A similar analogy for me is baseball. In 1998 when McGwire and Sosa were chasing the single seaon HR record, the entire country was watching. It was exciting and dramatic. Three years later when Bonds broke the record with 71 HRs nobody really cared. Even though McGwire and Sosa were doping, Bonds performance was so over the top that no one believe it was real.
You know the shoes are not so much new technology that wasn't there in the past. I was forbidden.
There where rules and they amended the rules to allow this shoes:
World Athletics, formerly IAAF, has specific rules regarding athletic shoes used in competitions. These rules primarily focus on sole thickness, the presence of plates, and spike length.
Even there is a list which shoes you can or cannot use. Then 1 day you are beaten by a lesser runner who would pay for this ugly shoes that don't even less long.
I think this is a mistake the running media is making right now. I can understand why young runners are really excited by all the record breaking going on. To them, it looks like they're witnessing a running revolution. Their generation is the greatest ever and tons of exciting talent is coming up in the sport etc. However, much like the shine of Mcgwire/Sosa wore off by the time Bonds started breaking records, the shine of constant PRs and records is going to wear off in running. The sport should always be about racing and it's short-sighted to sell out so hard on times and records like they have lately.
When I was most into the sport, I was interested to watch Galen in the DL to see his form going into Worlds/Olympics. The same for the early races leading up to USAs. Can Centro and Manzano turn things around in time to make the team? Can x college star keep it together long enough to make the team? I didn't expect any of them to set records or even to PR in May/June. Now it's just a parade of PRs. Athletes seem to be in peak condition in February and maintain it through September. It has become difficult to differentiate athletes in my mind because it feels like they're all just constantly knocking it out of the park. Nico Young runs 12:45, a few days later a guy from Sweden runs 12:44, 17 high schoolers set records in one weekend (amazing how none of them can touch Alan Webb even with the shoes! Seriously incredible).
At least for me, there isn't any drama left in the sport. The expected (or better) happens way more often than it used to.
I personally find it more exciting than ever to be a fan of pro running.
Yeah there have been an assault on the record books, but at the same time it feels more competitive than ever. We are getting twists in the season's storyline on a weekly basis. This was never true in the past.
i've read hundreds of books on training from my coach's massive library and pass it on. i had a whole year to train and read.
with the mentorship, the analysis part is very easy, the training blocks, the effect, peaking, interval, lydiard, etc. etc.
the PEDs are interesting, with every bust, you can look up what they're taking, and see the toxicity, and usefulness say for elderly, testoserone replacement therapy came from that.
epo should be used for kidney disease at this point, perhaps, etc. etc.
i am not recommending anything here.
at the end of the day, i look at the whole sport as an experiment in genetics, training methods, drugs, diet. hacks.
that's what it is.
running itself, done as pleasure, in a jungle or forest , beach, is a wonderful thing to do.
You are on an elite type of site. It appears that you have some sort of interest in elite running. As far as the running shoes, should have Gerry Lindgren and Jim Ryun boycotted running 30 years after, as I am sure the Nike Zoom D was much faster than the shoes they wore?
I say let’s all just be cool and not persuade fans of un supporting the sport that allows this website to thrive.
With peds and bouncy shoes, it's as fake as pro wrestling.
Bouncy shoes are legal. Times and technology have always advanced -- there was never a moment where the times of the present could be compared to the times of the past in an apples to apples comparison.
PEDs are just a myth that spilled over from other sports, artificially propped up by bad journalism, bad science, and bad law.
It's unfortunate for the sport and the athletes that so many fans have uncritically fallen for such myths, holding themselves to low standards, to the point where it has ruined their enjoyment of a sport they were interested in enough to start a thread on.
Some of us have little or no interest in the commercial sports franchises that you mention, for a host of reasons. To me, only one sport has ever been as captivating as track and field, from the sprints to the marathon, and the field events. (Ok, I don’t get race walking.) All human sport is constructed and in some sense arbitrary, but compared with track, the other sports pale in comparison because the way in which they are constructed requires the fans to accept what is to my mind way too much bullsh1t, from the stupid tribalism of “local teams” that in no way represent the regions where they are located, to records and statistics and team rosters that are jiggered with and orchestrated behind the scenes to a great degree. They might as well be professional wrestling. Even with PED, Track and field was far less at the mercy of such smoke and mirrors—in my opinion. But with the new shoes, the focus on time over racing, the sport has become less a competition between humans than an exercise in collaboration between technology and the body. I don’t care that Cheptegei can follow a light wearing shoes that make his stride look like he’s on a tempo run. I’d rather see Moorcroft run 13:00 on his own, or Gebreselassie clipping the heels of pacemakers who couldn’t hack the tempo, and then see if he can salvage the record attempt. (Yes, Geb may or may not have been doped—we will never know.) I’d even rather see a tactical race. Anything but the scene that we now have. I could have enjoyed a mile race where most of the field broke 3:50 if it came primarily through advances in training and more talent at the fine tip of the athletic pool—but that’s not why. It’s the shoes, by in large. It’s just not compelling to some of us, and that sucks because it used to be a beautiful thing. Personally, I have thought for a while that some shift in technology would ruin the sport, but I expected the sport itself to challenge it for longer. Instead they have opened the gates wide. The point of sports is not to overdetermine it to the point of sterility. Just my ten cents. I am genuinely pleased for those who still find it exciting. I just can’t myself.
Serious question: Did you enjoy the men's 1500 meters from last year's Olympics?
Honestly can’t even remember most of that race at this point. And I’m semi into track. Let alone the average person out there. They only remember Simone Biles from gymnastics.
PEDS, or at least grey area doping, are prevalent in every sport.
Same thing goes for improvements to equipment in line with modern technology. Any sport with a bat, racket or club is different now to what it was 20 years ago. Swimsuits, sticky NFL gloves, bikes, balls, clothing, shoes, all these things are constantly advancing to increase performance.
I was never a fan. Running is a participation sport, not a spectator sport. I also have no respect for any sport that allows the Olympics to control their biggest event. You don't see soccer letting the Olympics be a bigger event than the World Cup or Federation championships.