WEBB IS BACK, BABY, 13:37

The longer he stays on the track; he is less relevant. No one will want to talk to him at expos. I'd rather talk to Steve Scott or Jim Ryun.

bubbadeeboo wrote:

I'd say Webb is also/still one of the most valuable distance runners in terms of marketing. With his 3:53, he is a legend. People will be interested in having him come to expos, races, talks... for a very long time.

He's the McEnroe of track (minus all of the wins/championships).

I have got to love how many people feel the need to put down Alan Webb. regardless of how mentally instable he is (probably less than most the posters on this thread), he is not only raking in more cash per year than you guys are, but he is also currently running faster than most of you guys could dream of let alone your current PB's/SB's.There is a big difference between casual athletic criticism and trying to hurt someone mentally from a basement computer.

anon amie wrote:

I just ran a 27:14 for 5k

Not a bad start for the year.

SOLID!!!!!

Does anyone REALLY think he's going to be relevant again? I mean really, honestly, deep down BELIEVE that Alan Webb will make a difference on the world scene? I wish the guy all the best but he is done like Muhammad Ali is done.

No shame there - it's just time to move on.

can we all just move on? wrote: Does anyone REALLY think he's going to be relevant again?

Webb will do as he always has, confuse everyone. The ability is still there. Mentally, Webb is a great unknown.

It would not surprise me that Webb does not improve on the 13:37.

It would not surprise me if Webb runs low 13:0x.

That is the way it is with Webb.

I agree.

This 13:37 was not a good result, nor was it a terrible result. It is enough to let us all believe there is a sight chance he can do something decent this year. I don't think anyone expects sub 13 anytime soon, but sub 13:10 would be huge.

can we all just move on? wrote:

Does anyone REALLY think he's going to be relevant again?

He'd make a nice addition to a collegiate team trying to score at conferences.

Orienteer guy wrote:

Webb is a real beast, but I guess it's difficult for him to comeback to world top level.

We are in a time that you have to be a 12:50 guy to really have a word to say in a big competition. Webb's deal was always racing against the clock, I think he will get into 13:15-13:20 shape in the summer, but the years doesn't stop and he is getting to old...

Anyway his career was really impressive and looking for the last years seems that he is in good road.

I don't think he's getting too old, he's still only 30 (same age as Mo).

I think he will put up unimpressive (for him) results like for a few more years, and then, when he is 34 or 35, he'll drop like a 12:40 5000 or a 2:03 marathon or something just ridiculous like that.

Let's be fair. This is a much better performance than anything he did last year and it was his first race of the season. Yes, he's pretty close to DFL, but the times are getting faster. If he stays healthy, he'll be running pretty fast by the end of the season. He won't win anything even semi-important this year, but if he keeps gradually improving, he might get back to relevance in a year or two.

He's just trolling you guys. He just wanted to show how 1337 he was

Raptured wrote:

Let's be fair. This is a much better performance than anything he did last year and it was his first race of the season.

Is it really much better? I thought he ran some fast 1500s last year

You know the saying "talent never goes away"? That saying is a load of horsesh*t.

Would you rather people use the word 'progress'? Seriously, you people are wildy silly. If someone came out and ran a PR after not running any races indoors and transitioning into the longer distances after a drastic change in training approach they would be accused of drugs. The fact that he did what all normal runners do their first race of the year, have a mediocre race, is not surprising and once he sharpens up he will run faster.

This is going to be his first year focusing on longer races. He is training more like a longer distance runner, so yes, let his body transition to this workload as he DEVELOPS his aptitude for the longer distances.

He looks leaner and smoother. It could simply be a case of dead legs from this new training. This summer he should be fine as they drop training load and work on sharpening. He is still a heavy responder to faster training as he is a miler historically. Why does everyone concede that a running faster takes time, but then insist it come immediately. If Webb gets under 13:10 and 7:40 this year, then I would say he should be encouraged. Running 13:37 the first race of the year doesn't indicate to me he won't be capable of that give we know they are training hard. Tegenkamp and others ran terribly when Lopez ran well. Is he done? German ran 3:34 last year and opened with 4:03...he is so over.

Silly.

For the person pointing out Eric Jenkins needing a thread...he does. 13:18 is sick and it is good to see that we can put his 7:46* behind him.

You can say what you want about him but you know he always brings attention to any race he runs. He competitors, albeit maybe only initially, will think about him as a threat.

