How did Mo Farah get so good...seriously.

Mo was poor by world standards before he linked up with the Kenyans in Teddington (house with Kogo I think?). Basically before then by training half-assed he was able to be pretty much the best in Britain.

He then started training with the Kenyan's and got pretty strong. His SBs/PBs never really indicated how good he was as he has never really bothered chasing times (as you can see by his current PBs compared to the people he beats!) - you need to instead look at things like Euro champs, World champ finishes, World XC etc.

Mo at that point was pretty much one of the best in the world but he still wasn't able to win much. If you look back he'd often be at the bell at the start of the final lap in the 5k but would have worked hard from 600 out to get to the bell first and would then get out-kicked. Mo was generally not quite as well aerobically conditioned as the other guys / strong enough to muscle it out and so would get outkicked. He was honestly quite similar to Galen in the Olympic 5000. Pretty similar level to a lot of Kenyans (how many of them do you see kicking well?)

Since training with Salazar Mo has improved his conditioning to the extent that he's able to hit the last lap and not be red-lining and so can use his sprint and change of pace to full effect.

The change hasn't been that drastic - just a general build-up over the years of aerobic conditioning that he should have had relatively early on (but didn't) which has enabled him to use his natural speed (which has also been improved with weight work). He's probably gone from being a 12:53ish guy pre Salazar to a 12:43 guy - basically one second a lap from a fairly huge training shift which isn't unbelievable.

Speaker wrote:

basically one second a lap from a fairly huge training shift which isn't unbelievable.

Ohh, I see, We all defend the ones we like, if he was Jamaican, Moroccan, Algerian or East African we would all be screaming PEDs. I guess it is a point of view thing, improving one second a lap for 12.5 laps approaching 30 yrs is not trivial

AT&T please wrote:

jjjjjjjj wrote:

Farah had already run sub 13 and now he got added miles, faster easy miles, added speed, a very, very good training partner, and better support for recovery to do the above. Did he also get some "legal" drugs for "legitimate" conditions too?

No he had not run sub 13:00 before AlSal

His PR was the British record. Pretty easy to find:

12:57.94 the year before Alberto.

The results:

5000 Metres – Men

Pts

1 Bekele , Tariku ETH 12:55.03 8

2 Merga , Imane ETH 12:56.34 4

3 Solinsky , Chris USA 12:56.45 2

4 Chepkok , Vincent Kiprop KEN 12:57.77

5 Farah , Mohammed GBR 12:57.94

6 Soi , Edwin Cheruiyot KEN 12:58.91

7 Masai , Moses Ndiema KEN 13:02.45

8 Yator , Vincent Kipsegechi KEN 13:04.50

9 Rotich , Lucas Kimeli KEN 13:04.85

10 Bett , David Kiprotich KEN 13:06.06

11 Kipchoge , Eliud KEN 13:07.06

12 Rupp , Galen USA 13:07.35

13 Mbishei , Titus Kipjumba KEN 13:13.81

14 Cheshari , Jacob Korir KEN 13:15.93

15 Mutahi , Sammy Alex KEN 13:16.60

16 Thompson , Christopher GBR 13:28.43

Kiptoo , Mark Kosgey KEN DNF

Komen , Daniel Kipchirchir KEN DNF

Birgen , Bethwell KEN DNF

i'm happy enough with some of the explanations for his improvement so far

we're saying there was a couple of stages where he upped his game

1.training seriously with the kenyans around 2010

2.switch to oregon 2011

before that he wasn't maximizing his true ability

and he was weak but he had showed himself to have ability on the world stage already

also the rest of the competition had stalled to a degree due to the bio-passport and improved testing

hmm anyone else concur with that then??

any dissenting voices??

i suppose the usual cause for doubt

he hits 27-28 and starts dropping PRs

but there has been some worthwhile arguments made in his favour i think

so this ability to win with a fast last lap?

is albertos crew the only ones perfecting this?

or is there others now doing likewise

Can someone give me any reason why the OP shouldn't be dismissed as a troll. As far as I can see he is asking the sports version of why 2+2=4.

Mo wasn't exactly chop liver before he hooked up with AlSal; he was in the mix in a lot of big races, he simply could not close. Besides that, he now has a great training partner, a great coach and Nike resources.

Solinsky beat Farah and Rupp.

Ok resume thread.

"Mo trained by himself prior to linking with Galen"

-absolutely FALSE. don't comment unless you know what you are talking about. absolutely ridiculous.

He learned to sprint.

This is so hilarious. People accuse Bekele, El G, Geb , and Komen of peds continueally on this site, BUT turn a blind eye when it comes to Mo Farah (even though he's the most suspicious one). Oh yeah please save that "he was very so talented as yougnster excuse". So were the other guys above and they still get accuse.

"He's probably gone from being a 12:53ish guy pre Salazar to a 12:43 guy - basically one second a lap from a fairly huge training shift which isn't unbelievable."

BS!!! 12:53 to 12:43 in your late 20's/early 30's is a HUGE improvement. Almost Regina Jacobs like.

whatt//// wrote:

"He's probably gone from being a 12:53ish guy pre Salazar to a 12:43 guy - basically one second a lap from a fairly huge training shift which isn't unbelievable."

BS!!! 12:53 to 12:43 in your late 20's/early 30's is a HUGE improvement. Almost Regina Jacobs like.

His actual improvement is 12:57 pre Al to 12:53. He also showed improvement in finishing speed winning the European double per Al sal (against an ex-Ethiopian)

He has a fair few injuries from 2007-2009 remember when he was always wearing those long socks

That said I wouldn't be surprised if anyone was doping and unlike others on here would not be making excuses for him if he failed a test

Coach , I think if you research a little and see what Al has implemented that has put both Mo and Rupp in contention is the turn over speed in the last stages of racing. Note they went Michael Johnson's speed training facility , normally used for speed development for other sports and track sprints. They have learned how to sprint , developed real speed vs a solid kick. The africans have always done a great job with flat out speed training. Al has implemented training to level the racing field.

Dig a little , I think you might be impressed , there are some videos etc.

where do you get this drivel? wrote:

"Mo trained by himself prior to linking with Galen"

-absolutely FALSE. don't comment unless you know what you are talking about. absolutely ridiculous.

Mo lived with the group for a while starting in 2005. He was coached by Alan Storey, Mottram by Nic Bideau, and PACE by (I think) another coach. They did a lot of solo workouts to my understanding. Mo took trips to meet with other runners (such as the winter with Galen before he officially came to Alberto, a trip to Kenyan for 3 months the year before). He was NOT just apart of a consistent group, doing the same workouts day in and day out. He had his own coach, and was nomadic.

A lot of his training with the group was just easy running.

Fringe national class until almost mid-twenties. Steve Ovett's pbs at 21 were better than Mo's at 25 for just about everything from 200m to the half-marathon.

Moved in with a group of Kenyans in London to learn their secrets. Suddenly became best in GB.

Moved to the USA to be coached by Sleazy Sal, became an all-time great.

Easy answer. Drugs.