OAC won’t take him because they already have a 5/10 guy in Joe.
Mike Smith makes a lot of sense but who knows what will happen.
Sleeper picks for the possible coach or group would be Sifan Hassan’s coach or UAC to stay in Oregon but not in Eugene which we already saw two Bowerman athletes jump ship to here, yes they are 15 runners but it’s a possibility you can’t rule out.
What are you talking about?
Here you go:
Grant: Hey Ritz, it's Grant Fisher. I'm looking for a new training group, preferably at altitude and I'd like to work with someone who has a proven record of success both as a coach and athlete. I think you might be the perfect fit. What do you think? FYI, my Nike contract will end soon and I'd be thrilled to run for On.
Ritz: Hi Grant! Thanks for reaching out to me. I know you're the American record holder in the 3000, 5000, and 10,000, which is awesome. As much as I would love to include you in our group here in Colorado I don't think it will work. I'm already coaching Big Joe K, and I don't want to disrupt his mojo by adding one of the greatest American distance runners EVER as a training partner. Yeah, I know this would be catching lightning in a bottle having the two of you train together, but I don't want to risk it, and I don't think his wife Sage would be on board. Big Joe is somewhat fragile and I we don't want to rock his the boat. Good luck buddy, and we'll see ya around.
A dude who just ran a 7:25 3000m, the 8th fastest outdoor performer in history, a few tenths behind Morceli should run the marathon?
I mean, Bekele and Gebrselassie literally have 3k PBs of 7:25 as well.
I find it interesting that Americans seem to think that you only move to the marathon when you're no longer fast enough for the track, yet also complain about the state of American marathoners.
Follow Mr. Kipchoge's training plan. He was an ok track guy.
Can’t spill my who my inside sources are, but Grant will be moving to Park City where he’ll be coached by the sub4:30miler. Because of his success while coaching in San Antonio, Nike decided to give him a large contract to coach our best candidate for an Olympic medal.
Serious question: How much bandwidth does Mike Smith have for taking on more top level pros? Trying to keep the NAU mens dynasty rolling while also trying to build the NAU women up to the same level as the men while also adding more pros on the side has to start getting tricky to juggle at some point. Also, the line about a "collection of athletes" vs a "group" just further hammers home the issue of pros being needing more individualized/customized attention. It has been tricky, because you've got guys that need to peak at different times for different reasons/events, guys dealing injuries and needing to move workouts around and all that.
I've been wondering the same thing. He's training an insane spread of athletes, all the way from women's 1500 (Hiltz) to men's marathon (Rupp). He's got 2 XC title contending teams, multiple Worlds finalists, multiple AR holders, CR holders, HSR holders. He's been building up the Women's XC team to be as good as the men's. How can he have the time to add in more pros? May as well try to break it down I guess.
If I think about it, adding pros may not be a huge addition in terms of workload for him. If I'm guessing, Smith probably only sees the pros for workouts. They're professionals, they probably need FAR less oversight than the college students. They know what their bodies should feel like, they know what easy mileage feels like, they know how hard workouts should feel, they know how to get proper nutrition and sleep, and they don't have the burden of schoolwork. Kincaid spent most of his time self-training before his 12:51 AR; He only spent 3 weeks with Smith before it. I also imagine there's a big difference between the double threshold philosophy, which is strictly about working out at a very controlled pace, and Jerry's philosophy, which sounds like there are incredibly grueling workouts, and getting injured at some point is almost seen as a rite of passage.
On top of that, NAU athletes are already doing pro-level training (Nur ran 13:06 and made the World final in college). Smith probably has the pros do the exact same training as his college kids, just with some added mileage. Base training is probably very, very similar for all of them, with minor adjustments depending on if they're planning on being mid-d or distance. Since the college kids are already training like pros, and they're having success from 1500-10k, there's probably not a big difference in training actual pros from 1500-10k.
Also, it's probably super helpful that people are on different schedules. Over the summer, when pros are in racing season and need more direct oversight, all the college kids are off just doing base training. When the college kids come back in the fall and need more oversight for XC season, the pros are just doing base training. Indoors I feel like pros/college kids are basically on the same schedule tbh. There's only like 4-6 weeks of real racing indoors. I guess outdoors is a bit more complicated, but basically everyone is gonna be trying to peak in June for NCAAs/Nationals, then the pros keep going through the summer.
He explicitly denied that Sean McGorty should have given him that 10k spot. He wasn't even physically quite ready at that point. Weeks later, yes, he was ready. I just don't think that Grant Fisher is that kind of guy. It's not as if he's given up his spot before. I would think that the biggest problems had to do with Eugene, sharing the track and Jerry's attention with collegians, the loss of many teammates, the lack of living at altitude, and ultimately, the lack of that ability to medal with a fast finish on the last lap.