I'm not convinced that he's done. Jerry and Nike wouldn't be investing time with him if he's not showing something in practice. I bet his 13:37 is just the beginning. Webb might not be known for consistency but he is known for hitting the occasional grand slam, seemingly, out of nowhere.

It would be safe to say his 3:53, 1:43, and 3:32 (his first pro win) came out of seemingly nowhere. Lagat has proven time and time again that being in your 30s doesn't have to hinder you from great 5k times.

Its Webb's 3rd best 5k and a great start to his season.

Qualifying standard is 13:15 for WC which I assume is his goal prior to nationals.

I say he gets the standard and is in hunt at nationals.

Better than you think wrote:

Its Webb's 3rd best 5k and a great start to his season.

Qualifying standard is 13:15 for WC which I assume is his goal prior to nationals.

I say he gets the standard and is in hunt at nationals.

Nope, his goal is a 27:40 10k, where he'll have a much better chance making the team. Watch out!!!

Sole member of Webb Fan Club wrote:

You can say what you want about him but you know he always brings attention to any race he runs. He competitors, albeit maybe only initially, will think about him as a threat.

I'm not convinced that he's done. Jerry and Nike wouldn't be investing time with him if he's not showing something in practice. I bet his 13:37 is just the beginning. Webb might not be known for consistency but he is known for hitting the occasional grand slam, seemingly, out of nowhere.

It would be safe to say his 3:53, 1:43, and 3:32 (his first pro win) came out of seemingly nowhere. Lagat has proven time and time again that being in your 30s doesn't have to hinder you from great 5k times.

I'm always confused by people who say Alan is inconsistent and will have bad races and then pop out an amazing race and then be bad again. His only inconsistency has been when he's injured (which obviously leads to inconsistency and poor racing) and at the Oly's and WC's back in his early 20's, which seemed to be just poor peaking/early peaking (and also partially from bad tactics).

His 3:53 was a great race at his peak senior year, but it wasn't out of nowhere considering he ran 3:59 indoors and was putting up insane workouts and races all season, i.e. 49/4:06(2:14,1:52)/1:49 triple at districts. The only race that seems out of nowhere is 1:43 but he hadn't run an 800 in two years except for a 1:45 800 PR he ran a couple weeks before that, which he ran like right after flying to europe(jetlag).

He's a normal runner with immense talent and amazing work ethic. Which means he go from poor races to solid races very quickly if he is racing himself into shape, and when injured or out of shape he's gonna race poorly. And when he's in fantastic shape he's gonna run great races, like anyone. None of this makes him inconsistent. He has however struggled with championship races. I think running 5k/10k now instead of 1500's will help him a lot with his championship racing because the longer distances are a lot less volatile, less intense, less chance to screw up from one bad move or missed move.

Anyway, his 13:37 i think shows he's just starting to round into shape, and if he runs a 5k with Solinsky again in 3 weeks like the front page says (well, it says Solinsky will be there so hopefully Alan will too) I think we'll see a drop of at least 10 seconds. I think he should only do one 10k this year as he is still building up strength then next year become a full blown 5k/10k racer (i hope he runs some 3k's and still some 1500s too, I was always surprised he only did like one 3k and two 2 mile races pre-2008. In seven years I think he only did 4 3k/2mile races).

I'm excited for the rest of his career. He rose to the top of the running world in his early 20's, then lost the rest of his 20's due to injury and switching coaches way too much. Now he's 30, hopefully healthy, doing distance, has a real solid training group of guys at the top level for the first time in his career, and very well may be knocking out great times into his late 30's like Lagat, I think this is more likely considering his struggles in his 20's. He hasn't accomplished what he wanted/thought he would, so now in his 30's he'll attempt to do that.

Need to know wrote:

"He's a miler"

If there is anything he has shown the last few years it is that he is NOT a miler anymore.

So what is he?

bangalangadanga wrote:

I think it's a good sign too.

He went 4:20, 4:24, 4:30, 33.0 according to Brad Aagaard (Flostopwatch) - Honestly, that looks like a workout to me, but at the same time, it kind of doesn't.

4:20 +4:24= 8:44 + 4:30= 13:14 + 33= 13:47 BUT he ran a 13:37. what were his actual splits? if that last mile was really 4:20, then I would agree that this was a nice relaxed effort. anywho, good start, measured optimism, but a long way from being a factor come natls.