WEBB 3:46 (1500m)

and how has webb felt on 400s in 56, or 3x800 or whatever? does that make sense?

Oh, man. I haven't had you in ages. I should get a box.

who said he did any?

ok, maybe he didn't. but who in the top ranks races unless they know they are ready to? who, i ask you?

How about this scenario...

Webb probably knows he's not in top shape and is a little hesistant with his hamstring, so he has a couple choices. First is to train, which many are advocating. Second is to race USATFs, where he know he doesn't have a strong chance of winning. Third is to go to Europe (where he'll be spending most of his summer), jump in a lower-key 1500 as a test of fitness after traveling, and get a couple bucks appearance fee. You could debate all day long about which option is the best, but Webb's handlers believe the Belgium race was the smart choice. Time will tell if they are right.

And sometimes, God forbid, when you're in good shape, you don't run well. Some days, even if you do everything right, you just don't have it. It happens at all levels, from your slowest recreational jogger up to your fastest pro miler. And sometimes it's not a bad idea to try new things (like the Stanford 10,000). Especially when it's not a championship year and there's nothing to lose. The kid is 23 years old, cut him a bit of slack when he doesn't hit a home run every time out.

ok, para 1, i can buy that. para 2, sure - you have some bad races. but the last 3 that webb has raced? is this how 3:48 milers behave? racing when clearly not ready? taking chances when training is obviously the remedy? finishing mid pack when you know you should be up front when all is well? i'm sorry, but this is not how the very best runners and their team should behave.

I actually like the norcalxc post.

The bad two mile race is understandable because that is apparently where something went wrong and he's human.

Pre was one week later and of course he's going to run Pre if he isn't too banged up. That race showed that he is off and needed to regroup.

Dropping out of USATF made sense but I was really surprised to see him entered in that major 5000m race scheduled just two weeks after USATF. This 1500 is apparently incorporated in that effort and he is still just plain off. Let's see if he lines up again soon.

The main thing is to get through this year without geting a chronic injury.

Webbster88 wrote:

This race is in less than a week. I don't think Webb is going to show up for it if he were in bad shape...

5000m :

- Kenenisa BEKELE (ETH)

- Alan WEBB (USA)

- Markos GENETI (ETH)

- Sileshi SIHINE (ETH)

- Ali ABDOSH (ETH)

- Gebre-Egziabher GEBREMARIAM (ETH)

- Moses MOSOP (KEN)

- Adebe NEGERA (ETH)

- Craig MOTTRAM (AUS)

- Boniface KIPROP (KEN)

- Mike KIGEN (KEN)

- Joseph EBUYA (KEN)

- Alistair CRAGG (IRL)

I'd be very surprised if Webb does show up for this race. His confidence must be really shaken after this race and I don't see anything good coming out of running a 5000 against this kind of competition. 27:34 is awesome for an American but to put it in perspective we'll probably see a 20 year old kenyan or ethiopian who we've never even heard of run 27 flat this summer. The 10,000 was good for Webb to see what kind of strength he has but he's really a miler and given his relatively poor tactical skills in the 15 I'm surprised he's not working on improving that rather than running a 5000 which will take some time to recover from.

i thought the main thing was to improve and get an a.r. silly me.

How is it that the US cant even field one runner in the competetive summer Euro distance races? Its seems so pathetic that every year there is this talk about our US "studs" Webb, Ritz, Torres, Teg, etc... but every year all these great 3/5/10ks go by and hardly an American in the race.

PATHETIC!

The greats like Lagat and ELG are never this inconsistent. For one thing they don't do foolish things like running a 10k in the late spring. I don't think I have ever seen a race that Lagat ran over 3:40.

Runners like Stember, Berryhill, and Grant Robison can run a few races in 3:35, but after that they usually get hurt or enter a profound slump. This does not happen to the greats like Lagat. They find a set point and always run within it. In this case Lagat usually runs competitive 1500s in the 3:35 range. He can either be a few seconds faster or slower than this. What you don't see is Lagat posting a 3:45+ 1500.

After Robison ran a 3:35 a few years ago in Europe he has been a wreck. Maybe Lagat has superior training or just better natural talent.

Berryhill and Robison are still recovering after nearly three years after running Olympic standard times. This is happening while Lagat and several Africans have consistently been running 1500s in the 3:30 - 3:35 range.

Maybe the USATF should study the way African distance runners train. Obviously, they are not as injury prone.

Webb is hobbling around like Robison did in 2004. Remember, when Robison tripped his way into the semi-finals in 04 Olympics.

Re:

How is it that the US cant even field one runner in the competetive summer Euro distance races? Its seems so pathetic that every year there is this talk about our US "studs" Webb, Ritz, Torres, Teg, etc... but every year all these great 3/5/10ks go by and hardly an American in the race.

ritz ran euro cross before coming down with pneumonia and then ran a decent 10000 in europe shortly after the cardinal 10000m. what more do you expect from him hes got a fall marathon to prepare for.

Right- preparing for a marathon, maybe thats why.

It would have been good to see him give track a few more years, then he might not be an example of a promising American name missing from the high powered Euro track races.

just because they didn't race in some low key meet in belgium doesn't mean that they aren't racing. lincoln is runnign the steeple in athens right now, and that's the longest distance event offered. then we have guys in GP meets later in the year. plus, who the hell is going to want to run a 5 or 10 a week after usatf's AND flying cross country? if they did it, you'd be ripping them for not getting enough rest. bottom line: do your research and think before you post next time.

I dont know what youre talking about- Im not talking about Athens specifically or one athelete specifically as I said originally.

Of course you would not race as you descibed above. Who said anything contrary to that. If there were real contenders they probably would skip USATF anyhow.

"we have guys in GP meets later in the year." We'll see how that works out.

actually we do, there was a thread earlier that had preliminary lists of who was in what race.

dwaba wrote:

just because they didn't race in some low key meet in belgium doesn't mean that they aren't racing. lincoln is runnign the steeple in athens right now, and that's the longest distance event offered.

Lincoln's not listed in the steeple in Athens

sorry, meant Steve Slattery

Try this link for more information about Webb's run, and some of the other Canadians and Americans racing in Europe.

http://www.nzrun.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=958

"The pacemaker in the 1500 didnt even warm down after the race, he just disappeared....justifiably probably as he was asked for 1.55 by the organiser and leading contenders and then went around in 59, 2.00 then got in everyone's way for another 150m. Webb was tucked in behind the pacemaker until the loser pulled out. At that same exact moment Webb got spiked or pushed by someone and threw this arms in the arm. from that moment he fell back through the field. O'Brien said afterwards that Webb didnt look good on the warm-down and kept stopping to feel his leg."

dc