Webb Not at World Cross?

to everyone else, then: why single out webb?

Why does everyone just love to assume that Webb's fragile psyche is the reason?

Didn't he make clear that he would've jumped in the 4K in a heartbeat? His chances against the world's best XC runners in that distance wouldn't be more than remote there either.

Personally, I'd love to see him go. But I'm not so closed-minded and ignorant to say that he's not going because he's scared. If he was, then he wouldn't have gone out of his way for the USATF 3K and head to head against Keith Kelly in XC....not to mention the Tyson Invitational.

Marty McSorley wrote:

Richard Neer wrote:

While not necessary I doubt it hurts him.

you probably know more about alan webb and alan webb's training program than alan webb himself as well as his coach. maybe you should make the decisions for them.

Dipshit - I haven't offered any opinion on whether Webb should run or not. He's elected not to. There are countless reasons he may not wish to. IF he had decided to run it wouldn't have hurt his 1500m training.

Marty McSorley wrote:

to everyone else, then: why single out webb?

I'm not -- I was responding to the idea that running long cross served to benefit to milers.

i understand that. hence "to everyone else".

yeah, he really put iton the line by racing keith kelly and goign to tyson. wow, what a winner.

cct wrote:

yeah, he really put iton the line by racing keith kelly and goign to tyson. wow, what a winner.

I was thinking the same thing.

Surely he's running at least 7.5 miles now and then.

It's amazing how many, U.S. runners in particular, think avoiding competition will somehow help them to win races.

BBC Sport's Steve Cram wishes the current crop of British middle-distance runners would race cross-country as often as he used to do.

We are on the cusp of the switch between the cross-country season and the indoor season, and that has got me thinking about the priority each should have.

For middle distance runners, cross-country is an integral part of the winter training load.

You do not have to be winning races left, right and centre - but for 800m and 1500m athletes the endurance and stamina is perfect.

True, I didn't like it when I was slogging my way round through six inches of mud, but I did it.

You should focus on endurance, not on racing

The indoors thing has been a huge problem in that it has become a big emphasis in some athletes' seasons.

That means people end up doing track work all year round, something which wouldn't have happened 15-20 years ago.

For me, the way I was running on the country or on road relays gave me an excellent indication of how the winter was going.

Some have argued that the indoor circuit is more alluring because there's more glamour associated with it - but very few of our men do very well indoors anyway, so there's no more glory there.

It seems easier - and the thinking is, well, if you can do three minutes 44 seconds indoors, you should be able to do 3:42 outdoors.

I just don't think it works that way. If you do the same sort of training all year round, you just don't get any better.

You're also more likely to pick up injuries if you're doing high-quality track work all year round.

You should focus on endurance, not on racing.

Quagmire

I do have some bad memories of cross-country. I could be very hit-or-miss.

The worst one I remember running was down in Epsom, having just come back from warm-weather training in Australia.

You can imagine what it was like - fantastic out there, and I come back to sleet and mud and lots of eager club runners who want to beat me.

It was a quagmire. I got halfway round and I just thought: "What the hell am I doing?"

You don't have to beat the 5,000m and 10,000m boys, but you should make it your aim

All these club runners, a lot of them not even very good, were going past me laughing and asking how I was.

Another time I had to drop out of the Nationals in front of my home crowd at Town Moor in Newcastle.

I shouldn't have bothered starting. I had a dodgy ankle and the surface was a nightmare, really bumpy and uneven.

So there were a few nightmares - but a few successes to.

I won the Northern cross-country, sixth in the Inter-Counties. The nine miles of the Nationals was a bit too far for me - I could do that on the roads, but maybe not in the sludge.

But the roads can be just as good.

Benchmark

I look at today's milers and say: "You should be able to run 10km in under 30 minutes and 10 miles in under 48 minutes."

They look at you as if you're stupid, but if they're training well they should be able to do it.

You don't have to beat the 5,000m and 10,000m boys, but you should make it your aim.

My benchmark in the north-east was Brendan Foster, or Mike McLeod and Charlie Spedding.

They were the top distance runners in the world but I was racing them every Saturday and trying to beat them.

That wouldn't happen these day - and I think that's wrong.

In Steve Cram's case, it was about swallowing his pride and racing XC even though it didn't suit him, because it was good endurance work.

Imagine though, if Webb was running the 12k at the World's, there would be a thread even longer than this one saying "why is Webb running the 12k at the World's? is he mad? he's going to get his ass kicked"

Why doesn't Jon Gill take Webb's place. Ha ha ha ha ha

Every second on the internet lowers your IQ

Yuriy Borzakovskiy has skipped some pretty big competitions in his time, including the 2001 World Championships. He was criticized for that move, but his camp insists it is in preparation for long-term goals. Yuriy has done very well so far in his career - with PRs ranging from 45-point in the 400m to 3.43 in the 1,500m.

Webbs philosophy may work to his benefit

Webb is primarily a miler. Why would he waste his time with cross country. You don't see ELG, Lagat or even Jason Lunn running these cross country races.

Webb main goal this year is probably getting the Olympic A standard before the trials, and then making the Olympic team. Running a cross country race is not going to make him a world class miler. I think people forget that Alan Webb is miler first and long distance runner second.

Please read the Steve Cram article.

EL G. on the other hand has called Cross Country a waste of time.

Yeah -- how much of the fact that he a.) lost and b.) wasn't going to make anywhere near the same money as indoors made it a waste of time?

I have been greatly inspired by Webb in the past, but this decision to NOT gain international championship experience in the World Cross completely baffles me.

It is just f***ing stupid.

Looks like Nike is getting their money's worth....NOT!!!!

Looks like Webb will just keep running top meets like the Modesto Relays!!

Jason

JasonInJapan wrote:

I have been greatly inspired by Webb in the past, but this decision to NOT gain international championship experience in the World Cross completely baffles me.

It is just f***ing stupid.

While never having been particularly inspired by Webb, I've always given him the benefit of a healthy "wait and see" attitude. However that time is now gone.

Anyone who is too insecure to embrace the opportunity of meeting and competing over 7.5 miles with the top runners in the WORLD, in particular when he's at the peak of his condition for said event, and when such competition with TOP RUNNERS is supposedly his ambition, is not deserving of any noteable interest nor concern.

By the way, whoever said he made the team, that's not the case. He qualified to make the team. But for whatever reasons he is not on the team. Thus, he did not make the team.