What was so gutsy? She was running 15:00 pace for the first 4000 meters and only ran 3 seconds faster over the last 1000. No elite runner is going to get burned by that. If Monson was in the race you would've seen her leading with a 14:30 pace.
What else is Valby going to do? She goes out slower and she still isn't going to be able to pick it up much more over the last 800-400m and she was running a PR pace, so she couldn't have gone faster (so didn't have the 14:30 Monson pace option).
She doesn't have the pace to go out slower and wind it up from halfway - if she does that, she's probably still not going to run that second half much quicker than she did today.
Forgetting about world level - the top Africans - as I don't think she's getting there at the 5000m and 10000m, Valby's best option is either to develop some speed (which seems unlikely given her form and her training limitations) or to continue to develop her aerobic capacity so she can run domestic opponents into the ground. I think she has a chance to do the second, and if she could stay healthy being very good gong longer
It was not a gutsy race. It was just her typical slow front running that worked against collegians but not against top tier US runners. I'm thinking they could've taken the lead a lot earlier than they did and beat her by 20 seconds.
The men's 400 is Quincy mania. Quincy Hall in 3rd Place and on the team; Quincy Wilson, the baby-faced high schooler who is most likely going to Paris as part of the relay pool; and Quincy Watts - former Olympic 400 champ and coach of Michael Norman, Paris 400 team member and one of the favorites.
are you sure? I thought she was running 14:50 pace for 4000 meters. Which was PR pace for her of course, which takes guts.
anyway, as a collegian she went and took it out against the pros in the national championship, made the race fast, took it out at meet record pace, got a PR, got an olympic standard, and might still go to paris.
Best part was when she got passed she didn't fold up - she kept fighting. That's what will make her a champion.
and yeah, as Trollminator wrote, she ran the legs off all but 3 of the best americans at 5000. And if she hadn't made the race fast she would probabaly have been outkicked by more than three people. And now she has a chance at Paris.
If Valby's race was gutsy she would've tried to run 14:35 pace that's the only way she would've made the team.
Some of you guys just don't get it. Valby had no shot at finishing top 3 no matter how she ran the race. Her best chance to make the team was to finish in 4th and hope that one of the top 3 women chooses another event.
If Valby had tried your stupid idea and went out at 14:35 pace she would have died and finished much worse than 4th. And then she would have had zero chance of making the team. Good thing you aren't her coach.
Valby made a fan out of me with that one - what an amazingly gutsy run to get the standard. The best part was when she got passed she kept fighting - she's absolutely nails. Will be a great champion.
She got walked the last 400 after naively thinking she could run the legs out of the top pros like they were college kids. It was a nice consolation to get the standard though.
Valby never thought that. You just have a wild, and incorrect, imagination.
Really up to Mu where she wants to go from hear. Sh*t happens. Regroup, maybe get a new coach. World Championships will be soon enough and then another WC and then an Olympics on home soil. She's not too old at all to come back and reestablish herself. It's terrible, but so be it - terrible things happen. Not quite as "tragic" as lots of people are making it out to be. Not race tough; and as always with the long stride and risk of being in the pack.
The men's 400 is Quincy mania. Quincy Hall in 3rd Place and on the team; Quincy Wilson, the baby-faced high schooler who is most likely going to Paris as part of the relay pool; and Quincy Watts - former Olympic 400 champ and coach of Michael Norman, Paris 400 team member and one of the favorites.
First of all that was the best crowd I can remember energy-wise at Hayward - at least in the new stadium. It was a lot cooler today so it was bearable to sit on the Eastern side and the crowd during the 1500m and 5000m in particular was just incredible.
Then to the womens 800. I was sitting halfway down the back straight and as soon as I saw the legs tangle I thought to myself "it's Mu". A split second later she was on the track and it was clear that not only was she simply out of this race, that she was out of Paris too. So the race plays out and she jogs progressively slower in the final lap which is understandable. She crossed the line and I swear the whole crowd stood there almost silent waiting to see what would happen. Even when she walked off the track and through the tunnel and everyone kind of stood there looking at each other for what seemed like an eternity wondering if they were going to immediately re-run it or something. There was more near silence waiting to see what would happen even though the reality was nothing was going to happen. What good does a DQ do now - especially when the replay came up and it was instantly clear why this had happened?
It was just bizarre and stunning at the same time. It's still hard now to believe it played out like that even though it's kind of a miracle that these things don't happen more, especially in the 8 and 1500's.
Still incredible to think about even 3+ hours on.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
Flipping between NBC and ABC game 7 of NHL. The energy is not even in the same universe. Oh well 1500 here we come
Well, for once there were enough people in HF that it drowned out most of the NBC commentors, forcing a reliance on CC, which took up half the screen. At least Snoop Godd was nowhere to be seen. That is one experiment there is no need to repeat.
She had no chance at beating those three tonight. They are all proven 4.00 1500m runners or faster. She has yet to prove that capability. 10000m probably her better event unless (or until) she develops a better sprint finish. But good for her for going for it and getting the standard in case one of those three drops the event (more likely ESP).
I don’t think she’ll ever develop the kick. If anything, the speed aspect is what the cross training regime will hurt most. You can get as much aerobic fitness or more, but you can’t replace what just running more does for your economy. Good running economy = late race speed
14:30 runner Amin a 14:50 race equals late speed…..
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