Nice Alan Webb Profile in Washington Post: He's Trying to Get into Trials in 5000

I have to agree with ttc on the absurd posts about how webb is an over-the-top neurotic when it comes to running. I am not 100% but I'm sure even malmo and zatopek never had webb's ability and that they would gladly trade what they had for what webb has and would be all to happy to count the friggin raindrops if necessary to obtain that talent and level of commitment. you older and pro runners should be ashamed for bashing webb like your some sort of psychiatrist who has worked with webb or similiar athletes as your career. support the guy. he wants to run well and is busting his arse to do so, so quit bashing what you don't know.

I'm definitely in support of letting Webb run the 5k at Trials. Just having him at the start line would add a level of complexity that would generate a significant amount of buzz.

Part of what makes this sport hard to love are all the rules. Uniforms, advertisements, qualification standards, etc.

Having standards should always be 90% of the battle but a little human interest story above and beyond those standards would generate a lot more interest in the sport.

USATF should hurry up and annouce that Webb's in the 5k and this board and others would blow up...I see that as a good thing.

Alan, I'm a fan. Not a fan-boy, just a fan. But you're deluding yourself when you say the following:

“If Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant could only win once every four years, they wouldn’t have five or six titles,” he said. “It’s like, I’ve done really well, I had a great year in ’07, ’05 and even ’04. But it’s like, if you miss one little cycle, it’s all magnified, and everybody thinks you’re horrible.”

Hmmmmm. It's been five years since your last "great year" by YOUR estimation. Is five years really "one little cycle"?

How about a seemingly unending string of bad races and sub-par performances?

I don't hate you or lack respect for you. In fact, it seems as though you've found yourself and found happiness in a family way, and that's huge. Time to celebrate! I'm not being facetious.

But you're whistling in the dark when you refuse to call a spade a spade. I'm sure it's all in the head--but then again, who knows where "it" is?

I wish you well. I hope you solve the riddle and access your greatness all over again.

But is self-delusion really the way to do that? If the problem were "one little cycle," you wouldn't have a problem.

Good luck! Some of us really mean that.

In fact, you know what? I hope you get incredibly pissed off at folks like me and folks who aren't nearly as reasonable and well-meaning as I am.

I hope you get into the 5000 at the Trials. I hope you walk onto that track in a fire-breathing fury. I hope you show every last doubter.

I hope your performance is one huge F You to the doubters.

I hope you surprise everybody. I hope you make us all stand up in front of our TVs and computer screens, yelling at the screen.

I hope we're all forced to go "Holy s--t! Fing Webb just did it. He finally did it."

I hope you destroy everybody you're not supposed to destroy in this particular trials.

I hope you skew the whole platter sideways and dump the red-sauced pasta on the ground.

Do it.

The wrath of the Webb. Achilles has nothing on you. I hope you're blessed with the most monumental jet-powered wrath as you step on the track.

Full power to the turbines.

Strangle the mongoose.

Kill the chicken.

Incinerate the lamprey.

Jim Carrey: "Ssssssssssssssssssssmokin'!

May the wind be at your back.

Zat0pek wrote:

I cannot imagine a guy treating his pregnant wife in the manner described in the article for any reason, let alone over a game of Uno. That kind of volatility is not a laughing matter to me.

Completely agree. One part of being an adult is understanding when to get competitive and when to turn it off. I would be really hesitant about raising kids with this man. First time your son beats you at "Halo," you throw the console across the room?

What are the odds Webb is still married to his current wife in 20 years? I'd say low. His childish antics and neediness might seem entertaining in an Olympic buildup year but they'll be much less welcome at 50.

dean moriarty wrote:

He's not a "headcase" -

WRONG!

From the article,

What’s wrong? It’s not an easy question.

Webb looked at the reporters and tapped his temple with his left index finger.

“It’s just in the head, you know,” he said.

Even Webb knows he's got problems in his head, how can you not see that?

I think there is a good chance that fatherhood will turn Webb into a man. Plenty of guys are grown children into their 30s - he just happens to be more famous.

How come nobody is talking about the 17 pounds he's supposedly lost since Jan (if you can believe that? ) The mystery continues- what did Webb weigh when he ran 3:47, what did he weigh on New Years Day 2012, and what does he weigh now? He's obviously not fat.

Yeah 17 pounds is a ton of weight for an elite distance runner, but it's good to see that he is slimming down again, similar to when he was under Salazar. Was is not good is that he let himself gain that 17 pounds in the first place.

Alan,

Be at the birth of your first child. Forget the trials. That's the problem with this guy, he places success before everything else in his life.

The best life I've ever received was in an arcade in 1991:

"Go home be a family man"

I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet, but damn would I be pissed at my wife if she told a reporter about me throwing a temper tantrum over uno, or waking her up to ask if I was too heavy.

I know how these interviews go and I'm sure she gave lots of other, more supportive quotes that could have been used, but clearly these were the most interesting and would be used in the article. Seems a bit like throwing him under the bus to me.

HHTC wrote:

I know how these interviews go and I'm sure she gave lots of other, more supportive quotes that could have been used, but clearly these were the most interesting and would be used in the article. Seems a bit like throwing him under the bus to me.

She's about to give birth. It's the hormones talking.

bingo the head games he has been playing with us.

So he starts off the year a human weight vest. His workouts designed to deliver the honed powerful sleek runner underneath at the trials.

then

He'll get one of the minor places advancing into the finals.

and

Then in the final race two days later

off like a bat out of a belfrey

everyone just lets him go

and Voila one race

Stolen!!

he played

Elite athletes are almost all "headcases" as I outlined in my post. There are so many other examples - the one I always cite is that Michael Jordan cheated to win a board game with his teammate's GRANDMOTHER when he was in college. Every athlete has struggles and doubts themselves. Webb has been injured, he's tried tactics that didn't work, he's run poorly for reasons he can't understand, he's changed coaches... just like many other runners. Ritz has switched coaches just as many times. Ryan Hall is now coached by God.

Webb is just more honest about his struggles than most, which I appreciate. If others were as open with their self-doubt as Webb was, almost all of our athletes would be so-called "headcases."