KENENISA MF BEKELE: 2:01:41

secrets... wrote:

Sprintgeezer wrote:

Is there anybody who is such a fool that they in their heart of hearts believe that anybody can run a WR marathon off 3 months of training naturally?

It’s amazing that we humans made it out of the caves.

I imagine he might've been training longer than that, but his team put out the three-month thing to make this look super good.

I don't buy into that three-month nonsense either, though he did still look fat in Austerdam last October.

If I have to guess, he might have 6-9 months "real" training under his belt.

George213 wrote:

secrets... wrote:

I imagine he might've been training longer than that, but his team put out the three-month thing to make this look super good.

I don't buy into that three-month nonsense either, though he did still look fat in Austerdam last October.

If I have to guess, he might have 6-9 months "real" training under his belt.

Also consider that KB's untrained fitness is orders of magnitude higher than essentially anyone else's absolute peak race fitness. What he's defining as "3 months training" is probably "3 months race specific prep."

Unbelievable. I have been one of the guys saying he was done and wouldn't even finish. Glad I was wrong!

Wow!

In a totally irrational and superstitious way, I didn't want to talk about or read anything about this marathon before hand because Bekele has had so many disappointments recently. But of course I was hoping for a good performance. I can't believe he actually pulled off a time like this. Even though he doesn't have the WR, he is undoubtedly the most talented distance runner the world has ever seen.

Kipchoge owns the marathon-GOAT status, but Bekele is head GOAT, no doubt. Wow!

Banana Bread wrote:

Gobble Gobble MF to all the doubters. They must be feeling silly now. It feels good being right. I knew he could do it. He has come back even quicker than I expected. I was hoping for him to be possibly 2:03 and he smashed that. He literally destroyed the field. Well done Bekele. It is also a great day for me. Maybe people here will respect me more and won't think I'm a village idiot. This is the most excited I've ever been to post here. I can't wait to see gold in Tokyo next year.

See a matchup between a health and motivated Bekele and Kipchogi next year would be awesome. Let's hope the Ethiopian track administrators don't screw him over again.

Five is the magic number wrote:

Many people here have obsessed so much over new shoe tech and speculating about PEDs that they've missed something truly amazing launched five-six years ago - the new sports drink that has been used by every single male marathon majors winner since.

MAURTEN:

"THE WORLD'S FASTEST SPORTS FUEL

We're proud of supporting some of the best athletes in the world. In May 2017, the world watched Eliud Kipchoge making history in Monza – when he ran the fastest marathon ever. And on September 16, 2018 he beat the world record with amazing 78 seconds, finishing in 2hrs, 1 minute and 39 seconds.

Still there is one thing that Kipchoge has in common with the winners of the TWENTY latest major marathons – they all grabbed a Maurten bottle at the drink stations."

Not://

www.sweatelite.co/maurten/

Isn't Sweat Elite a bunch of plagiarizers? I can't even bother to click on the link due to the allegations.

Yep, I think at this point if clean he is the GOAT. How can anyone argue that he isn't?

otter wrote:

Yep, I think at this point if clean he is the GOAT. How can anyone argue that he isn't?

Then he isn't.

How does a 2:01:40 look like when it comes to training paces ? Well…….something like this :

maxVO2-pace at 60-61 sec/ 400m , LT-pace at 2:47 min / km ( 4:28 mile pace) and easy pace at 3:30-3:33 min/ km (5:40 mile pace) . This must be done quite comfortably without too much strain . This is what it takes.

Bekele does it with around 90-95 mpw and I`m convinced it can be done on just 55-65 mpw if just the runner is as talented as Bekele.

- The Wizard -

Bekele always runs better in colder weather. Heat is a weakness for him.

Eating My Humble Pie wrote:

Wow, I have to admit that I did not see this coming. Bekele had dropped out of so many marathons that it looked like he was just running for the appearance fee. Clearly not. Many congratulations to Bekele (and his loyal fans), amazing run, sorry he didn't get the WR.

Presumably Kipchoge will run at Tokyo 2020. Do you think Bekele will? Or will he spend the next 12 months preparing for another assault on the WR at Berlin next year?

Assuming they are both healthy and fit, it would be by far the best match-up in marathon history and similar to Ali-Frazier (the first fight). If Bekele doesn't run in Tokyo it would be like Coe or Ovett skipping Moscow to focus on WR's in the 1500/Mile. The best competing against each other is what makes sports great. I would be disgusted if one them skipped Tokyo.

