With Jakob's insane list of PRs from 1500 thru 5000m, hard to say he should change anything. Appears to be working. Could try tweaking the training very slightly.
"Insane prs" don't stop him from being beaten in the big md races.
This is 100% correct. I would add that he's given his competitors a further gift in championship races of his predictability. I guarantee that all the top 1500m runners in the world right now looking forward to the final in Tokyo next year are training and preparing for following someone at 3:28 pace for 1400m and then kicking. There are too many guys capable of doing that and Jakob just doesn't have the fitness gap over them to run away from all of them.
The fact that it was THREE in Paris just means that they've got him figured out now. If he does the same thing again, it'll be the same result again.
By the way, if it's so 'honourable' to front-run the 1500m, why isn't it honourable to do the same in the 5000m?
Jakob is generally coming right back from hard rounds in the 1500 when he races the 5k, while most of his opponents are rested or at least have had a week to recover from the 10k. But we know you (Armstronglivs under another moniker) are already aware of this.
I ask this having no idea how much speed work he does or doesn’t do. However, I have 3 observations:
1) He seems to have a soft spot for the 1500 and runs it often. I think he wants to be known as the best 1500 runner ever.
2) He is a time trial machine, and imho far and away the best in the world in a rabbited 1500
3) He is almost always beaten in world championship 1500s due to his lack of kick. 2021 Olympics were an exception due to the hot pace set by someone else.
4) As far as I’m aware, he hasn’t run any races shorter than 1500 in the past 4 or 5 years.
Should he do a training cycle or two focused on 800 or even 400 training? I feel like his aerobic base is so huge that he wouldn’t lose much in a few months of 800 training. He could even break up the shorter distance training with a week or two of aerobic training to touch back on his strength if needed. I feel like if he became a 1:43-1:44 800 guy he’d be unbeatable over 1500.
If I was ingebritsen and wanted to add the last tool to my 1500 toolbox I’d definitely be thinking about something like this.
I dont think he needs to.His kick is plenty fine,and it got him an olympic 5000 meter gold medal.
That's the point. It isn't good enough now for the 1500.
what's your evidence for coe having 45 400m capability? his relay splits? Coe ran 46.8 FAT which is great speed for a 800/1500 runner but a far cry from the 45 capability you claim.
Why do you feel a need to lie/exaggerate? 46 mid speed is still a great thing to mention.
45-mid in a relay (while tripping at the start) is pretty damn good for an 800/1500 runner. The 400 wasn't an event Coe trained for either. Neither El G, Lagat or Ingebrigtsen would have been able to get anywhere near that.
Kerr ran downhill and didn't go out in 27:30. If Jakob was going for, say, a sub-1 hr half, he wouldn't have gone out with the leaders in 27:30.
I think he thought he could be competitive and go with the leaders. He couldn't. He was done at 10k. He essentially over-estimated his abilities - as his fans routinely do. I don't think he could have run sub-1 hr.
Kerr ran downhill and didn't go out in 27:30. If Jakob was going for, say, a sub-1 hr half, he wouldn't have gone out with the leaders in 27:30.
I think he thought he could be competitive and go with the leaders. He couldn't. He was done at 10k. He essentially over-estimated his abilities - as his fans routinely do. I don't think he could have run sub-1 hr.
Having to change pace and strategy during a race is something that people like Kipchoge and Bekele would never do. It is unheard of!
Kerr ran downhill and didn't go out in 27:30. If Jakob was going for, say, a sub-1 hr half, he wouldn't have gone out with the leaders in 27:30.
I think he thought he could be competitive and go with the leaders. He couldn't. He was done at 10k. He essentially over-estimated his abilities - as his fans routinely do. I don't think he could have run sub-1 hr.
He had just come off a season of basically 1500m races. You are such a disingenuous raging loom that it’s hilarious. As others have pointed out, you really went over the deep end once Jakob got married. You are obviously pining for something from Jakob (and other guys) you’ll never get. It’s almost pitiful seeing a wretched old man go out this way. You must present myriad problems for the nursing home staff.
I don't think he would have gotten this far if he LACKED speed work. The guy does not run his races accurately. His 400m speed is likely around 47 and most 5k runners ( east African ) have around 48-49 400m speed. This is why Jakob runs with less effort in the 5k because he does not have to run at 95% compared to his Kenyans and east africans counterparts who have to run near their all out effort. Why do you think Mo worked on this 400m speed ? he was a terrible finisher and a lacked the strength to finish a race.
I skimmed the posts. Jakob races so many times per year. If he saved everything for championship races, he would never lose. He will hold nearly every world record when he retires. But a few people will point to his losses.
I do think Jakob could benefit from speed work. With the caveat that I'm a hack and that I have my own definition of speed work.
Distance runners conventionally define speed work as hard repeats of 200m or something. A sprinter would never call that speed work, because you can't actually sprint repeat 200M. It feels like a sprint to a distance runner but it isn't a true sprint. No one in the world can go TRUE full gas for even 100M. (even 100M sprinters pace their races)
I think Jakob could really benefit from working with a sprint coach to work on his top end speed and form. He's got all the fitness he needs. He just needs to develop his technique. This will give him a higher speed reserve and make running at top speed easier.
Lots of wickets, speed drills, over speeds and video analysis might get him another 1-2M of separation in a finishing straight in a championship final. I'm talking about 5-10% of the speed work/drills a sprinter might do. Just enough to maintain and develop the skill of top speed sprinting but not trash the legs.
True sprint work is incredibly taxing of the nervous system and needs to be introduced judiciously into a distance runners program. But I think it's the last stone unturned for his program.
I did a bit of digging to see the finishing splits of the big 4, in all their sub-3:30 races (Minus two of Jakob's races, which I which unable to find the splits for) and found the following (Time + final 400m and final 100m splits included):
Cole Hocker
3:27.65 (53.3, 13.0)
3:29.85 (56.1, 14.5)
Josh Kerr:
3:27.79 (53.9, 13.2)
3:29.05 (54.1, 13.6)
3:29.38 (53.4, 13.62)
3:29.64 (55.4, 13.9)
Yared Nuguse:
3:27.80 (53.7, 13.0)
3:29.02 (55.2, 13.6)
3:29.13 (55.7, 14.0)
3:29.21 (55.1, 13.1)
Jakob Ingebrigtsen
3:26.73 (54.0, 13.4)
3:27.14 (54.0, 13.3)
3:27.83 (54.5, 13.3)
3:27.95 (54.7, 13.4)
3:28.24 (54.7, 13.8)
3:28.32 (54.4, 13.6)
3:28.72 (54.7, 13.3)
3:29.02 (54.86,13.6)
3:29.05 (55.10, 13.8 )
3:29.47 (55.24,13.78)
3:29.52 (55.6, 13.5)
3:29.65 (53.76, 13.91)
3:29.74 (54.9, 13.4)
(If any of these are wrong, please let me know)
We can't know what Tokyo 2025 will bring, but the last five championships have been won in sub-3:30, so it's not that unlikely that that will be the case this year too.
(I didn't find the splits for Jakob's 3:28.68 (Monaco 2020, his final lap was like 54.7ish) and 3:29.25 (Monaco 2021). I also noticed that Jakob had a final 100m of 12.9 in Brussels 2024 (3:30.37, final lap was 54.2))
I would love to know Hicham El Guerrouj's final 100m for his fastest races, and his championships races (His final 400m and final 300m splits are mostly available for these races, but none of the other splits (or at least not that I know of))
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