What's different about Bekele this time??? - Jos Herman!!! - Do it my way or retire....

Martymart wrote:

Fun post wrote:

Fun post to read, you can tell that you are ecstatic, but numbers dont lie and Kipchoge's number is still the lowest, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Kipchoge knocks off another 15 -30 seconds in the next couple years.

Kipchoge will break 2 at the INEOS challenge, then go back to Berlin and be the 1st to break 2 hours in a legitimate Berlin marathon.

Nah, he is gonna get injured at this rate. There is so much a body can take at that level. I like Eliud a lot, but it is becoming obvious that some fanatics believe he is not human, but he is, subject to the same possibilities of getting injured as anyone else.

i think Bekele sensed the urgency to change his training style after Kipchoge broke the record in 2018 and got all the attention, of course deservingly, and it seemed Kipchoge is set to share his throne as 'one of the greatest' if not 'the greatest'. However, I noticed indirectly from Bekele's interviews, he wants the throne alone and for that he wanted to seal the G.O.A.T discussion once and for all by owning the Marathon WR, which he knows he is capable of had he committed to proper training; atleast for half or a year by pausing his hotel business matters. Bekele is the most talented but injury prone and Kipchoge is the most endurant and durable; I like to watch them both succeed but I expect Bekele to try his best and see if he can put the WR in unreachable shelf as he did to 5000m and 10000m. Am praying for one last shot from Bekele with all his heart 100% on the road, just one last shot! then we will for sure see a miracle ,even may be sub 2-hour (it is too bold a statement i know, but with his talent and focused commitment, Bekele is the person who can do it).

I disagree partially; it is not a matter of Ethiopians being behind Kenyans on those matters you mentioned, it is more to do with what they focus on after their task on the road. The challenge for Ethiopian athletes is that most of them follow 'Gebreselasie's model', which was 'Running and Investement'. Gebreselassie was effective in running his business without affecting his success on track and road. He even broke records including Marathon while doing his investment business in parallel. The thing is Gebreselassie was a unique man and could do both efficiently which Bekele wasn't able to emulate. I think Bekele training in Kenya is not feasible, but if he can build the kind of team Kipchoge did in Kenya, or otherwise dedicate himself to personal training plan, Bekele has the talent to own the WR.

UA Runner wrote:

doot doot wrote:

I think there is virtually zero possibility that Kipchoge wants Bekele at his training monastery. I get the impression Eliud likes a little breathing room (see: whoever he paced in London recently or Adola in Berlin) to work his magic. Throwing the now 2:01 Bekele into the mix would not be beneficial to what that group has been doing.

I agree. It also seems like the Kenyan groups are about ten years ahead of the Ethiopian teams as well in terms of PT assistance, nutrition and just dedication to training. If Bekele could theoretically train in Kenya, I bet he would improve. This is all based on the NN article they posted about his lifestyle and training.

I disagree partially; it is not a matter of Ethiopians being behind Kenyans on those matters you mentioned, it is more to do with what they focus on after their task on the road. The challenge for Ethiopian athletes is that most of them follow 'Gebreselasie's model', which was 'Running and Investement'. Gebreselassie was effective in running his business without affecting his success on track and road. He even broke records including Marathon while doing his investment business in parallel. The thing is Gebreselassie was a unique man and could do both efficiently which Bekele wasn't able to emulate. I think Bekele training in Kenya is not feasible, but if he can build the kind of team Kipchoge did in Kenya, or otherwise dedicate himself to personal training plan, Bekele has the talent to own the WR.

You guys made some good points.

From Haile, Ethiopian athletes learned to invest and from KB, they must learn to wait until they stop competing.

KB's hotel took a lot of his time as he built

Them from scratch. The build process takes ages and going live and the day to day hussle he spoke about took his focus away from what he really loved doing, running.

Now, he has decided to put all that aside. He is focused. There is one thing he wants. The marathon record. I think he will get it. Easily. He needs luck with injuries.

I have heard his interviews in Amharic. I dont think he will run in the Olympic.

I think he will train for a specific race to break the world record. It may be Berlin again. May be 1 race before that as he's getting on and staying injury free seems paramount to him.

I think KB will train and set a record to hold 5k, 10k and Marathon records.

Why skip the Olympics with a head to head battle with EK to chase a time? That would be silly.

Yeah don't give the guy who ran 2:01 any credit.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

Tron wrote:

Yes, that exact quote is not in the article..however obviously he suggested a change if he wants to succeed and most of what was in the OP was in the article

Hermans telling the GOAT distance runner to do it his way or retire is ridiculous and shouldn't have been stated as a fact by the OP. It didn't happen.

