One other observation. I believe that we can all admit that one race distance means nothing when comparing it to another. In other words his half marathon means that we have no idea of his capabilities for a 10k or a marathon. It only means that he ran one hell of a half marathon.
Speculation is stupid wrote:
One other observation. I believe that we can all admit that one race distance means nothing when comparing it to another. In other words his half marathon means that we have no idea of his capabilities for a 10k or a marathon. It only means that he ran one hell of a half marathon.
...and at least his GRR performance will temporarily halt the talk of 12:45 & 26:50 that many seemed to guarantee after his half.
i am not trying to be funny but i am a little bit worried, looking at his previous performances!
Haile ran flat out for a sub 59mns with pace makers(and he looks like he was going to die!), and that guy is running not much slower, without pace maker, no one around him waving at the crowd with ease! If you look at the video of his finish you will see that he even manage to lift his mum(i think)of the ground!! after a sub 60!!!!!
Haile will have struggle to pick up a packet of peanuts after that!!
Funny?
midwesta wrote:
It'd be interesting to read the rest of his interview and not just that quote. In any case, looking at how Hall has been running the past year, I think you guys need to relax, and I sincerely hope he runs well at London to make Flagpole look like an idiot. To make these sweeping generalizations off of one quote from one race is unbelievable.
I was thinking the same thing. I've seen people interviewed and then read the article later; reporters write waht sounds good. THey take liberties with twisting quotes; its part of the game. Also the point made about having run the course before helping is very true. I knocked two minutes off the second time I ran it. The turns and second bridge can through you off the first time. FP said Meb hasn't thown down a comparable half. Last august he ran the NYC half in about 61:20 and that was very hilly and his first half in boston was 63. People grossly underestimated Meb based on his rough half in Houston.
Lawn Boy wrote:
...and at least his GRR performance will temporarily halt the talk of 12:45 & 26:50 that many seemed to guarantee after his half.
And I repeat... Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein will NEVER break 13:00 or 27:00. NEVERRRRRRRRR. I can't believe people suggest these two have the potential to go sub-12:50. They do NOT. They should both excel at the longer distances in time, though Ritz cannot seem to stay injury free. He needs to get in the pool one day a week year around in lieu of a recovery run.
I love the certainty that you have- It must be nice to go through life with no doubts- you know things are facts and that's that.
Of course you have the odds with you- very few people do break those marks, it's pretty hard to do, so you can safely say that about all elite male distance runners and be correct 99+% of the time. Very impressive. I bow down to your superior runner handicapping skills.
Of course to actually know that this won't happen is impossible, unless you're privvy to the knowledge that both are retiring today and won't run again ever. Otherwise, you have no clue, which is what is great about our sport. People can have monster races followed by dnf's. They can be dominant for years and retire on top. They can run great times but never win the big one. But no one knows what's going to happen in the next race, and the unknown is part of the allure.
Or of course you can try to analyze what is transcribed by a reporter post-race (someone who probably could give a rats ass about running 364 days of the year and may not be getting the quote right) and then pretend you know everything about the guys attitude- that would be FP Willy. Another example of the sometimes right, never in doubt school of this board.
Never said it was a particularly sagacious prediction, bub. I'm merely refuting those who were convinced it was a slam dunk. As far as I'm concerned, Webb is the only young US runner currently with the raw foot speed to approach a sub-12:50 someday. Breaking 13 and 27 is just not as simple as people would like to think, despite the fact that the Africans seem to do it with ease.
So God gets out of bed in the morning and checks his todo list.
1. Create another Universe
2. Save mankind
3. Pick the winner of Jacksonville 15k.
Man...anyone else here think its kinda weird that everyone seems to know what hall did wrong...except hall??
i really dont know how anyone here could comment agreat deal on paceing...when he is running that fast..certainly not from experiance
Just because he wasn't excited doesn't mean he didn't give it his all or race hard. He made up some ground at the end. I don't think not being excited makes you a loser or a wuss. He's just being candid. He wanted to run 4:30 pace, realized it wasn't his day after 1 mile (feeling tired after 1 mile at that pace is a pretty good hint you won't hold on for another 8 and a half) and lost his excitement. He still raced hard.
He's human. FPW is laying it on pretty heavy for one quote from a reporter.
This is maybe the most reasonable remark made so far in this thread. Excitement certainly does not equal the will to keep pressing on as hard as possible. How many marathoners, for example, would call themselves "excited" in the last 10k of a PR effort? But to get that PR, they usually are giving it every last ounce of effort they have....
twice a runner wrote:
Just because he wasn't excited doesn't mean he didn't give it his all or race hard. He made up some ground at the end. I don't think not being excited makes you a loser or a wuss. He's just being candid. He wanted to run 4:30 pace, realized it wasn't his day after 1 mile (feeling tired after 1 mile at that pace is a pretty good hint you won't hold on for another 8 and a half) and lost his excitement. He still raced hard.
