German Fernandez... 13:47....

Go back and look at the interviews German Fernandez has given in the last few months. He continuously states that he is on long term plan, to stay healthy. This is the first step. The long term goal is to be healthy to try and make the 2015 World Champs and the 2016 Olympic teams.

osksk wrote:

Great! Math wrote:

He played baseball and football an entire fall earlier. Any jogging he did the same week as his first race had nothing to do with improving his time. Did he train in the offseason before he started track, or are you implying someone has to be comatose for their entire life in order for you to comprehend "literally"?

Baseball, basketball, and football are not "literally" no training. There's plenty in there to provide a good stimulus for middle distance distance running. Does anyone know if he did soccer too?

You don't have to be comatose in order to use the word "literally". I don't know why you can't understand that. Especially in this case. He did at least one sport during the previous semester. That fitness doesn't just disappear and go away. You can't dismiss it like that.

You're just being a dick.

actually coach, that's exactly what you were trying to say...

"Go back and look at the interviews German Fernandez has given in the last few months. He continuously states that he is on long term plan, to stay healthy. This is the first step. The long term goal is to be healthy to try and make the 2015 World Champs and the 2016 Olympic teams."

________________________________

Obviously, health is crucial. But when that's the focus, then it often means sacrificing training that others are doing.

I get the impression Rupp & BK were lucky enough to have durability (& innovations for Rupp) allowing them to high-level train. Only a few exceptions can be great w/ restrained training, that I *suspect* German's doing. He may not have a choice though, healthwise.

ttc wrote:

"Go back and look at the interviews German Fernandez has given in the last few months. He continuously states that he is on long term plan, to stay healthy. This is the first step. The long term goal is to be healthy to try and make the 2015 World Champs and the 2016 Olympic teams."

________________________________

Obviously, health is crucial. But when that's the focus, then it often means sacrificing training that others are doing.

I get the impression Rupp & BK were lucky enough to have durability (& innovations for Rupp) allowing them to high-level train. Only a few exceptions can be great w/ restrained training, that I *suspect* German's doing. He may not have a choice though, healthwise.

This ^ is very true.

The ability to stay healthy almost all the time over the course of a decade of high level training is just as much of a talent as any other. And probably more important than most.

yesstiles wrote:

Bases on that 4-year high school portrait we've been given, I think German may be the most talented runner in US history. Jim Ryun and the other greats literally trained 5 x harder than German did. Amazing.

I agree with this

I also agree with the statement that Bruce Edwards is a great coach. I don't know if he's the best German's ever had but he was the best FOR German.

Bruce had quit coaching track and was only coaching cross, but he did coach German during track, so German was getting one on one attention.

s8n wrote:

What was his fresman/soph/jr high school progression like?

Punctuated by significant injuries, including surgery.

One of the things I find remarkable is how much it seemed German tripled and quadrupled in high school, despite not having the proper base to sustain those efforts over the long term.

I know people have sung the praises of Bruce Edwards, and I'm sure he was a good coach, but based on the recap, it sounds like German was a bit used and abused in HS.

Its astonishing how much he accomplished on so little. One has to think if he were to somehow string together 4-5 years of elite-level training, he has the talent to be a 12:4something guy. It appears he's THAT good.

You're saying that German landed at OSU and Dave Smith didn't bother to determine what his training was prior to getting there? And then German to doubled his mileage without Smith's knowledge?And then you're claiming that Jerry similarly didn't do anything to determine what German's previous training, successes and challenges were before taking over his coaching?Whether they're micromanagers or not, I have a hard time believing coaches at that level could be so willingly blind to what their runners have been doing previously.

Hey biw wrote:

In high school he ran 40-45 miles per week. He ran basic intervals, pace work, and 4 mile tempo runs.

At OSU, Dave didn't really have a background on German's running.

...

I'm assuming Jerry never got a more thorough background on German. However, Jerry does micromanage, just not sure if he knew where Dave messed up.

Whether he knew or not, it's obvious that Smith ignored what German had done previously.

Sad to think about what could have been. I mean possibly 12:4x's?

Not a bad rust buster. He deserves a break. For awhile he was Americas future. Dave Smith should be sued though, for running fernandez thru a series of injuries! Almost none of his prodigies leave OSU able bodied. With the exception of Lowe. Which btw where is he?

Jekdownzkvkrnsba wrote:

Washed up

13:47 for a rust buster is pretty damn impressive. He's back out there mixing it up, and that is not a slow time by any means.

Let's see where he is a month from now, with some more speed work under him. Under 13:30, and I think it's safe to say he is very much on the right track heading into a World Championship year (2015).

Colby Lowe ran 66 minutes at some rock and roll half recently.

Was at Hansons right after college, then quit.

OSU is to college running as York is to hs running.

Umm, ever heard of Ryan Vail?

Smith does not overtrain those guys. It\'s fairly low intensity, especially compared to other programs\' interval schedules. They run lots of miles. Does Colorado NOT run a lot of miles? And don\'t try to say that CU guys are always healthy. I\'m not ripping CU, have a lot of respect for that program, just using as an example.

And to say Smith wasn\'t familiar with German\'s background or make adjustments based on it is just plain stupid.

oldold runner wrote:

Yup, Remember he gets in racing shape fast. If stays healthy he'll be close to 13:10 by the end of the year, but he has to stay healthy.

13:10? This is based on him never running close to 13:10 before.

"I know people have sung the praises of Bruce Edwards, and I'm sure he was a good coach, but based on the recap, it sounds like German was a bit used and abused in HS."

I don't know about that. There is nothing necessarily wrong with tripling (or quadrupling) if it's at a moderate pace. German's times for a triple sound out of this world for us, but he ran 4:00/8:34 when pushing it. So running 4:21, 1:58, 8:54 is not that hard for him.

I was a 1:58/4:16/9:27 guy. That would be like me running 4:40, 2:05, 9:50. That's a workout. Not a race (for me, at that time). The 9:50 after the other two would be tough, but no harder than a set of longer intervals. I recall doing something like this as an occasional session. 4X880 (in the days of yard) in 2:08-2:10. 1.5 mile tempo at 5:10-5:20. Followed by 12x220 at 28-30. That would have been a piece of cake for German, but his version would have been 4x800 at 2:00-2:02. 1.5 tempo at 4:40. 12x200 at 27-28. Probably more difficult than his triple, or at least in the same ballpark.

If his actual workouts were just as hard every week, then that might be too much, but maybe race day was the hard workout day, and M/W were not as hard.

blortme wrote:

"I know people have sung the praises of Bruce Edwards, and I'm sure he was a good coach, but based on the recap, it sounds like German was a bit used and abused in HS."

The Riverbank coaching staff was getting a raft of crap (on the dyestatcal board) after German's quadruple in march of his senior year where he finished off with the 8:53.

When people don't know what they are talking about, they've got no business bashing.....That would probably kill this board, though.

Recognizer of Brilliance wrote:

The ability to stay healthy almost all the time over the course of a decade of high level training is just as much of a talent as any other. And probably more important than most.

I was going to post something similar. Jim Ryan training 5 x harder does not mean he had less talent than German, it means he was 5 x more talented! The talent of durability is extremely important in sports where the bulk of your career is spent training.