HermEns has managed KB his entire career, and consistent DNF's destroy credibility. So yeah, HermEns laying down the law was the right thing to do.

Injera powered wrote:

Why skip the Olympics with a head to head battle with EK to chase a time? That would be silly.

I'd rather have the world records.

Medals are temporary. Records are permanent.

He can always say he held the world records, maybe for quite a long time.

Steven St. Croix wrote:

Can we get the LRC staff to do an interview with Jos about Bekele's buildup on Berlin?

Major point I noticed watching when I turned it on at 15K was that the FIRST thing I thought was "Bekele is fit as hell. He is 20 pounds lighter than he was in Amsterdam."

Great idea, this site needs to do more of these type of interviews vs rambling speculation and assumptions.

Go to the source, Bekele's run is worth more than just a headline.

Maybe just maybe the American men could learn something they could apply to their training in the hope of getting a few athletes just under 2:10.

He has not literally said he wont run of course but the main reason he would not run would be

the Ethiopian Athletics Federation.

1 - they would need him to run at least a couple of selected marathons and even after that, he may not get the place

2 - they are corrupt beyond belief and there is a lot of politics. I seriously think its about who pays them them most these days :)

NOTE: Haile went in to sort out the mess and failed miserably. Haile left it due to all the nonsense

Now, Derartu Tulu has taken over. I doubt she can change them much.

When asked if he would run the Olympics Kennenisa's first words were about the federation and that it's to far away

to plan or talk about now.

If i recall correct, Kebede had the fastest Marathon time before Brazil Olympics. He was not selected. The guys

they sent were miles behind Kebede. As it proved, they went to Brazil and did not even finish. They were way way out.

Haile criticized them strongly at the time for not selecting Kebede. So KB knows he has not guarantees at that end.

But like i said, i dont think he will run as they will demand he runs qualifying races and it seems staying injury free is

paramount to him. He is fearful of injuries as he has suffered a lot from them.

As for a race between EK and KB, i doubt it would produce a record breaking time. In fact i am sure it would not. It would be too tactical. If you go for a world record v a great runner, you can lose both. the record and the win.

dunes runner wrote:

Injera powered wrote:

Why skip the Olympics with a head to head battle with EK to chase a time? That would be silly.

I'd rather have the world records.

Medals are temporary. Records are permanent.

He can always say he held the world records, maybe for quite a long time.

"Medals are temporary. Records are permanent."

Just the opposite, bud.

Olympic Gold trumps all.

Hardloper wrote:

sub sub elite local hobby jogger wrote:

Jos Hermans, we know this is you.

If it were Jos Hermens posting he would spell his name right

unless.... he knew you'd say that....

zxczxcv wrote:

Jos Hermens is connected to both Healing Hans and Operacion Puerto, plus many suspect athletes. What he did here was essential and in public, that he had said that Bekele wasn't able to prepare properly with his family and businesses, so that he got him fit and healthy, and with better habits, even though it wasn't at altitude, and then he still had his stint back at 7k and up to 10-11k altitude in Ethiopia for three months to do this. What they could do next time is have him train with Kipchoge in Kenya! No nonsense there and plenty of sleep.

You clearly don't know about the dynamics of the relationship between the Ethiopian and Kenyan runners that has existed for almost 30 years.

dunes runner wrote:

Injera powered wrote:

Why skip the Olympics with a head to head battle with EK to chase a time? That would be silly.

I'd rather have the world records.

Medals are temporary. Records are permanent.

He can always say he held the world records, maybe for quite a long time.

Huh? You have that backwards.

Sampo wrote:

Herman must be given a LOT of credit for this. Bekele owes this one to Herman 100%

I understand what you are trying to say, but it's hard to give 100% of success to someone who didn't run a single step of his mileage and training.

really? I think he wants that record but I think his main goal is another Olympic gold from everything I've read

yes, what i took from the Amharic interview is that he wants the record. He knows he has it in him. Of course he would love another Olympic gold and he would have a chance if the federation does not mess him about. They have done that in the past and he seems not to trust them. If you remember when he run the half marathon v Haile and Mo, he was in good form but the federation did not select him for the championship. He was disappointed then i think. Hope Tulu sorts them out and he can qualify. As long as he stays healthy, i think he has the motivation.

Bekele was 6 seconds slower than the WR when it was 2:03, 2 seconds slower at 2:01:40, so by my math he won't break the WR until it's sub-2:01. Divide by pi, carry the one... Basically we need to root for Eliud to run 2:00:40 and then I think Bekele will have a chance at 2:00:39.