of him & manzano a month or so ago in SLP, so they're there. so are rowbury, solares, probably other BATC people along with torrence.

Yep, Symmonds was there with Manzano.

Aren't Manzano and Rowbury a couple?

no but rowbury and solares are

Stick with eharmony wrote:

No it was not entertaining. It was very dumb like all of your posts. Please go away you sack of svit

So sad. Someone is jealous that someone else is getting attention.

hellohello wrote:

crap, that "blog" doesn't support rss. seriously?

Works for me. Use

instead of pointing to the blog.

Any info on how an American can go to Toluca and train with those Kenyans? Aren't a lot of them rumored to be doped up?

Ex Google Reader wrote:

hellohello wrote:

crap, that "blog" doesn't support rss. seriously?

Works for me. Use

http://www.bayareatrackclub.com/

instead of pointing to the blog.

Not seeing this. Can you post the direct link to the rss feed?

To change the subject a bit--

It's good to hear about Torrence focusing extra hard and early on aspects of his form. As he says, he's always been able to put up fast times, but when you look at his technique when he's going at higher speeds, something's always off. His stride and arm-swing seem almost over-extended, while stride frequency suffers.

The consequence is not only that he can't pick up the pace enough to stick with, say, Centro in the U.S. Champs; it's also that he is not able to change gears quickly enough to be properly competitive on that last lap.

totally agree with this. he always looks very smooth/efficient in the middle of a 800/1500, but when it comes to the final 150m, he doesn't really look like he can "sit" into his stride, get his center of gravity underneath him, and generate power to the finish line...he just sort of continues on with his "extended", hips forward, long, lower-turnover stride. it's like he's pulling more than pushing when he tries to sprint. in the "sub 150 800" thread, OldSub4 talks about the difference between "striding" during the race and "sitting" like a sprinter to kick. Maybe focusing on his sprint technique will help Torrence get better at the later and get him over the hump and on to US worlds/OG teams? i'm definitely not a sprint coach or elite runner so bash away if you think i'm totally off base. regardless, good luck this season DT!

Harry Carey wrote:

To change the subject a bit--

It's good to hear about Torrence focusing extra hard and early on aspects of his form. As he says, he's always been able to put up fast times, but when you look at his technique when he's going at higher speeds, something's always off. His stride and arm-swing seem almost over-extended, while stride frequency suffers.

The consequence is not only that he can't pick up the pace enough to stick with, say, Centro in the U.S. Champs; it's also that he is not able to change gears quickly enough to be properly competitive on that last lap.

It's hard for me to put a finger on what exactly is wrong with his stride in those final ~300 meters, but you're absolutely right--there is no power, and it seems to involve something with the hips and upper body, which really does him in on the final 100 meters of a race.

It'd be interesting to hear what OldSub4 or even SprintGeezer have to say about this.

Harry Carey wrote:

It's hard for me to put a finger on what exactly is wrong with his stride in those final ~300 meters, but you're absolutely right--there is no power, and it seems to involve something with the hips and upper body, which really does him in on the final 100 meters of a race.

It'd be interesting to hear what OldSub4 or even SprintGeezer have to say about this.

Yes, I can't put my finger on it either. All I know is that Torrence looks VERY smooth when cruising during a race. Makes the running look effortless.

Rafiki Amigo wrote:

Any info on how an American can go to Toluca and train with those Kenyans? "ignorant sentence not included"

You buy a flight ticket to Mexico City and catch a bus.

Are you really that ignorant?

Well, yeah, that last sentence of your post seems to indicate that you are.

I talked to David after his finals race at the Trials. He was obviously disappointed, but surprisingly upbeat as well. He's a class act. We were at a local watering hole and he was relaxing with friends and family and having a couple of beers, but he wasn't drowning his sorrows tanking brews. Contrast that with another athlete that was there who didn't make the team that night and she was downing tequila shots and devouring chicken wings like a cave woman who hadn't eaten in a week. That was embarrassing to watch.

David told me that he felt he moved around too much in the race jockeying for position and wasted too much energy. I told him that in my opinion that was nonsense and that he just needed to work on his kick and sprint mechanics - he was in perfect position with 110m to go but just couldn't seal the deal against the kickers. It seems he has come to that same realization now, and I expect big things from him in the coming years. The guy is a baller and an all out racer. I gained massive respect for him at Payton Jordan last year when Lomong miscounted the laps with 2 laps to go and went for it - and David covered the move while knowing that there were 2 laps left. It was his first 5K and he still finished in 13:16 or something crazy like that. He's a pure racer - and I guarantee you that he is as clean as they come. Now that he is working on his sprint mechanics he is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

I ran at the track in Potosi, Bolivia at 13,000 ft altitude over a summer in high school. At that altitude, it's about impossible to train fast. But Albuquerque, NM (5k) is just fine for winter training. In the town proper it hardly ever snows or sticks, and the snow in the mtns above doesn't tend to last long, so you can still train up there on trails most of the time, at an altitude of 6k-10.5k. The weather looks a lot like San Luis de Potosi.

Maybe he omitted Rupp to illustrate just how many different competitive runners we now have, going beyond the medalists.

Agreed that DT is a class act and has even faster times (and big wins) ahead of him.

My intuition is that DT may lack the raw sprint speed to win or place in the 1500m at the world level, or even at the national level. I mean his 800m PR is like 1:45 I believe, and I bet Manzano, Legat, Wheating, Andrews, and Centro are close to 1:43 high-1:44 flat in a smooth rabbit race. If i had to guess I would say that his 400m PR from the gun is in the 49s. David is an UNBELIEVABLE rhythm runner though and has untapped talent in the 5000m. I kind of felt like he should have moved up last year but that event is stacked as well....but I think he is a 12:50s guy. Always a bunch of factors in these decisions to change events, but my humble opinion is that he doesn't have that last gear, nor one-step speed changing ability. Im a DT fan -- no one should dismiss a 334/145 guy-- but I want to see him win, just believe that it will be in the 5k when he commits to it. He will keep running fast times in rabbited races with his efficient form though.

Goldenboy wrote:

Contrast that with another athlete that was there who didn't make the team that night and she was downing tequila shots and devouring chicken wings like a cave woman who hadn't eaten in a week. That was embarrassing to watch.

Heaven forbid she eat some chicken wings! How un-ladylike!!!