Did Jet Lag Help Do In Bekele? Scientists Please Chime In

dsrunner wrote:

it is a misconception that jet lag is not a factor east to west.

+1

You need a scientist to tell you that being very tired can affect your marathon?

Note that he flew with his wife and children--and so probably could not get much rest--and then he stayed with them--and so probably could not get much rest.

From Addis to Chicago is between 17 and 21 hrs, often via London:

https://www.google.com/flights/#search

;f=ADD;t=MDW,ORD;q=addis+ababa+to+chicago+flight;d=2014-10-29;r=2014-11-02

Well that was 2008, 6 plus years ago, more than a few. I was there and it was amazing and solo. It may be hard for him to not win. It may be jet lag. But, 12 under my belt, I think it's the marathon. It's not a 5k or 10k, and how things shake out on the given day to run extraordinary times like those under 2:06 or now under 2:04 as a goal. Course records, national records, world records and sub-2:05 marathons are nothing easy. Many things have to line up. Including extreme (and lasting, as it's 26.2) desire.

Critical Thinking wrote:

dagasfdfadf wrote:

Bekele doesn't often change so many time zones. Most of his racing is in Europe, where the time difference from Ethiopia isn't so large. How many times has Bekele raced in the Americas?

He ran 26:25 in Oregon a few years ago.

After Bekele's run in Paris Jos hermans did not seem concerned. Now all of a sudden, after a slightly off day, 50seconds slower, he is not running long or easy enough. F*ck me. He could alter nothing and run 2:03 next time.

As for jet lag, getting to a far off place early also brings challenges. Thursday afternoon doesn't seem extreme to me.

dsrunner wrote:

it is a misconception that jet lag is not a factor east to west.

That's not true. Going East to West is easy. It wasn't the jetlag it was the length of the trip so close to the race. Why would he not come over 5-6 days earlier? A marathon isn't a turkey trot.

It might be actually beneficial going east to west because you don't have the problems with waking up very early for the morning race.

Is Bekele the first guy to run a 2:05 marathon off of 100-112 mpw?

20 yrs ago when the East Africans were in their early ascendance, all Americans talked about was their supposedly brutal training and how they all run three times per day and are running 160-200 mpw.

We have all long since been disabused of this notion, but I still think it is interesting that he is running what one famous message boarder calls "a recovery week" for all the training leading up to what was assumed was a shot at 2:04 or 2:03.

I remember an article in The Runner about the marathoner of the future, and how several "experts" (I think Marty Liquori was one) said that this future marathoner (who I think was supposedly going to run 1:59) would run LESS miles, as little as 90 mpw, but some said MUCH more intensely.

I thought this was garbage and history has borne this out.

malmo wrote:

dsrunner wrote:

it is a misconception that jet lag is not a factor east to west.

That's not true. Going East to West is easy. It wasn't the jetlag it was the length of the trip so close to the race. Why would he not come over 5-6 days earlier? A marathon isn't a turkey trot.

Agreed

newname wrote:

Is Bekele the first guy to run a 2:05 marathon off of 100-112 mpw?

No, he ran up to 150 mpw before Paris.

Skuj wrote:

After Bekele's run in Paris Jos hermans did not seem concerned. Now all of a sudden, after a slightly off day, 50seconds slower, he is not running long or easy enough. F*ck me. He could alter nothing and run 2:03 next time.

As for jet lag, getting to a far off place early also brings challenges. Thursday afternoon doesn't seem extreme to me.

Ideally, if you want to run at your absolute peak after a long trip and little sleep, you need to be completely adapted to the new time zone. I travel a LOT, and whenever I travel trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific, it takes a week before I feel normal while running. As great as he is and has been, even Bekele should completely adapt to a new time zone if he has any realistic goal of running a world record marathon time, especially when the marathon is very different from a 10K on a track.

malmo wrote:

dsrunner wrote:

it is a misconception that jet lag is not a factor east to west.

That's not true. Going East to West is easy. It wasn't the jetlag it was the length of the trip so close to the race. Why would he not come over 5-6 days earlier? A marathon isn't a turkey trot.

Exactly.

Mrr82 wrote:Big fan of Bekele, and maybe jet lag had something do to with it, but if we are honest with ourselves, Bekele hasn't been the same in a long time. The old (young) Bekele could probably have run 2:02 and owned eveyone, but he moved up after he had lost his WR form. Maybe he can regain that, but it shouldn't be expected until he does something to suggest it should be.

MarathonMind wrote:

Mrr82 wrote:Big fan of Bekele, and maybe jet lag had something do to with it, but if we are honest with ourselves, Bekele hasn't been the same in a long time. The old (young) Bekele could probably have run 2:02 and owned eveyone, but he moved up after he had lost his WR form. Maybe he can regain that, but it shouldn't be expected until he does something to suggest it should be.

Exactly. Sleep or no sleep you either have it or you don't. A world class marathoner who is rested and tapered wouldn't be phased one iota by jet lag.

Travel much? World class or not, sit on an airplane for 20 hours, changing multiple time zones, and then see how you run over the next few days. No matter what kind of shape you're in, you will NOT run your best--especially not in an event as grueling as a marathon. I repeat that a 10K is NOT the same thing, but really that should go without saying.

Mrr82 wrote:

Big fan of Bekele, and maybe jet lag had something do to with it, but if we are honest with ourselves, Bekeke hasn't been the same in a long time. The old (young) Bekele could probably have run 2:02 and owned eveyone, but he moved up after he had lost his WR form. Maybe he can regain that, but it shouldn't be expected until he does something to suggest it should be.

Yep.