When Bekele showed up in Oregon and the weather wasn't perfect for a WR attempt, did he ask for a special race the next day? No. He just ran the fugging thing.
When Bekele showed up in Oregon and the weather wasn't perfect for a WR attempt, did he ask for a special race the next day? No. He just ran the fugging thing.
Salazar is bringing back and old Oregon tradition of setting up impromptu races. Bowerman and Dellinger didn't hesitate to do so for their runners dating back into the 1960s.
runner39 wrote:
simple reason is we are fans of track and field, if he were in the Stanford race it's makes a loaded field even more loaded and therefore a must better race to watch, using my prev example of payton manning - it's like him saying f*** that I'm not playing sunday I'm going to play beach football on sat instead
Rupp and Salazar are just enforcing this "prima dona" attitude just like they did with the 5km at the trials
you know previously I wished Rupp all the best but now I hope if gets hit by a large pollen drop and sneezes till he craps himself
Hey man, I agree with you on this that I'd like to see him race at Stanford, I was ready to drive out. But us being selfish to watch a great performance doesn't take priority for Rupp and Salazar in what they want to accomplish.
Why would they make a sacrifice for something as small as that (putting it into perspective for them) at any degree of risk for the more important goals of the season??
He's going to want a U.S. title and to take a crack at 13 & 27 this summer while competing his best in those races. You don't blow an load on a hard 10K if the risk-reward ratio is out of whack. If the risk is low that the weather will affect the race and the probability of a record (reward) is higher you go for it. If the ratio switches around you don't.
How can people really argue with that? It's not like you just go will out an AR despite the conditions. If Rupp had to race every time a fan wanted him to he'd never miss a race, but that's just silly.
Perspectivation wrote:
Criticizing the methods of someone who ALWAYS shows up at the right time with the big performance, that just don't make sense when nearly every other runner flops in races every year.
...
Guys who approach running like Rupp in my mind are Geb, Lagat & Bekele. They don't race haphazard or just because they wanted to several weeks before.
Nobody on this thread is criticizing the training methods of Rupp and Salazar. Nobody is saying they should be haphazard in picking their races.
But how is it good planning to still be dithering about *which* race to run at the last minute?? Geb et al. don't do that, and certainly not publicly.
If they were worried about his health or fitness, I think most people would understand that, as they did for the Boston Indoor meet this year.
But they're fussing about the wind and the pollen! Both of which are part of racing. And neither of which have anything to do with "flopping." Seriously, would Rupp "flop" in either the Eugene or the Stanford race because of those factors?
If Alberto can grease someone's palm and get Ms. Rupp into a major European race, he can break the record even if it is a tactical race; even a tactical 10k in Europe will likely be fast enough to produce a low 27.
And I'm sorry, but whoever claims to not know who Tim Tebow is needs to stop pleasuring himself to Running Times and get out there and pay attention to what else is going on in the sports world.
reallon wrote:
I can see it now. Rupp doesn't set the record and Salazar and Rupp say "Well you know the rain last night combined with too much O2 in the air really slowed me down". No wonder the Africans beat us; instead of just going out to run we are worried about pollen levels in the air. I have never heard of such nonsense. What a paper tiger.
I don't know how severe Rupp's allergies are, and I agree that all of this back and forth about where he'll run is annoying, but it needs to be noted that some people do have allergies, and the pollen count does have something to do with how they'll run. For me, it just means I sneeze, so I don't really care. For my fiancee, it means she can't breathe at all and has to load up on meds just to go for an easy run. I've seen her heart rate go up to 180 while running 8 min pace - this for a 16:30 5k runner. It sucks, and you try to get treatment as best you can, but as people with various types of asthma will tell you, there's only so much you can do.
That being said, she'll be running at Stanford tomorrow regardless, since we don't quite have the pull to set up an alternate race. So we'll see how that goes.
Perspectivation wrote:
Hey man, I agree with you on this that I'd like to see him race at Stanford, I was ready to drive out. But us being selfish to watch a great performance doesn't take priority for Rupp and Salazar in what they want to accomplish.
Why would they make a sacrifice for something as small as that (putting it into perspective for them) at any degree of risk for the more important goals of the season??
He's going to want a U.S. title and to take a crack at 13 & 27 this summer while competing his best in those races. You don't blow an load on a hard 10K if the risk-reward ratio is out of whack. If the risk is low that the weather will affect the race and the probability of a record (reward) is higher you go for it. If the ratio switches around you don't.
How can people really argue with that? It's not like you just go will out an AR despite the conditions. If Rupp had to race every time a fan wanted him to he'd never miss a race, but that's just silly.
his camp is stating that he is racing this weekend, I for one don't want him over race, as a fan this type of last minute reasoning does nothing positive for Rupp's public perception, he is not the most masculine role model out there that is for sure and surely Nike has to car about his public perception (eg. Tiger Woods)
smd wrote:
There could also be a cart a little behind him with a fan so that there's always a tailwind.
A fan that's eaten lots of beans will help to provide extra wind.
waaaaaaaaawaaaaaaaaa-reeeoooo-reeeoooo.... it's the let's run whambulance storming down the pipes of the internet ready to bash the next american runner who isn't Brian Sell...
I love that whenever the true "talent" of our sport makes a decision, it's questioned and bashed by a bunch of nerds who are still angry they couldn't f*** the prom queen in highschool. It's like being part of the "blue collar humble runners are the only ones who truly understand the meaning of distance running club"...puke.
Galen is a pro. The only reason he's even running one of these meets its to break the American record on American soil infront of an American crowd, and more importantly It gives him an opportunity to run the race he wants to run.
