For a guy obsessed with going under 2:30 he's basically wasted 7 or 8 good weeks of training. He could have had a good speed block there
You have to wonder if he's channeling Shadeur Sanders with his "legendary" talk. I really hope so, because it's just too much to be talking that way unironically.
Regarding his training or lack thereof, it is amazing to me how much fitness he loses and how quickly he seems to lose it. It doesn't seem like he's really that committed to performance. Or he doesn't really like training that much. Or doesn't understand that all training is cumulative.
Either way, I think the odds are that he never runs under 2:30. I think he has the "talent" or ability to do it but would take an effort/focus he lacks.
Ben Parkes posted on Strava about racing the Telford 10k just a day after running 2:55 at the Valencia marathon. In the end he didn’t actually start the 10k; which was absolutely the right call.
That said, even floating the idea feels questionable. A hard 10k a week after a marathon isn’t great recovery practice, and with a big, mostly beginner audience, it risks sending the wrong message.
Post-marathon should be about recovery first, not jumping straight back into racing. It's a shame he didn't figure that out before saying he'd be doing the 10k.
There's nothing wrong with racing a short race like 10k a week after a marathon?! I'm back to normal 7 days on, would wait an extra week for anything HM and up though
He's cooked himself twice now. This time, he took what could have just been a bad day and made it exponentially worse.
Stop with the Dr. Chat GPT, with the 'marathon monk' approach. He's very close to piss away all the insane talent he has. It isn't impossible he could, if he switches tactics, rep GB in the Olympics
He's cooked himself twice now. This time, he took what could have just been a bad day and made it exponentially worse.
Stop with the Dr. Chat GPT, with the 'marathon monk' approach. He's very close to piss away all the insane talent he has. It isn't impossible he could, if he switches tactics, rep GB in the Olympics
Phily Bowden stands a better chance at the Olympics than does RTJ. Which is to say, no chance.
But let's stop exaggerating his bad day. He will recover and come back. This isn't the end of the road for Jake.
Thoughts on Team Makou performances at EuroCross. Scott Beattie so close to bronze whilst Callum Elson takes bronze in the team event. Another sub par performance when it counts from Rory Leonard. Becoming a trend now for Leonard this year.
Thoughts on Team Makou performances at EuroCross. Scott Beattie so close to bronze whilst Callum Elson takes bronze in the team event. Another sub par performance when it counts from Rory Leonard. Becoming a trend now for Leonard this year.
Respectfully, can you please breakdown your analysis over how Rory’s 17th place is a sub-par performance?
Assuming of course you didn’t expect him to beat the world 10,000m champion and fly the GB flag?
Thoughts on Team Makou performances at EuroCross. Scott Beattie so close to bronze whilst Callum Elson takes bronze in the team event. Another sub par performance when it counts from Rory Leonard. Becoming a trend now for Leonard this year.
Respectfully, can you please breakdown your analysis over how Rory’s 17th place is a sub-par performance?
Assuming of course you didn’t expect him to beat the world 10,000m champion and fly the GB flag?
Wasn't he 9th last year, according to the Team Makou videos he's in much better shape than last year, the field wasn't as stacked as last year and his stated expectation was to improve on his 9th place from last year. All of the foregoing points to a sub par performance. Of course no one would have expected him to beat the world 10,000m champ but he should/could have been competing for third with his team mate, Scott Beattie.
Wasn't he 9th last year, according to the Team Makou videos he's in much better shape than last year, the field wasn't as stacked as last year and his stated expectation was to improve on his 9th place from last year. All of the foregoing points to a sub par performance. Of course no one would have expected him to beat the world 10,000m champ but he should/could have been competing for third with his team mate, Scott Beattie.
He's moved up in distance this year and spent the entire summer training for the HM. He looked good at Liverpool but that was a mudfest and the extra strengh developed during HM training wouldve served him well on that course. This was 7.5k of fast running on hard-packed ground, I'm sure he felt like the fittest he'd ever been but he's likely lacking that top-end track speed having been building the engine all summer, whereas Scott is much better over 5k.
Top-20 in Europe is still a fantastic result. I'm not sure what people expect with Makou, they seem to get a criticized here but they're not saying they're world class, they are targeting making teams and seeing what happens in championship racing. It's awesome that a pro-team put out well produced content, would you rather they didn't?
A medal, a 4th place and top-20 is a great result for the team.
I really liked the mixed relay. Callum did fantastic to hold off France and nearly got Portugal on the line. Big shout out to Turkey for their tactics on that race. made it interesting. wonder how they would have got on with a traditional rotation but it certainly got attention.
It isn't impossible he could, if he switches tactics, rep GB in the Olympics
phil sesemann emile cairess paddy dever mahamed mahamed jonny mellor jack rowe george james jake smith at least six out of this eight dop out of contention, barraclough takes five minutes off his pb, no one else comes into the frame and runs well over marathon in 2027 eg leonard, zak mahamed, mcluckie, manthorpe...come on now
Ben Parkes posted on Strava about racing the Telford 10k just a day after running 2:55 at the Valencia marathon. In the end he didn’t actually start the 10k; which was absolutely the right call.
