What the Hell is happening to German Fernandez?

what a shame... wrote:

He peaked in High School...Should have gone to a college where he could develop and get stronger so he wouldn't be so injury prone in his pro career. I really believe OSU made him brittle and wasted his potential. He went to OSU with all the promise in the world and became just another runner in their squad. Not the superstar he was destined to be. Sad, sad story.

3rd at Footlocker. More realistic goals and milestones to reach those goals were needed. Instead it was GF is going to go sub 13 and beat Galen Rupp this year. His fans and their unrealistic expectations are more at fault than say OSU.

Dr. truth has a lot of it in his post.

So much of that is so true.

I'm the one who said I saw German and Derrick just before Footlocker at altitude. I said he looked so good and I felt he was gonna really fly. Lots of guys said I was fool of carp. Maybe I am fool of carp. Dammn it!!

I disagree. I was disappointed for German. I always hope to see him doing well. But he has been going steady this fall. Nothing flashy. When interviewed, he says he is building up and trying to get a feel for racing. He was with Teg and Bumbalough in a 3k and lost by a bit. He did ok in a 5k and 10k. He is in the process of coming back and aiming for the summer. This is his first truly bad result lately. But look at it this way, Will Lear had a bad day, so did Cam Levins. Laws Lalanya did not impress either. And I am not sure what is up with Rupp.

This is a setback. Maybe he had a cold. Who knows. as king as he is not injured, he should brush it off, do what he has been doing and work on speed this summer.

quote]trialswatcher wrote:

Dr. truth has a lot of it in his post.

So much of that is so true.[/quote]

"I'm the one who said I saw German and Derrick just before Footlocker at altitude. I said he looked so good and I felt he was gonna really fly. Lots of guys said I was fool of carp. Maybe I am fool of carp. Dammn it!!"

____________________________________________________________________

Yes, most certainly you are a - "fool of carp" or do you mean - "Full of Crap"

or maybe you were in a "rucking flush" when you typed your comment.

Fool of Carp wrote:

"I'm the one who said I saw German and Derrick just before Footlocker at altitude. I said he looked so good and I felt he was gonna really fly. Lots of guys said I was fool of carp. Maybe I am fool of carp. Dammn it!!"

____________________________________________________________________

Yes, most certainly you are a - "fool of carp" or do you mean - "Full of Crap"

or maybe you were in a "rucking flush" when you typed your comment.

Welcome to LetsRun kiddo -

I'm more curious as to what happened to Cam Levins. He's been in beast mode lately. Rare to see him third to last even in a bad race.

Al Salazar might have put him in his place, "you Sir are getting too fast for our beloved Ruppy! you need to slow down" and poor Levins had no choice.

Cammy Shammy wrote:

I'm more curious as to what happened to Cam Levins. He's been in beast mode lately. Rare to see him third to last even in a bad race.

what a shame... wrote:

He peaked in High School...Should have gone to a college where he could develop and get stronger so he wouldn't be so injury prone in his pro career. I really believe OSU made him brittle and wasted his potential. He went to OSU with all the promise in the world and became just another runner in their squad. Not the superstar he was destined to be. Sad, sad story.

I've never really understood this argument. Ryan Vail is having a very good pro career and he overlapped with GF at OSU. Tom Farrell has also had a lot of success after leaving college. Why did OSU make German brittle but not either of those guys?

Is it possible that German was just a guy who peaked really early in his life physically, and he isn't nearly as talented as we all thought? It seems to happen with a lot of high school runners who run low-4's in the mile and are never heard from again. Just a thought.

I was told that German Fernandez has super low ferratin as a result of "foot strike" hemodialysis. This is very common in distance runners, basically the more that you run, the lower your ferratin level therefore The lower your hemocrit and the slower that you run. Don't know the solution, except don't be a vegetarian. I think his ferratin level was in the low teens when he started to falter at OSU. The only other solution that I can think of is get a blood donation from a genetic chromotosis blood donor and take iron supplements. My ferratin level from genetic hemochromatosis is 900 unless I make monthly donations to the blood bank, then it's is about 200. Don't know how long I have had this condition but now suspect that it was a factor in my college improvement from 2:00 to 1:50.3 in the 880 in 5 months back in 1964 at OSU.

Very frustrating condition for a runner, the more that you run, the slower that you get. Urinating blood after a hard run is a symptom of "Foot strike" hemodialysis. Don't know if German had that symptom but know a lot of runners who have and it's not good.

You folks do realize that German was a designated pacer at this race, right?

This is not a bad result. This is not a good result. This is no result at all.

HE WAS THE PACER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello? Anybody understand this sport? Even just a little bit?

Runnnn wrote:

Threads like this make me sick.

Are you throwing up or have diarrea or what?

Time stamps, bro.

what a shame... wrote:

He peaked in High School...Should have gone to a college where he could develop and get stronger so he wouldn't be so injury prone in his pro career. I really believe OSU made him brittle and wasted his potential. He went to OSU with all the promise in the world and became just another runner in their squad. Not the superstar he was destined to be. Sad, sad story.

Dave Smith killed his motivation to run.

The Donger wrote:

His best clearly was in HS which carried into Freshman year of college. He should go back home to his roots and old coach for one last hurrah. It seems that guy was the only one who had him figured out.

You've got it right and I've said the same thing before too.

a runner of the caliber of German Fernandez should never ever ever be a pace setter with the intention of dropping out In a race in which he specializes. Can't think of a better way to ruin your competitive fire.

I suppose a 800m runner pacing a 1:53 first 880 of a mile race would be ok if you viewed as a payday and a workout and paced all sections running that day. However, I wouldn't have considered doing it in my running days in the 1960's. A couple of my friends paced Ryun in the World Record at Berkeley In 1966. Back then the pacers had to finish the race with an honest effort. That last lap was agony but they didn't step off the track. One of the pace setters later made the Olympic Team.

Never quit in a race.

John Perry wrote:

a runner of the caliber of German Fernandez should never ever ever be a pace setter with the intention of dropping out In a race in which he specializes. Can't think of a better way to ruin your competitive fire.

I suppose a 800m runner pacing a 1:53 first 880 of a mile race would be ok if you viewed as a payday and a workout and paced all sections running that day. However, I wouldn't have considered doing it in my running days in the 1960's. A couple of my friends paced Ryun in the World Record at Berkeley In 1966. Back then the pacers had to finish the race with an honest effort. That last lap was agony but they didn't step off the track. One of the pace setters later made the Olympic Team.

Never quit in a race.

If GF was ready to race I'm sure he would have raced. Who are you to judge his decision to pace and what is gained by asking a pacer to finish the race? Maybe his employer that happens to be the meet sponsor asked him to pace.

Just Checking wrote:

You folks do realize that German was a designated pacer at this race, right?

This is not a bad result. This is not a good result. This is no result at all.

HE WAS THE PACER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello? Anybody understand this sport? Even just a little bit?

Things must be going well if he is now a pacer

Iowakidscanrun wrote:

John Perry wrote:

a bunch of nonsense about never quitting in a race.

If GF was ready to race I'm sure he would have raced. Who are you to judge his decision to pace and what is gained by asking a pacer to finish the race? Maybe his employer that happens to be the meet sponsor asked him to pace.

OK, so at least one other person here understands the sport. Perhaps there is hope.