There's not point in him running in the wind and rain or through an alergy problem to run 27:38 and help a bunch of Sub elites break 28... that does nothing for him. He could wait and do it in europe, but the chances of him getting in a race that is set up to run the way he wants isn't likely... you'll get 2 or 3 quality 10k's in europe this summer, and they'll all be guys going out in 26:30 pace...
If he was getting some sort of appearance fee for going for the record at stanford, then maybe i'd side with you schmucks, but the fact is, all that guy does is produce, and if he wants to wait for the best opportunity to give the record a shot, then why not... he's earned it.
koose wrote:
Well, Rupp needs a lot of things to go right for a record attempt. Whatever works.
The only person right now who doesn't need a lot of things to go right for a record attempt is Usain Bolt.
Mike in LA wrote:
And I'm sorry, but whoever claims to not know who Tim Tebow is needs to stop pleasuring himself to Running Times and get out there and pay attention to what else is going on in the sports world.
I have never been tempted to call someone a name as much as now. Tim f'in Tebow? The 'sports world' cares about as much about Tebow as, well, they do about Galen Rupp.
Do you know who Jensen Button is? Or Magdalena Neuner? or Zhau Hongbo? About ten times as many people know who they are as Tebow, so why don't you turn your eyes away from ESPN and get a clue.
Giddy wrote:
There's not point in him running in the wind and rain or through an alergy problem to run 27:38 and help a bunch of Sub elites break 28... that does nothing for him.
I agree, running 27:38 wouldn't do much for Rupp.
But in order to run 27:10, you have to take the risk of running 27:38.
That's how it works.
You have to risk something to get something.
all that guy does is produce, and if he wants to wait for the best opportunity to give the record a shot, then why not... he's earned it.
Nobody would be giving him any grief if they had said, "We're running in meet X. If the conditions are right, we'll go for a really fast time. If not, we'll use it as a good workout and hope for better conditions later this year."
Instead, with all this argle-bargle about the details of the conditions at the last minute (and it's not like anything unexpected happened with the weather or pollen), it comes across as negative in the ways that have been pointed out in this thread. And we have every right to comment, no matter how slow we are.
Mike in LA wrote:
And I'm sorry, but whoever claims to not know who Tim Tebow is needs to stop pleasuring himself to Running Times and get out there and pay attention to what else is going on in the sports world.
and stop splitting infinitives - makes you look like an idiot
I agree, if he runs 27:38 attempting to run 27:00, I really don't have any problem with that... but the idea that you go out and run 27:38 as some sort of workout is absurd... the effort involved to even run that pace is pretty signifigant. At the level these guys train and race, going out and running 27:40 in shitty conditions isn't worth it, unless your getting paid to do so.
The fact is, the guy wants the record and he wants to do it on his own terms where he feels he'll have the best shot at it... I still don't see how that comes accross as negative.
Same with the Oly trials fiasco... "If Rupp wouldn't have run the 5k, then some one else would have had the opportunity to do so..." At this point, among professionals, it isn't about participation and giving someone an experience... it's about putting yourself in the right position to achieve your goals, and that's exactly what AlSal and Rupp are doing.
Point being, if you were in the best shape of your life, and had a chance at breaking your p.r. or breaking a school record, or qualifying for nationals, but the 10k was going to be on a rainy or windy day, would you still run it... unless it was your only opportunity to race 10k, probably not... and coaches in college do that all the time. The 10k is just too much of an effort to keep repeating.
I'd actually venture to say that we should happy that he's trying to set it up to do it this weekend instead of scrapping the entire idea...
and stop splitting infinitives - makes you look like an idiot[/quote]
Way to boldly go where no Let's Run poster has gone before.
Jensen Button is defending WDC in F1. But honestly I don't know who Tim Tebow is. Btw no one outside of the USA cares if Rupp breaks a soft national record.
Rupp won't even win if he races at Hayward, friday or saturday. Matthew Kisorio got 6th at world cross in 2009 and has pr's of 13:02 in 5k and 27:15 in 10k. So how is Rupp favored to beat him?
5er wrote:
Mike in LA wrote:And I'm sorry, but whoever claims to not know who Tim Tebow is needs to stop pleasuring himself to Running Times and get out there and pay attention to what else is going on in the sports world.
I have never been tempted to call someone a name as much as now. Tim f'in Tebow? The 'sports world' cares about as much about Tebow as, well, they do about Galen Rupp.
Do you know who Jensen Button is? Or Magdalena Neuner? or Zhau Hongbo? About ten times as many people know who they are as Tebow, so why don't you turn your eyes away from ESPN and get a clue.
------------------------
Dude, everyone knows who Tim Tebow is....
everyone.
alyosha wrote:
Rupp won't even win if he races at Hayward, friday or saturday. Matthew Kisorio got 6th at world cross in 2009 and has pr's of 13:02 in 5k and 27:15 in 10k. So how is Rupp favored to beat him?
My guess is because Ritz was a better runner than that last summer and there are other runners in P-Town who can run faster than 13:02 and my guess is that Salazar feels like Rupp is among the (or simply the) best of them right now.
There are ways to know fitness.
Giddy wrote:
if he wants to wait for the best opportunity to give the record a shot, then why not... he's earned it.
the point is either race IS a good opportunity. 50 degrees and 5mph wind are not "bad conditions," and I'm guessing the pollen wouldn't affect him, either. if it's the competition he's worried about (not what salazar said), then why was he even considering these meets in the first place.