Webb: 4:00.61 at Drake

Video of Webb's 4 flat...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pfYpEchT8U

Thanks for the link to the race. We're almost two years removed from the history-making Alan Webb days, so it's understandable that people are looking for another 2007 Drake Relays -- an early indication that he can regain his form as a WC medal threat. There hasn't been a hint of that for 20 months. Still, there's no reason to assume -- based on what we've seen in two races -- that he won't be able to run 3:33 in another month. If he's still much slower than that, however, he'll be playing catch-up to five or ten other Americans, and I wouldn't bet on him to make up the ground.

Best run from Web in a LONG time. Finally looked smooth again - rather than the stilted style last year. Kept himself in the right position the entire race, and didn't give up psychologically in the last 250. Good progress.

duhada wrote:

There is a huge difference in beating some 3:57 milers in a race won in 4:01 and beating a 3:49 miler in a race won in 4:01. In the slow championship races, the last 400 in the slow races is sub 52. 56 is a long way from there.

If he had run a 3:50, you could say the endurance is there and hope for the speed. With a 4:00 closing in 56, both the speed and strength need improvement.

no one would argue that webb winning this race in 4:00 is the shown the ability to win an olympic race won in 4:00...

no one is saying this win is a sign of huge things to come, only that it is not indicitive of terrible things to come

you cant just look at splits and derive his fitness when he won the race, you have to look at condtions, his intention, how he looked, when he really started sprinting, etc...

the bottom line is webb went into this race with the intention of winning, time be damned (obviously or he wouldnt have let it go 64 on the 3rd lap) and guess...what, he won, mission accomplished

the reason its encouraging is webb has a history of losing to people he shouldnt lose too and had a long series of blowups last year, since neither happened here its good news and a good sign (or at least not a bad one)...no ones singing webbs praises just saying people are idiots for bashing him for this

the fact is that there is probably no one in the world with the ability to run a mile as fast as webb can when hes running well, so even though hes let us down before, were going to hope he can get back

That last 100-150m was certainly a good show...geez! Anybody know of a split on that?

Congrats to Webb. Training to peak in June means NOT running real fast in April. Cold tough conditions as well. He led the field wire to wire. Rabbit missed his splits also.

I just watched the last 150m of that race about 5 times in a row. At about 150 meters, right when Lukezic comes up on Webb's shoulders, Webb shifted gears pretty quickly, and got a good 3-5 meter gap on Solares and Vanderwestheizen and Lukezic started going backwards once those three got moving. That last burst was definitely a good sign for Webb, he should be able to fly away from guys like that.

I will say that race wasn't very tactical, Webb just stayed behind pacemaker Joseph until the last 500m but never really let go of the lead, which as a poster above mentioned, shows some good psychological toughness. It's hard to run at the front the whole way and never give up the lead. Webb's last lap was only about a 57, but I really curious what his last 100m, 150m, and 200m splits were. Or even from 150m to 50m from the finish. Good showing, can't wait til Webb's next race.

I'm stunned by the logic that says that you don't want him running 3:46.91, because that means nothing; it's just a time trial. That kind of performance almost never happens under any conditions; it means a lot. If he is in that kind of shape, then he can bury almost anyone in the final 100 of a 3:34-40 kicker's race. That didn't happen that year, because he strained something from the 1:43.8 800m, missed some training and got sick in Japan. (of course, he also peaked a month early). This performance doesn't mean anything bad; he beat some good people in a relatively slow time. A 3:51 would have said this was going to be a great year. At this point, we don't know what kind of year he'll have.

I should just add the obvious, that not long before his 3:46.91, he destroyed Baala in Paris in a yearly leading 3:30, a performance not too much worse than the mile, and Paris was obviously a huge meet.

from my crude timing on the video it looks like he ran the last 200 in approximately 26-27 seconds. is that a positive indicator?

regardless of the time, he looked good dropping a couple of very good milers.

any idea of when, where, and/or what he is racing next? i wonder if he'll run carson when the visa series starts up, or even pre.

one more comment, and i know this is getting overanalytical, but: true webb had a good kick at the end of this past race, so it shows that he has certain raw speed still there and his racing tactics were pretty solid, but what we don't know is how good his aerobic power is. i think that is the thing he seems to be lacking most, but i suppose that will just have to come with his improvement over this season. i wonder if he's planning on running any 800's or 1000's or anything over a mile (2 mile, 3000m?) in the near future.

It's a good sign that he's not getting handily defeated like he was in indoor season.

Seems like in 2007 he still had the strength/endurance he'd built up in 2006 for that 10K race with a killer kick added that he used to effectively dispatch some of the world's best (Lagat, Baala, Mottram). If he can get back into the form where he can hang with any pace and then kick like 2 years ago...

He looked speedier and less clunky in this race than he did during indoor. Good sign. Also seemed confident in his ability to kick away from eveyone when he wanted to. Another good sign.

The next step is to see how he does against Lagat, Lomong, and Manzano, our 3 best from last year. If he can outkick them with ease, we're back on track.

This post has added nothing to this discussion.

hs webb could kick current webbs ass

not supposed to happen untill your 40

considering lagat is in 3:50-to-sub-3:50 shape, lomong is in 3:54 shape, and manzano probably just the same, webb is going to need to be in about 3:50 or better shape to secure a place on world champs 1500m team. or, he's at least going to have to be able to kick away from those guys like he did this passed weekend, because how often is a championship 1500m race ran in 3:32-33?

he many run a bunch of +4's then have a good WC

Peter Coe wrote the a world class runner has to put all his eggs in one basket

irun wrote:

considering lagat is in 3:50-to-sub-3:50 shape, lomong is in 3:54 shape, and manzano probably just the same, webb is going to need to be in about 3:50 or better shape to secure a place on world champs 1500m team. or, he's at least going to have to be able to kick away from those guys like he did this passed weekend, because how often is a championship 1500m race ran in 3:32-33?

I agree with the general gist of posters that say this was a good step for Webb: he won the race, kicked well, and stayed in the race mentally--and that's a whole hell of a lot better than what he did last summer.

However, while Webb did look good kicking away from VW, Lukezic, Solares, Lukezic, and Sheerer, being able to kick away from Lagat, Manzano, Lomong, and the like is a whole different task. Whether Webb can get into 3:31-33 shape (and I believe he will) AND be able to kick with the likes Lagat, Leo, and Lomong is the question.

I see no reason why he cannot and why he will not. It's part of the job as an athlete to be able to figure out what you've got to change and what works, and Webb seems to have moved past his 2008 disappointments and has his head on straight--or at least straighter than before. This may be the year we see a major championship medal from Webb.

for those of yous shitting on his 4:00

the rabbit came across about 3 seconds slow....2:01 I think it was.....so there's 3-4 seconds right there

the conditions were horrid....it was cold, there were puddles on the track....theres another 2-3 seconds....so were looking at 353-355 here....which makes him look better

You forgot to mention that the bit of sand blown onto the track added another 2 seconds and the lack of fan support added another 3 seconds and the slightly loose track spike added another 4 seconds and tiny bump in the track around the final turn added another 3 seconds. That is 12 seconds right there. So we are talking about a 3:41 - 3:43 here... which makes him look a lot better.

uh_no wrote:

for those of yous shitting on his 4:00

the rabbit came across about 3 seconds slow....2:01 I think it was.....so there's 3-4 seconds right there

the conditions were horrid....it was cold, there were puddles on the track....theres another 2-3 seconds....so were looking at 353-355 here....which makes him look better