I say they have done a great job together. Many of these high school heroes flame out in college. He’s been healthy and consistent.
Winning NCAA cross is possibly the hardest thing to do in college track/xc due to the depth of talent and needing to have it perfect on an xc course. It also takes a unique skill set.
I imagine he will continue to progress but others will continue to catch up and pass him.
Winning NCAA cross is possibly the hardest thing to do in college track/xc due to the depth of talent and needing to have it perfect on an xc course.
This. Winning an NCAA XC title is exceptionally difficult. Sometimes someone is just better than you. Sometimes you have an off day. Sometimes things just don't work out. It doesn't always have to be someone's fault.
You are WRONG. Nico absolutely trained harder than other elite high school runners and it is going to hurt his long term potential.
It takes a toll on your body. There's a reason why most high school sub 4 milers have really bad long term careers. Meanwhile you have slower guys like Centro, Hocker, and Nuguse that use amazing careers because they weren't burned out.
Can you provide some examples of how hard Nico trained in HS? I’ve read he ran about 65mpw and certainly other runners have far more than that.
You didn’t respond to my question as to how he managed a big jump to 13:11, 2 years later.
Watch more workout videos here: http://bit.ly/2P92LQrThis workout was filmed with Nico Young in late August at Peppertree Park just down the street from Newb...
Hear me out. Nico Young has had a tremendous NCAA career. Numerous All American honors, all kinds of XC team titles, and fantastic PRs, but wasn’t that always going to be the case with Nico? One of the greatest HS runners of all time, and while a great college career is never a given, it was all but certain that Nico would do this at the next level. When he took 4th his Freshman year (albeit a COVID year) the only logical next step for was for him to win an individual title. Yet he failed to advance out of track regionals and came a disappointing 11th the following year in cross. Since then he has taken 2nd and now 6th in cross and has come no higher than 3rd indoors or outdoors on the track. Mike Smith is believed by many to be one of the best coaches in the world, and I do think he’s tremendous, but has he underachieved with Nico? Or has it simply been a case of there always being a couple guys better than him.
Letsrun expects every great high school runner to have the same phenomenal upward trajectory for the rest of their life. That’s obnoxious. Nico Young is probably not NCAA champion caliber and probably not an Olympian, just a very good runner in a time of many other very good runners. Plus, he might find being a pro works out for him and can string some good results together. We’ll see. He’s not Ritzenhein or anything.
But, dude has run 3:37 1500m, 3:56 mile, 13:11 (which is the fastest 5000m ever run by an American teenager and the 3rd fastest outdoor 5000m in collegiate history.), and 28:01.
Has Mike Smith failed Nico Young? If Nico & Colin signed up for a team that only strives for team victories then no. However, with their High School success a coach who isn’t sculpting a strategy for individual championships has a huge black eye.
- Colin you didn’t even make the team to run in the NCAA championship as a sophomore. That is truly unbelievable. - Nico you just got beat twice by a guy who trains at sea level. - NAU does a great job of developing good runners into very good runners, exceptional high schoolers are put in the same mold and progress minimally. - Winning feeds winning as you know, stagnation is the beginning of the end. - When your coach does interview with sun glasses on & a new accent, your next decision should be easier.
7x1k on a hard XC loop (even Brosnan called it very challenging and hilly) averaging 2:48......IN AUGUST.
He looked like he was going 100% effort the whole time.
A little over 4 miles in intervals is not out of the ordinary. It would be about the same effort for a 9:00 guy to run them in 3:00.
He's doing 7x1k at 8:56 pace on a cross country course. It's at least 7-10 seconds slower than if he were spiked up on a track. That means he's doing 7000 meters at faster than his 3200m PR pace....a month before his first XC race of the year. That's way too hard, way too early in the season.
Imagine how hard his workouts must have been in October once the intensity starts to increase!
A little over 4 miles in intervals is not out of the ordinary. It would be about the same effort for a 9:00 guy to run them in 3:00.
He's doing 7x1k at 8:56 pace on a cross country course. It's at least 7-10 seconds slower than if he were spiked up on a track. That means he's doing 7000 meters at faster than his 3200m PR pace....a month before his first XC race of the year. That's way too hard, way too early in the season.
Imagine how hard his workouts must have been in October once the intensity starts to increase!
You’re making the case that he can train at 110%, but he can’t and you’re insulting other elite HS runners.
A little over 4 miles in intervals is not out of the ordinary. It would be about the same effort for a 9:00 guy to run them in 3:00.
He's doing 7x1k at 8:56 pace on a cross country course. It's at least 7-10 seconds slower than if he were spiked up on a track. That means he's doing 7000 meters at faster than his 3200m PR pace....a month before his first XC race of the year. That's way too hard, way too early in the season.
Imagine how hard his workouts must have been in October once the intensity starts to increase!
Since when is that workout at faster than this 3200 race pace? Nico ran 8:40 for 3200 meters.
7x1k on a hard XC loop (even Brosnan called it very challenging and hilly) averaging 2:48......IN AUGUST.
He looked like he was going 100% effort the whole time.
I've run at the park that they were doing that workout, the course is not very hilly and is entirely dirt and cement and asphalt (at least the part they are running on). It's a very gradual uphill for the first 80% with a tiny dip for a sewer and then a steep downhill near the end.
Not exactly a track, but his paces are still insane for a flat XC course.
He's doing 7x1k at 8:56 pace on a cross country course. It's at least 7-10 seconds slower than if he were spiked up on a track. That means he's doing 7000 meters at faster than his 3200m PR pace....a month before his first XC race of the year. That's way too hard, way too early in the season.
Imagine how hard his workouts must have been in October once the intensity starts to increase!
Since when is that workout at faster than this 3200 race pace? Nico ran 8:40 for 3200 meters.
Nico ran 8:40 on a TRACK in spikes. That's 65 per 400, or 2:42.5 per 1000m.
His 1000m repeats were NOT on a track, they were on a loop that Brosnan said was pretty difficult. On that loop, Nico would not be able to run 8:40 because it is a lot harder than a track. This was in 2019 without carbon fiber shoes. It was also in August so he's not in his peak fitness.
A 8:40 guy for 3200 is probably in around 9:00 track 3200 shape in August in the beginning of an XC season. Maybe on that day Nico can run 9:15 all out effort on an XC course, and that's pretty generous.
That means he was going about 20 seconds faster than his race pace for that day.
Since when is that workout at faster than this 3200 race pace? Nico ran 8:40 for 3200 meters.
Nico ran 8:40 on a TRACK in spikes. That's 65 per 400, or 2:42.5 per 1000m.
His 1000m repeats were NOT on a track, they were on a loop that Brosnan said was pretty difficult. On that loop, Nico would not be able to run 8:40 because it is a lot harder than a track. This was in 2019 without carbon fiber shoes. It was also in August so he's not in his peak fitness.
A 8:40 guy for 3200 is probably in around 9:00 track 3200 shape in August in the beginning of an XC season. Maybe on that day Nico can run 9:15 all out effort on an XC course, and that's pretty generous.
That means he was going about 20 seconds faster than his race pace for that day.
Nico destroyed everyone that entire season including NXN. I think his coach knew what he was doing. Thank the lord you didn’t coach Nico and he had and has Brosnan and Smith.
