EZ10Miler wrote:
I think that anybody that has tried to compete has had a race where you went in with a certain time in your head and it just didn't happen. In doing so you lose your concentration on place, and just worry about time. The old forrest for the trees thing...
I just didn't think things like that would happend to the elite.
Even though they are elite, they are still human.
*Cut to image of Paula Radcliffe, sitting and weeping on the curb at Athens*Hall will be back.
txRUNNERgirl wrote:
EZ10Miler wrote:I just didn't think things like that would happend to the elite.
Even though they are elite, they are still human.
seem to remember... wrote:
Finishing second to an olympic marathon medalist is "wussing out?"
you've eaten your words once on Hall before Willy, you should really just pipe down.
You obviously lack basic reading comprehension!
Flagpole Willy wrote:
Well, Ryan Hall has now shown his true colors to me. Physical abilities perhaps to be a champion, but that attitude is horrible, and it explains to me why he so often races very well only to be followed by a relatively poor performance. Yes, he still finished second and just 15 seconds behind Meb, and yes everyone is allowed to just not have it, but he gave up on toughing out fighting for the win after mile 1. He gave up MENTALLY...by his own admission. Horrible.
I now no longer believe he has an chance of mixing it up with best in the world. Kind of ashamed of myself for entertaining it for a while there. Hall will continue to show brilliance on ocassion (when not pressed and when no high expectations are placed on him), but he's not got the heart of a champion. And NO, I'm not saying I do or that I could beat him -- just have to throw that out before someone makes those ridiculous statements. In the world of elite American runners (and he still is that), Ryan Hall won't be able to break out of the mold of one of America's best. It's too bad.
You people are ridiculous! He had an off race mentally... not a huge deal. Someone already said it well - he should not go into every race with the expectation that he has to set a record. Some days you wake up and do not have it. GRR may have been one of those days. However it can be a great LEARNING EXPERIENCE.
The GRR could end up being the most important race of the year if he LEARNS from his mistakes after some reflection. Why is no one thinking that this is a good thing before the real biggie - THE LONDON MARATHON?! If Hall learns now that every race will not feel like cake at record pace he can prepare to push through a crappy day or a rough patch. I'd rather have a bad day at a 15k than my peak race. I bet Meb agrees (see USA half-marathon champs)
Hopefully now he will not go into London with unreasonable expectations for how the marathon pace will feel. I do not think he has to change his goals, just change his mental preparation. This can be an amazing learning experience for him. Too bad though... if it was up to Flagpole, he would just hang em up because he lost it mentally for a couple of miles (not to mention he worked back up).
i am sick of barking dogs wrote:
That proves it.... the half marathon was on a short course. ;-)
Tell that to Meb who ran over two-and-a-half minutes slower than Hall in that race, moron.
Thanks for the lovely video, but!!!???
Perfect conditions, where is the excuse?
All I have to say about that quote from Ryan Hall....What a CRY BABY!!! Excuses, Excuses, Excuses!!!
I know several have already pointed it out-he still finished second to the Olympic silver medallist and made up 15 seconds of a 30 second gap. Ryan's not going to run a PR every time out. I think most of us are runners on this board-I do doubt it sometimes with some of the unmitigated ignorance I see posted-and we all know that some days you just don't have it, mentally or physicially. I think Ryan was just being honest-he just wasn't up for the race, he still finished second in a respectable time. End of story.
Yeh I would not get too excited about getting my ass handed to me either.
This goes to show how good of a time Williams ran! Houston is a very fast course and big deal he hit 42:21. Jacksonville is much harder. Todd was and is the man!
seem to remember... wrote:
Finishing second to an olympic marathon medalist is "wussing out?"
Finishing second no. Finishing second and giving the reason he gave for it yes.
Well said brother, and you said it better than I did. I agree with you 100%.
fashionista wrote:
[quote]Well, Ryan Hall has now shown his true colors to me. Physical abilities perhaps to be a champion, but that attitude is horrible, and it explains to me why he so often races very well only to be followed by a relatively poor performance. Yes, he still finished second and just 15 seconds behind Meb, and yes everyone is allowed to just not have it, but he gave up on toughing out fighting for the win after mile 1. He gave up MENTALLY...by his own admission. Horrible.[quote]
You nailed it, FW. An admission of a mental defeat because you're not "excited" after falling off ideal goal pace is really hard to understand in a runner of that caliber. Maybe I just expect too much, but I love reading reports from runners of all abilities that they were able to suck it up and plow through even after a bad start. That is something that I admire and try to find within myself. I hope I never give up on a race because I am not "excited." Not every race can be a PR or WR, but you do hope it will be a solid effort, whatever that means on any given day.
Didn't deena have her target paces written on her fingers? And she couldn't hit them, so she just kept running as fast as she could (trying to stay ahead of the men), without so much concern about hitting a preconceived time. The conditions were not perfect. It was 67 when I got in my car after the race. It was humid, and there was little shade. The conditions in Houston were probably perfect -- it was dark and cool. Ryan should have realized pretty early on that it was not a perfect day (like deena did) and then just run for the win. He probably knows that now.
Salad Days wrote:
...if it was up to Flagpole, he would just hang em up because he lost it mentally for a couple of miles (not to mention he worked back up).
No. I would not hang them up if I were Ryan Hall. He's still going to make some decent money in the next 15 years as a runner, so he should do that. I don't expect to see him on any major podiums though, unless he finds a way to change that horrible attitude of his. Maybe he will. I hope he will. If he doesn't though, he'll run a stellar race once in a while, and as soon as the spotlight hits him hard, he'll wilt.
2ndplace wrote:
Ryan should have realized pretty early on that it was not a perfect day (like deena did) and then just run for the win. He probably knows that now.
Hence why Ryan wussed out and Deena didn't. Hopefully he has learned something here.
dd wrote:
Sometimes I'm amazed at the armchair psychoanalysis done on these threads, nit-picking about people's performances despite the fact that 99% of people on these boards couldn't do a workout with Hall, leta alone stick with him through a mile.
Well, at least it took until page 2 for this stock answer to appear. Just because I can't run as fast as Ryan Hall doesn't mean I can see a wussy response to a poor day. Poor tactics or poor attitudes are poor even if the person employing them is ten times faster than me on his worst day.
It'd be interesting to read the rest of his interview and not just that quote. In any case, looking at how Hall has been running the past year, I think you guys need to relax, and I sincerely hope he runs well at London to make Flagpole look like an idiot. To make these sweeping generalizations off of one quote from one race is unbelievable.
I think having run Gate 5x prior Meb knew what to expect. Its a race where if you don't know what to expect Ie. the last bridge, you can't properly run the race.
yes you are right! he is 10X faster than you, but you are clean!!!!!
A lot of people here were speculating how much faster Hall could've run the half in if he had people running with him. After the GRR results and seeing Hall's quote, I'm led to believe that he probably would have run a slower half marathon if he had better competition that day. I think he runs at his best when he's by himself and relaxed.
noel wrote:
yes you are right! he is 10X faster than you, but you are clean!!!!!
Hmm. Hall runs 13.1 miles in just under an hour. Let's just round this down to 13 MPH just for ease of use.
If I'm 10 times slower than he is, then that means I run a half marathon a 1.3 MPH. At that rate it would take me 10+ hours to run a half marathon. Pretty sure I'm faster than that! In fact, he's not even twice as fast as I am. Seems odd to think that, but he's not.
Regarding the drug use, I guess maybe you're being funny. I sure hope he's not using anything illegal, and my guess is that he isn't.