OAC won’t take him because they already have a 5/10 guy in Joe.
Mike Smith makes a lot of sense but who knows what will happen.
Sleeper picks for the possible coach or group would be Sifan Hassan’s coach or UAC to stay in Oregon but not in Eugene which we already saw two Bowerman athletes jump ship to here, yes they are 15 runners but it’s a possibility you can’t rule out.
What are you talking about?
Here you go:
Grant: Hey Ritz, it's Grant Fisher. I'm looking for a new training group, preferably at altitude and I'd like to work with someone who has a proven record of success both as a coach and athlete. I think you might be the perfect fit. What do you think? FYI, my Nike contract will end soon and I'd be thrilled to run for On.
Ritz: Hi Grant! Thanks for reaching out to me. I know you're the American record holder in the 3000, 5000, and 10,000, which is awesome. As much as I would love to include you in our group here in Colorado I don't think it will work. I'm already coaching Big Joe K, and I don't want to disrupt his mojo by adding one of the greatest American distance runners EVER as a training partner. Yeah, I know this would be catching lightning in a bottle having the two of you train together, but I don't want to risk it, and I don't think his wife Sage would be on board. Big Joe is somewhat fragile and I we don't want to rock his the boat. Good luck buddy, and we'll see ya around.
Get a clue bro!
It's what happened with Woody - Big Joe veto'ed it
With regard to Mike Smith and his ability to coach all the different levels of athletes at the same time, rather than detracting from his ability, this period has in fact had by far the greatest success on every level of any time in his entire coaching career. He's got Grijalva to 4th and low 12:50s; he's got Nur to an American championship; he's got Rupp still running 2:08; he's got the xc men again favorites to win the championship, which would be the sixth out of the last seven years for him as coach (7 out of 8 total); he's got the women for the first time in position for a podium finish and maybe even the national title; and he's got two individual male contenders for the national xc championship in Bosley--who set the college 3k record this year--and Young (top returners in xc after finishing 3rd and 2nd, respectively, last year). So, he's handling it just fine and he's got assistants to take care of some of the grunt work.
Let’s think for a second about the Mike Smith angle. It’s well-known that the move to Eugene, along with having Jerry distracted with his college coaching duties, was a major factor in the recent departures. This includes Fisher. Why would he go from one college program to another college program? Jerry’s already proven to be able to get him to American records, how does Smith become a better option. Short answer he doesn’t.
he’s not going with Smith, he might go to Flagstaff, but he ain’t going with Smith. I put my money on a “self coached” route with somebody familiar with him as an advisor. he probably won’t have a “group” but he’ll have some fast people to run with.
Contract is likely up for renewal in Jan 2024 and didn’t get what he wanted compensation-wise.
Add in having to share a coach with UO, it probably made sense to look for other options.
All pro contracts end the December of each year (according to what an agent told me). So if his contract ended in 2024, it would be December.
I’m sorry but this is letsrun, we’re all miserable know-it-alls if we post on here.
No. Contracts start at all months of the year. His might have been up in October because maybe that’s when it started and was finalized after leaving Stanford.
Serious question: How much bandwidth does Mike Smith have for taking on more top level pros? Trying to keep the NAU mens dynasty rolling while also trying to build the NAU women up to the same level as the men while also adding more pros on the side has to start getting tricky to juggle at some point. Also, the line about a "collection of athletes" vs a "group" just further hammers home the issue of pros being needing more individualized/customized attention. It has been tricky, because you've got guys that need to peak at different times for different reasons/events, guys dealing injuries and needing to move workouts around and all that.
I've been wondering the same thing. He's training an insane spread of athletes, all the way from women's 1500 (Hiltz) to men's marathon (Rupp). He's got 2 XC title contending teams, multiple Worlds finalists, multiple AR holders, CR holders, HSR holders. He's been building up the Women's XC team to be as good as the men's. How can he have the time to add in more pros? May as well try to break it down I guess.
If I think about it, adding pros may not be a huge addition in terms of workload for him. If I'm guessing, Smith probably only sees the pros for workouts. They're professionals, they probably need FAR less oversight than the college students. They know what their bodies should feel like, they know what easy mileage feels like, they know how hard workouts should feel, they know how to get proper nutrition and sleep, and they don't have the burden of schoolwork. Kincaid spent most of his time self-training before his 12:51 AR; He only spent 3 weeks with Smith before it. I also imagine there's a big difference between the double threshold philosophy, which is strictly about working out at a very controlled pace, and Jerry's philosophy, which sounds like there are incredibly grueling workouts, and getting injured at some point is almost seen as a rite of passage.