He is the GOAT wrote:

Sprintgeezer wrote:

Is there anybody who is such a fool that they in their heart of hearts believe that anybody can run a WR marathon off 3 months of training naturally?

It’s amazing that we humans made it out of the caves.

Once you build up that aerobic base, you don't lose it. He has spent over a decade before moving up to the thon running 100+ MPW for track and XC. You're talking about a specimen who ran close to 4 minute mile pace for 5000 metres!

He's 37 years old and running faster than he ever has and was only 2 seconds off the world's best time. That's stretching the "aerobic base" argument beyond the bounds of credulity. Medical science tells us that both muscular strength and arerobic capacity start to ecline from the late 20's. But not to professional athletes, it appears.

Farah/Kam/Kenny = legit ?? wrote:

So Farah, Kam and Kenny all run big PRs within a month of each other, and we are supposed to believe that it is all legit ?

The only thing that is back baby, is either the good stuff or some new stuff

I hope this isn't true. But it could be. It's all very bitter sweet knowing how corrupt it all might be.

This is what I've been saying since the sub-2 attempt. Kipchoge, with the benefit of a phalanx of pacers and a high windshield on the pacing car and the cheater shoes, was able to run 2:00:26. I was convinced a big drop in the marathon record was going to come. It did. He ran 2:01:39. Then others realize they can do a lot better than the previous standard. People we had never heard of have done it now, Mosinet Geremew and Legese, both under the old doped record of 2:02:57, and now Bekele who had the talent all along but a suspect approach and many injuries since 2012 put it all together once again. Incredible. I mean that literally. First 2:03:03 in 2016, now after a series of dnf's and two finishes in 2:05 and 2:08, does what no pro marathoner ever seems to do, come back from the dnf world and run better by far than ever before. With all his golds and 11 xc world titles, along with 7:25/12:37/26:17/2:01:41, no one in history can match it. Kipchoge is the more consistent marathoner by far but Bekele at his peak is close. I think Kipchoge, had he been in the race as he should have, instead of doing another gimmick marathon, would have responded to the occasion and run 2:01 or even broken 2:01, but all in all, you have to say that Bekele is the best distance runner of all-time. What a shame that Hermens has always been getting him the good stuff and there's been no testing in Ethiopia, so we can't trust any of his results.

REAL. wrote:

I am starting to believe there are no drugs, no magic pills, no magic workouts.

There are mental barriers that runners allow themselves to be controlled by.

Once those barriers are shattered, in the case of Bannister's 3:59.9, Kipchoge's 2:00:25, Geb's 12:39, then the floodgates of human potential open and we see something like today.

These runners solely race to the bar, to the limits that are known.

Aim for the unknown.

otter wrote:

Yep, I think at this point if clean he is the GOAT. How can anyone argue that he isn't?

One thing people don't realize is that if all the East Africans are participating in widespread doping, including Bekele, then he is still the GOAT. Even if they are all doping, Bekele is the most talented of the lot. So I hope he isn't doping. but if he is, it's very likely that so is Kipchoge and Farah and every other top dog. So he's still the GOAT either way.

I agree. I hope he goes after the Olympics (assuming Ethiopian officials aren't stupid) rather than WR. The problem with WR attempts is the weather and any number of other things can go wrong. But if he beat's Kipchoge head to head at Olympics, even if conditions suck and its a slow time, it counts for more.

Dubious Lee wrote:

Isn't Sweat Elite a bunch of plagiarizers? I can't even bother to click on the link due to the allegations.

Just google Maurten, they're no secret, just not household name with the general public.

They're not advertizing because they can't keep up with demand.

They got pro cycling teams in queue, pro soccer teams, nordic sking and duathlon national teams.

They're not sponsoring because they don't need the PR, athletes comes to them.

celery wrote:

otter wrote:

Yep, I think at this point if clean he is the GOAT. How can anyone argue that he isn't?

One thing people don't realize is that if all the East Africans are participating in widespread doping, including Bekele, then he is still the GOAT. Even if they are all doping, Bekele is the most talented of the lot. So I hope he isn't doping. but if he is, it's very likely that so is Kipchoge and Farah and every other top dog. So he's still the GOAT either way.

Not really. People react to PEDs differently. Bekele might be a high-responder.

Sweat Elite is fake news. They just make stuff up.