Lukas V. in 1,500 at Oxy this weekend

Keeping in perspective wrote:

[quote]JB800/1500 wrote:

keep in mind he is coming back from an injury that nearly ended his competitive career.[quote]

This. How many of you claimed he was "finished" after his accident?

I'll admit I was one. And I might be proven wrong. Have to wait and see.

Diamond5 wrote:

At the meet wrote:

I'm at the meet. He ran 4:11 officially

So is Lukas V done as an elite athlete? Maybe this is karma catching up with him for selfishly abandoning the Oregon cross country team right before nationals.

So if he ran 4:11 and was 60 seconds at 400m and a 70 last 400m like he said, he was 3:01 at 1100m. That would then be a 2:01 middle 700m, which is about 69 pace. So he did splits of approximately 60-69-69-53(last 300m). Could have probably run 65-66 pace or 4:03-4:05 if he had run a smarter first lap.

To the second poster (Diamond5), shut up dog. What about Bernard Lagat abandoning Kenya after competing for Kenya in world championships and two Olympics? That is his home country . Lukas just dropped out of NCAA XC where nobody outside the US gives a crap. This is abandoning your "college" vs abandoning your "country." One clearly trumps the either. Are you also not a Lagat fan, or a fan of anyone who has changed citizenship and competes? But you're probably a Lagat fan, in which case you should calm down a be a Lukas fan. He didn't owe anyone anything, this is college XC where no one cares. He had the chance to leave so he could do a professional sport and pursue the Olympic dream, as would anybody in that situation.

Regarding Lagat, I don't think that's a good comparison. Lagat served Kenya well with his Olympic performances and stellar times. He paid his dues then left.

14:52 for 5k

That British Olympic tri champion who just ran the 28:30 10,000m has erased any hope that LV's running (now greatly diminished) would propel him to the top of the tri world.

fgjjjh wrote:

Regarding Lagat, I don't think that's a good comparison. Lagat served Kenya well with his Olympic performances and stellar times. He paid his dues then left.

That's fine if you think he paid his dues but just to be clear, I didn't just make up the idea of people regarding it as betrayal. Lots of Kenyan runners hated Lagat after he switched and felt like he betrayed Kenya. Same thing happened with Saif Saaeed Shaheen (formerly Stephen Cherono). When he made the switch to Qatar, many runners from Kenya hated him including his brother Abraham Cherono (also a runner) who wouldn't even speak to him for a while.

The Waterboy wrote:

fgjjjh wrote:

Regarding Lagat, I don't think that's a good comparison. Lagat served Kenya well with his Olympic performances and stellar times. He paid his dues then left.

That's fine if you think he paid his dues but just to be clear, I didn't just make up the idea of people regarding it as betrayal. Lots of Kenyan runners hated Lagat after he switched and felt like he betrayed Kenya. Same thing happened with Saif Saaeed Shaheen (formerly Stephen Cherono). When he made the switch to Qatar, many runners from Kenya hated him including his brother Abraham Cherono (also a runner) who wouldn't even speak to him for a while.

It's a totally different situation. Lagat left AFTER he helped Kenya. Verzbikas left BEFORE he helped Oregon. Not compatible situations at all.

That 5K is way better than his 1500. I would guess he probably has done very little if any speed work and that going out in 60 just crushed him in the 1500. Obviously he has a long way to go to get back to where he was but very impressive considering the circumstances.

realitybites2016 wrote:

That British Olympic tri champion who just ran the 28:30 10,000m has erased any hope that LV's running (now greatly diminished) would propel him to the top of the tri world.

ha ha, good one...

oh wait, you're actually serious?

if i ran 8:29 in high school, i would think of 28:30 as a checkpoint to bigger and better things, accident or no accident...

Diamond5 wrote:

So is Lukas V done as an elite athlete? Maybe this is karma catching up with him for selfishly abandoning the Oregon cross country team right before nationals.

Karma "catching up"???!! What the eff?

Karma "caught up" and then some when he almost f***ing died in a bike crash.

That 28:30 by the British tri champion is the best track time ever run by a true triathlete. LV has not even broken 30 minutes for 10,000m on the track.

Diamond5 wrote:

So is Lukas V done as an elite athlete? Maybe this is karma catching up with him for selfishly abandoning the Oregon cross country team right before nationals.

Anyone still crying about a decision a young man made at 18 where he was following his heart, especially in light of the nearly catastrophic accident he experienced, is a very small and bitter person.

realitybites2016 wrote:

That 28:30 by the British tri champion is the best track time ever run by a true triathlete. LV has not even broken 30 minutes for 10,000m on the track.

LV is a world champion triathlete in his own right. Don't recall the English bloke ever running 3:59. Not many sub-30 10K guys have steel rods in their back, although for you, that is probably not your situation.

twittering debutante wrote:

LV is a world champion triathlete in his own right. Don't recall the English bloke ever running 3:59. Not many sub-30 10K guys have steel rods in their back, although for you, that is probably not your situation.

Since when is the mile part of a triathlon? And even before the accident, Verzbikas hadn't broken 30min had he?

Are you seriously trying to compare an Olympic gold medal to a world junior championship.

kartelite wrote:

Diamond5 wrote:

So is Lukas V done as an elite athlete? Maybe this is karma catching up with him for selfishly abandoning the Oregon cross country team right before nationals.

Looks like we found our letsrun tool of the week. What times were you running 9 months after 2 broken vertebrae and a collapsed lung tough guy?

The accident has made him a sympathetic character but he was not a likable guy up to that point. You know that right?

If he ran a 14:52 5k later, which is a better result than the 4:11, then I'd say Lukas is around 3:55 1500m shape. Gotta admire him going out hard and testing the waters.

realitybites2016 wrote:

That 28:30 by the British tri champion is the best track time ever run by a true triathlete. LV has not even broken 30 minutes for 10,000m on the track.

The best 10k track time, but Verzbicas' 8:29y was better, and his 3:59y is marginally better.

kartelite wrote:

Looks like we found our letsrun tool of the week.

That's not a soft award either!