The above time raise a lot of red flags for a lot of people. Can this progression be solely attributed to improved training, diet, rest, gels, or whatever? Or is it something else? These are logical questions and it’s reasonable to ask questions.
I’ll play the devils advocate here - is it not reasonable to be suspicious of this progression? If anyone thinks it’s unreasonable to be suspicious, what is your reasoning?
Personally I can’t recall any T&F athlete ever improving like this. Can anyone else?
I had a big jump myself in the 800m. It's tricky to get the balance in the training right. One little thing can be slightly off and you'll be far from your potential. I added a little bit of extra endurance and vo2max and jumped from 1:49 to 1:45 in one year.
The above time raise a lot of red flags for a lot of people. Can this progression be solely attributed to improved training, diet, rest, gels, or whatever? Or is it something else? These are logical questions and it’s reasonable to ask questions.
I’ll play the devils advocate here - is it not reasonable to be suspicious of this progression? If anyone thinks it’s unreasonable to be suspicious, what is your reasoning?
Personally I can’t recall any T&F athlete ever improving like this. Can anyone else?
Murphy went from 1:56 to 1:43 in 4 years. DB went 1:54 to 1:43. In 4 years. Strand went from 4:10 to 3:48 in 4 years . Gary Martin in 5. Difference is they were teenagers/early 20s.
One one hand most people don’t train seriously after 25 if they have peaked as a 1:47. On the other we don’t have many examples of late bloomers. Nordas 3:49 to 3:29 is about as close as I can think of..
Carlos Lopes was the oldest ever Olympic marathon winner at the age of 37, etting an Olympic record for the event which stood for 24 years. On 20 April 1985, Lopes set the men's marathon world record at 2:07:12 at the Rotterdam Marathon at the age of 38.
I had a big jump myself in the 800m. It's tricky to get the balance in the training right. One little thing can be slightly off and you'll be far from your potential. I added a little bit of extra endurance and vo2max and jumped from 1:49 to 1:45 in one year.
The above time raise a lot of red flags for a lot of people. Can this progression be solely attributed to improved training, diet, rest, gels, or whatever? Or is it something else? These are logical questions and it’s reasonable to ask questions.
I’ll play the devils advocate here - is it not reasonable to be suspicious of this progression? If anyone thinks it’s unreasonable to be suspicious, what is your reasoning?
Personally I can’t recall any T&F athlete ever improving like this. Can anyone else?
Yet, people on this board single out Koech when their homeboy's progression is as absurd.
The above time raise a lot of red flags for a lot of people. Can this progression be solely attributed to improved training, diet, rest, gels, or whatever? Or is it something else? These are logical questions and it’s reasonable to ask questions.
I’ll play the devils advocate here - is it not reasonable to be suspicious of this progression? If anyone thinks it’s unreasonable to be suspicious, what is your reasoning?
Personally I can’t recall any T&F athlete ever improving like this. Can anyone else?
Yet, people on this board single out Koech when their homeboy's progression is as absurd.
Actually it’s been the other way around. Hecl, look at the Nats - we have a guy who was out for three years, he pops in and runs 1:44 then 1:43. Not a peep. Yeah, he’s clean.
I only ran the 1500 a couple of times. Never was a fan. I was definitely more of a speed based runner (21.68 200m)
Started out as a hurdler and quater miler but wasn't enough (11.04 100m). I eventually moved up, but it took a couple of years to get the training right (2009 & 2010).
I think my main point was that the 800m is super complex - it requires the runner be strong on a number of different parameters all at the same time, so getting that right is very tricky. And I've seen first hand that when the stars align, big jumps do happen even at an later stage in an athletes career. I was 24 when I made my big jump.
... and following up on the "undertrained" part. I wouldn't say I was undertrained. It just wasn't the right training. I worked my butt off, but I was simply lacking endurance and vo2max when the season came around.
Is it me or has posting a workout video before a big meet become a bad omen? Eric Holt did one last year before USAs and then was cooked, Kessler and Wightman did one a few weeks ago before Pre and underperformed. Many other examples. I recall that On posted last year in which all the guys were running sub-4 in practice and that largely turned out OK. But generally having to perform for a camera seems to risk peaking early.
Lol, yep. I call it the interview effect. I don't know why but the vast majority, like 90%, of high-level track athletes i've seen feature in articles before a major competition about how they want to "be the best" and "how prepared they are" end up absolutely bombing.
I had a big jump myself in the 800m. It's tricky to get the balance in the training right. One little thing can be slightly off and you'll be far from your potential. I added a little bit of extra endurance and vo2max and jumped from 1:49 to 1:45 in one year.
I’ve also got an old somewhat famous letsrun thread detailing my love progression from a 2:03 800m runner to a 1:52 800m runner in one season. And it wasn’t because I wasn’t trying or training hard before. There’s nuance.