On top of that, NAU athletes are already doing pro-level training (Nur ran 13:06 and made the World final in college). Smith probably has the pros do the exact same training as his college kids, just with some added mileage. Base training is probably very, very similar for all of them, with minor adjustments depending on if they're planning on being mid-d or distance. Since the college kids are already training like pros, and they're having success from 1500-10k, there's probably not a big difference in training actual pros from 1500-10k.
Also, it's probably super helpful that people are on different schedules. Over the summer, when pros are in racing season and need more direct oversight, all the college kids are off just doing base training. When the college kids come back in the fall and need more oversight for XC season, the pros are just doing base training. Indoors I feel like pros/college kids are basically on the same schedule tbh. There's only like 4-6 weeks of real racing indoors. I guess outdoors is a bit more complicated, but basically everyone is gonna be trying to peak in June for NCAAs/Nationals, then the pros keep going through the summer.
First, if Buffalo Park turns into a subdivision NAU's reign is over.
Second, seems like the men's team is on autopilot, Smith and ten assistants are working the women's team this year. This is a bit of insurance, the men might have an off year or two very soon, and the women carry more depth now. NAU will win titles the next five or six years for sure, but it might be mostly the women.
Working with pro runners is maybe ten minutes a day for each, at most.
I can see Smith taking on an entire Bowerman-like group in addition to what he does now, as long as he gets another two or three coaches to help with the college slack.
He's got the accent down pretty well, no more practice time needed.
That's not true, they've got Ky Robinson joining, a direct competitor of Morgan McDonald. Ritz is very ordinary, nobody would go from Jerry to ON, unless they're out of contract.
Ky signed an NIL deal with ON, he isn't joining OAC. He still competes for Stanford
Serious question: How much bandwidth does Mike Smith have for taking on more top level pros? Trying to keep the NAU mens dynasty rolling while also trying to build the NAU women up to the same level as the men while also adding more pros on the side has to start getting tricky to juggle at some point. Also, the line about a "collection of athletes" vs a "group" just further hammers home the issue of pros being needing more individualized/customized attention. It has been tricky, because you've got guys that need to peak at different times for different reasons/events, guys dealing injuries and needing to move workouts around and all that.
I've been wondering the same thing. He's training an insane spread of athletes, all the way from women's 1500 (Hiltz) to men's marathon (Rupp). He's got 2 XC title contending teams, multiple Worlds finalists, multiple AR holders, CR holders, HSR holders. He's been building up the Women's XC team to be as good as the men's. How can he have the time to add in more pros? May as well try to break it down I guess.
If I think about it, adding pros may not be a huge addition in terms of workload for him. If I'm guessing, Smith probably only sees the pros for workouts. They're professionals, they probably need FAR less oversight than the college students. They know what their bodies should feel like, they know what easy mileage feels like, they know how hard workouts should feel, they know how to get proper nutrition and sleep, and they don't have the burden of schoolwork. Kincaid spent most of his time self-training before his 12:51 AR; He only spent 3 weeks with Smith before it. I also imagine there's a big difference between the double threshold philosophy, which is strictly about working out at a very controlled pace, and Jerry's philosophy, which sounds like there are incredibly grueling workouts, and getting injured at some point is almost seen as a rite of passage.
On top of that, NAU athletes are already doing pro-level training (Nur ran 13:06 and made the World final in college). Smith probably has the pros do the exact same training as his college kids, just with some added mileage. Base training is probably very, very similar for all of them, with minor adjustments depending on if they're planning on being mid-d or distance. Since the college kids are already training like pros, and they're having success from 1500-10k, there's probably not a big difference in training actual pros from 1500-10k.
Also, it's probably super helpful that people are on different schedules. Over the summer, when pros are in racing season and need more direct oversight, all the college kids are off just doing base training. When the college kids come back in the fall and need more oversight for XC season, the pros are just doing base training. Indoors I feel like pros/college kids are basically on the same schedule tbh. There's only like 4-6 weeks of real racing indoors. I guess outdoors is a bit more complicated, but basically everyone is gonna be trying to peak in June for NCAAs/Nationals, then the pros keep going through the summer.
While I agree with 99% of this, how much schoolwork do NAU athletes really have?
I say this as I know multiple student athletes at even brojo level colleges who didn’t have much academic work, admittedly in easy majors. So I feel like NAU aspiring pro runners will have almost nothing.