He's human. FPW is laying it on pretty heavy for one quote from a reporter.
twice a runner wrote:
He's human. FPW is laying it on pretty heavy for one quote from a reporter.
The reporter didn't make the quote. Ryan Hall did.
To paraphrase -- I wasn't hitting the aggressive splits I wanted to by mile 2, so I just wasn't excited about being there anymore. You've got to have excitement or you can't do well.
Man, talk about doom and gloom for this guy then. If you can't get excited about running in a race like that after coming off an incredible half marathon time and racing an Olympic silver medalist, then I don't know what to tell you. Go work in a pet store or something. Basically he said, "it was getting hard, so I quit."
Sometimes it just isn't there. I FULLY understand that. That's what he should have said...not this garbage about not being excited. It is defeatist talk. He'd better think it's a big deal. Maybe he didn't know that deep down he felt that way. He'd better find a way to change his attitude or it's "one of the better American runners" for him when he's all done instead of "one of America's best ever" or even "one of the world's best".
Those of you who think that statement of his was really no big deal don't fully understand what it was he said there -- at least in my opinion you don't. HUGE deal what he said. HUGELY telling about his mental approach to racing. HUGE hole digging.
This video was pretty good. Thanks
"The strategy was to run hard at a 4:30 pace. I had that for the first mile, but I didn't feel comfortable. I just didn't have it. Once we were off pace, I really wasn't excited out there. No one runs well when you're not excited.
"I was faster in my half-marathon than the record here. If you can run that pace for 13 miles, than you would think you should be able to run it for nine."
Translation: (in my opinion) "I came here to get the record. After a mile, I realized I wouldn't, so I 'cruised' on in."
He wanted the record - not just the win. He only lost to Meb by 15 seconds on a day he wasn't feeling it. Not too bad, I say.
FPW is just sensationalizing the comment to fulfill his internal sports reporter's desire to create drama where there is none.
You worte "The reporter didn't make the quote. Ryan Hall did."
Ever been quoted by a paper? Or been present at an interview and then seen the written version so you had first hand knolwedge of whether it was accurate or not? I've seen plenty of examples where the words that came out didn't end up on the page in the same form. so to jump on a guy based on one newspaper quote is pretty reactionary in my opinion.
As mentioned by others above, even if he is being quoted verbatim- who cares? You think this shows how mentally weak he is- I will take his performance over some supposed quote. Running a strong second and eating into an olympic silver medalist's lead is hardly what I call mentally weak. You might have an argument if he dnf'ed, if he jogged it in, or actually said "I gave up out there." But a guy is quoted as "not being excited" and you now know his innermost strengths and weaknesses?!? Man you are full of yourself.
Why do people keep talking about Meb being an Olympic Silver medalist like that has anything to do with a 15k? THE 15K IS NOT AN OLYMPIC EVENT. Meb was a medalist in the marathon. If you think that the marathon and the 15k have anything in common check with Todd Williams.
Because an olympic silver medal, in most any distance, is a pretty good surrogate marker of 1) talent 2) ability to perform under pressure 3) ability to take on the best in the world and beat almost everyone 4) train intelligently to peak for a big race.
Can you think of anything else (other than a gold) that is as good a marker of all those things?
Thanks for the hint on the 15k not being an olympic event, I'll now stop my exhaustive search for previous olympic champions...
It's pretty typical for Flagpole to be crushing on someone whose last name doesn't rhyme with "zits". But underlying everything is a lack of compassion for the guy on a human level. Hall admitted it wasn't his day yesterday. That his plans went askew. So he goes back to the drawing board, makes a few recalibrations and races again. Beating up on the guy for being honest (and possibly being quoted out of context) is hardly anything to puff yourself up over, Flagpole. And the amount of Flagpole puffing today is enough to provide wind energy to sustain a medium-sized town. The real "wuss" in the equation is you. Hall took his shot yesterday and now your little pea-shooter brain is taking shots. Way to go big guy.
I'm guessing it wasn't the pressure of the hype, but just a letdown after such a huge, talked about achievement. Hall WAS track & field for a while. After that, running a bit slow in the next race was "unexciting" as he said.
yeah ive pointed out that all american runners care about is PR's and been ripped before...so i guess im just not at all supriced by Hall's comments..
lets not forget...they dont owe us anything...so you know if he wants to get pissed everytme he cant run a PR..whatever..im pulling for Mo farah in kenya..and i could care less what happens to hall or ritz..or whoever.