Solinsky moving up to marathon

Really interesting time to be in the marathon right now. Farah and Bekele are just beginning their marathon careers. Solinsky will be facing his old rivals!

yeah right wrote:

I agree. There could be a surprise, but I would expect all 3 medalists in Rio to have 2:05 or better PR's. Maybe a 2:06 guy.

Yea no way a 2:07 guy could win the olympics or WC in this day and age ...

Too bad he never got to where he wanted to be in the 5000 (or 10000): The Podium.

I wish Solinsky well, and hope he does well in the marathon, but has he ever run a really good race on the road? I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to have been working for two years to get fit after his injury and not have it work out, but I really wonder if this will be the answer he's looking for.

Yes, I know Kiprotich hasn't broken 2:07, but the top end of the marathon is only getting more competitive. I think the odds are that a guy with 2:06 or faster PR will win in Rio.

pr100 wrote:

Solinsky is 6'1" and 165 lbs.

What's the best marathon time by someone that big?

Possibly he could lose a bit of weight...

Because he is the same height and weight as me, I am particularly interested how he will do and what kind of weight he will lose. He surely will drop 10 pounds or so, right?

abubenjamin wrote:

pr100 wrote:

Solinsky is 6'1" and 165 lbs.

What's the best marathon time by someone that big?

Possibly he could lose a bit of weight...

Because he is the same height and weight as me, I am particularly interested how he will do and what kind of weight he will lose. He surely will drop 10 pounds or so, right?

6'1'' / 165 is not that skinny.

ranger wrote:

BBD wrote:

Clearly he still has "speed" with a 13:23 and decent 1500 last year, but it makes sense that since he is not the factor he used to be on the track that he would try his hand in the marathon. After all the talent has not just disappeared, it may just take a different form. He got slim once and ran real well, so who's to say that getting back to that kind of volume won't get him back to being lean and mean.

Who knows maybe this kind of training is what he is missing from getting back to being a great 10k runner. Worth a shot in my opinion, he's got nothing to lose.

13:23 is not speed. Those 2:04 guys are running sub 13.

How many 2:04 guys have run sub 13? Kipchoge, Haile, Tergat...?

And don't pretend the rest of them could as well - when they had that big eugene 10k to prove all the marathon guys could sleep-walk a 26:45 I don't think many broke 27min in perfect conditions.

Opiate for the Masses wrote:

abubenjamin wrote:

Because he is the same height and weight as me, I am particularly interested how he will do and what kind of weight he will lose. He surely will drop 10 pounds or so, right?

6'1'' / 165 is not that skinny.

It's really skinny to the real world.

reed wrote:

basically he says he can't get his speed back, so the marathon is his only shot at another olympic team.

To bad he's burnt his bridges to Salazar.

lomong genius wrote:

How many 2:04 guys have run sub 13? Kipchoge, Haile, Tergat...?

And don't pretend the rest of them could as well - when they had that big eugene 10k to prove all the marathon guys could sleep-walk a 26:45 I don't think many broke 27min in perfect conditions.

When was this big Eugene 10k? And where was it stated that the intention of hosting the race was to "prove all the marathon guys could sleep-walk a 26:45"?

yeah right wrote:

Yes, I know Kiprotich hasn't broken 2:07, but the top end of the marathon is only getting more competitive. I think the odds are that a guy with 2:06 or faster PR will win in Rio.

I don't think Solinsky is seriously considering himself a threat for Gold at this point, so the point is moot. He could be like a 2:09 guy and maybe top 10, though.

A fresh start for solinsky would be good. It's painful to watch him struggle to break 13:40

Keep in mind that the Olympic fields will have far fewer top African runners relative to major marathons, since national teams can only have 3 (or 4?) competitors at most. Solinsky can make the U.S. team with a 2:09 at the trials, and for a former 26:59 guy that is doable if he has consistent training leading up to the trials.

Too big.

No Way Jose wrote:

Really interesting time to be in the marathon right now. Farah and Bekele are just beginning their marathon careers. Solinsky will be facing his old rivals!

Rivals? Ummm........yeah.

Maybe, but he may be able to go in the 2:08 range if his body holds up to the training.

I'm sad to see him announce his retirement. I know he'll be doing great things once he accepts that he's retired.

ranger wrote:

Klovn wrote:

I think the reason that Solinsky's had so much trouble coming back is that the injury affected his mechanics. I mean, they had to screw his hamstring back on, and there's no way that's going to be 100% of what it once was.

Why is there no way it's going to be 100% of what it was?

Scar tissue? And any time you have surgery it changes something in your body, in the location of the surgery.

Surgeons always say "once you have surgery, it won't be exactly the same."

But none of us are Sol's doctor, or Sol so we don't know if he is still having and issue where his hamstring was repaired.

And intense massage can help break up some scar tissue. Sometimes, like in knee reconstruction they have to operate again to remove scar tissue.