That said, even floating the idea feels questionable. A hard 10k a week after a marathon isn’t great recovery practice, and with a big, mostly beginner audience, it risks sending the wrong message.
Post-marathon should be about recovery first, not jumping straight back into racing. It's a shame he didn't figure that out before saying he'd be doing the 10k.
why not run the 10km? hes just a hobby jogger. never runs hard or does any sessions.
it is a danger than this man coaches people as his standard "easy runs" are at his current marathon pace. the reason for this is the elapsed time element of his runs which are regularly OVER ONE HOUR. he does it for the strava likes but his time as a "relevant runner" is grinding to an end
Thoughts on Team Makou performances at EuroCross. Scott Beattie so close to bronze whilst Callum Elson takes bronze in the team event. Another sub par performance when it counts from Rory Leonard. Becoming a trend now for Leonard this year.
the real Leonard trend is DNF, 10 in 3/4years i believe?
at least he finished even if he was slightly sh1t. no doubt a catalogue of excuses will be presented in the next video which is basically a library of excuses/whining/wet wipes crying for attention
Wasn't he 9th last year, according to the Team Makou videos he's in much better shape than last year, the field wasn't as stacked as last year and his stated expectation was to improve on his 9th place from last year. All of the foregoing points to a sub par performance. Of course no one would have expected him to beat the world 10,000m champ but he should/could have been competing for third with his team mate, Scott Beattie.
He's moved up in distance this year and spent the entire summer training for the HM. He looked good at Liverpool but that was a mudfest and the extra strengh developed during HM training wouldve served him well on that course. This was 7.5k of fast running on hard-packed ground, I'm sure he felt like the fittest he'd ever been but he's likely lacking that top-end track speed having been building the engine all summer, whereas Scott is much better over 5k.
Top-20 in Europe is still a fantastic result. I'm not sure what people expect with Makou, they seem to get a criticized here but they're not saying they're world class, they are targeting making teams and seeing what happens in championship racing. It's awesome that a pro-team put out well produced content, would you rather they didn't?
A medal, a 4th place and top-20 is a great result for the team.
you are clueless. he didnt spend any of the summer half marathon training.
he was training for and racing 1500ms to try and improve his poor speed. he was also doing and dropping out of 5kms but didnt improve.
i dnt think his half marathon training had any impact - he couldnt finish the race as he was dropped by the other brits (which is probably why he DNFed) so he clearly wasnt properly prepared for the event.
he was quoted as aiming for the top 5 in the euro cross due to the notable runners not showing up this year. he would have expected far better and 17th for a full-time pro runner is a pretty mediocer return. you have to remember, the rest of the GB mens team (other than Scott) are hobby joggers who work full-time, they cant go altitude training and have all the latest gear
a medal in the relay is good but nothing to get overly excited about, its a property micky mouse event which is quite exciting for the tv but just a side show from the main event
Rory moved up in distance this year and spent the entire summer training for the HM… which he DNF. Rory has not ran well since Valencia last year and something has to change - there is raw talent there and he does have a good mindset.
Top run from Scott not sure if he is running Valencia but could have a shot at the British record. Looks in good form after a turbulent summer.
a medal in the relay is good but nothing to get overly excited about, its a property micky mouse event which is quite exciting for the tv but just a side show from the main event
To be fair, I feel like there was a higher standard of athlete in the relay than in the 'main' events: Sabbatini, Arese, Nader, McPhillips, Coscoran...
Thank you! You wait until you see the race vlog tomorrow… Connor Roger’s (fellow YouTuber who smashed it today) got some footage of me and bloody hell… I look like an absolutely tank… and not in a good way! Club vest is too tight, I look about 10ft tall and I’m definitely carrying extra timber that I can shift. Currently 90.25kg so project 2026 is to drop some weight and get some free speed 😂
I enjoyed the video Andy and well done on the result. Think you're being harsh on yourself here - I daresay none of us look our best into a 10k pb attempt!
good for him genuinely. i'm more impressed though that the video is only 16 minutes long. thank you for blessing us with less than a 2 hour feature film yowana!
i like his personality overall but i cant stand the fact he makes everything 60-90 minutes lol. i know some people watch the whole thing but thats insane for every video for a shoe review or training recap. he's a big yapper and would probably do better if he made 20min vlogs. kudos to him on a 2:32 after some meh races earlier. that's a nice pr and at least his 100+ mpw's have paid off for him to some extent
Not a fan of the 2 hour movies either but he pretty much said he doesn’t have time (work, family, etc) to edit a whole video so he chops it up and puts it on YouTube.
seems like a cool dude and I watch his reviews (by skipping fast forward on a lot of course)
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