Lance Armstrong and the Marathon

Speaking of Triathletes...remember the Greatest of All Time, one Mark Allen.

At one time, the world was convinced Allen could run a 2:11 marathon, 'at least', no problemo...until he actually ran one-hard.

The end result was an excellent 2:19, but certainly no 2:11.

Moral of the story, strong in one sport doesn't equate to strong in another.

Bicycling develops good vo2 numbers, but also develops 'bikers legs' which are not conducive to fast marathoning...fast marathon running requires fast training...

Maybe Lance could do, time will certainly tell-until then, let the banter continue!

When and where was Allens 2:19? As far as I know he tried to qualify for the Olympic trials at Berlin after doing nothing but running for one year, and dropped out in a world of hurt 20 miles in, and was barely at the needed trials pace. I could not find any documentation of a 2:19 marathon by him searching goole either. I was also unaware he made another attempt. Not saying its impossible, but a little proof would be nice(at least give us the year/city).

I started the Allen debate back on page 9 of this thread. I agree with "not sure on this." I read Allen's own words on this once (can seem to find it now) that he ran Berlin and dropped out. He said that he never tried running the marathon all out again. He didn't finish and it was Berlin.

Even after a year of training, Lance would be lucky to run 2:45. He has no running mechanics, he weighs way too much and his foot strike sucks. If he got to 155 and found that he could do 8xmile at 5:10-5:25 with some effort, he might run 2:40. To run 2:30, you must be able to do at least 5xmile at sub 5 with 1 to 1 rest. A five minute mile needs to feel very easy and very relaxed at the end of a 16-20 mile long run. I don't think he can run one.

I wonder if Laurent Jalabert just ran NYC, or if he trained at all for it. He ran 2:55:15 net time yesterday.

Anybody that says Lance can runder under 2:15 is a moron. Thats all i have to say.

Old athlete wrote:

Even after a year of training, Lance would be lucky to run 2:45. If he got to 155 and found that he could do 8xmile at 5:10-5:25 with some effort, he might run 2:40. To run 2:30, you must be able to do at least 5xmile at sub 5 with 1 to 1 rest. A five minute mile needs to feel very easy and very relaxed at the end of a 16-20 mile long run. I don't think he can run one.

Those figures are out of touch with reality

I just ran a 2:41 off all of 5 weeks of training and there is no way in hell I could have run 8 x 1 mile in 5:10 - 5:25. Maybe 5:30. Maybe. Depending on the rest. I had trouble dipping below 5:30 at all in much shorter sessions with 3+ minutes of rest.

A friend of mine just ran 2:29 in the same marathon. He didn't do anything resembling 5 x 1 mile at sub 5 with 1 min rest and I'm going to go out on a limb and say he couldn't have. I'm not disrespecting his ability, I just spoke with him enough times about how he was feeling and saw his week-to-week training. He posted it here. He didn't throw in any sub-5 miles towards the end of 20 mile long runs that I know if. If he'd been able to, and if 5 minutes had felt "very easy" he'd have been running sub 2:20

Armstong can get away with it if he has his group of urine donors follow him on the marathon couse and then pass him their urine sample in the testing area. This is a well known technique that is purposely ignored by the sports friendly doping monitors. I know because I've seen it 1st hand. But watch out, Annus did this for years and was finally caught at Athens. What happened is the countries complained about the doping monitors looking the other way. Annus was busted !

" Annus was busted !"

And believe me when I tell you, there's nothing worse than having your Annus busted!

Lance could do it - for sure! Ye of little faith!

are you serious that jaja ran 2:55 at NYC?

zzzzzzzz wrote:

I wonder if Laurent Jalabert just ran NYC, or if he trained at all for it. He ran 2:55:15 net time yesterday.

I will profess that Lance will never sniff 2:15. Do you know what kind of running that is! Lance is the man on a bike, but it is true that he has crazy foot strike almost all toe and no heel if I am remembering right. Do you know how many runners train for years to run that fast and this is after very serious young running careers in hs or college. I know of a 13:20 5ker and a 27:50 10ker that has not run that fast, I know of a few sub 14min 5kers that still havent run that fast. Lance is the man but dont disrespect this sport!

Urine Samples wrote:

Armstong can get away with it if he has his group of urine donors follow him on the marathon couse and then pass him their urine sample in the testing area. This is a well known technique that is purposely ignored by the sports friendly doping monitors. I know because I've seen it 1st hand. But watch out, Annus did this for years and was finally caught at Athens. What happened is the countries complained about the doping monitors looking the other way. Annus was busted !

You are an idiot and have no idea what happens in a doping control station.

Yes I agree with you. The doping control people in sports are part of a massive drug conspiracy to undermine sports. USATF, NCAA, Cycling, NFL, WWF, MLB are criminal organizations under federal investigation. That's the state of how things are now. Proposals in Congress have mandatory use of Corrections and Probation department personnel to collect samples rather than the corruption that goes on now with volunteers who are often associated and unduly influenced by the sport they are supposedly monitoring. As a result samples are tainted and often substituted. It's like the fox watching the chicken coup. It would cetainly cost more money to use paid professionals, but think of the kids who are dying so young.

come on wrote:

you really think ALMOST ANYONE can run under 2:30 if they train hard and smart enough? I've got to call bulls***.

I agree man...some can train all they want- 80 miles a week, 100 a week but if they dont have the talent "ALMOST ANYONE" cannot run a 2:30...thats crazy.

You are delusional.

Yeah, well I know a 15:01/31:10 guy that has run 2:28... 2:15 is obviously a long ways off but I think it is closer than 13:20/27:50 is to 15:01/31:10. I don't really have a point here other than pr's at alternate distances can be misleading when thought of as accurate correlations.

noway wrote:

I will profess that Lance will never sniff 2:15. Do you know what kind of running that is! Lance is the man on a bike, but it is true that he has crazy foot strike almost all toe and no heel if I am remembering right. Do you know how many runners train for years to run that fast and this is after very serious young running careers in hs or college. I know of a 13:20 5ker and a 27:50 10ker that has not run that fast, I know of a few sub 14min 5kers that still havent run that fast. Lance is the man but dont disrespect this sport!

If you run 13:20 OR 27:50 and can't run 2:15 then you are doing something wrong.

We don't have too many track running distance runners any more, but Salazar ran 13:23 and 27:49 just 10 weeks before a 2:09 DEBUT. At the time the fastest debut ever.

If they haven't run a 2:15 it means something is wrong with them.

I like Hollywood movies, hip hop, rock, too. It's all a fantasy. Dopers perform superhuman feats which are fantasy. This appeals to many who asprire to be like them. Sports organizations, manufacturers, media companies, look the other way, and take advantage of human desire. Have some common sense and get with the program. Congress will soon federalize the process and may create a mini TSA to catch dopers. Most likely they will use local Corrections, Probation, and Law Enforcement staff. Children's lives are at stake. Dopers die too young. It's our responsibility to save our children.