i have to agree with the negative nellies. There's the chance that it was just an off day where his body didn't work the way it otherwise would. but honestly to me this shows that he likely can be pretty good on the roads, but he's not gonna be as good as he is on the track, and certainly not better. as a poster above said, Grant is going for "pretty good."
like cheptegei. Chep is working his way to better and better results, and that's great. but he has no chance of ever approaching the very best. He's a track guy.
Grant stuck to his script from prior interviews: all-in on track from now thru summer, no road racing again until this time next year, may be back for the 2027 NYC Half.
Admitted he needs a longer buildup than he had (only 5 weeks then taper.) Admitted his training did not take into consideration the surges he had to cover mid-race which left his legs shot w/3 miles to go. Aerobically, fine. But, as Mike/coach stated in the Running Effect podcast uploaded yesterday, his main concern for Grant was leg fatigue. And it happened, hard.
As an outsider watching & listening to all this over the past few weeks, it's pretty apparent Grant & Mike need to significantly alter their track training just to be competitive at the half. But for a full marathon? That would appear to require a complete overhaul.
And, since Grant won't be doing another road race for another 12 months then follow that with another full track season leading into Bejing WCs, a full marathon training block couldn't happen until late 2027/early 2028. Meaning, hypothetically, Grant's first marathon would be the 2028 Oly Trials -- at the earliest..
So, unless Grant falls off a cliff in the 5000 & 10,000 this year -- with father time then forcing him to the roads in an attempt to make US teams and continue to stay relevant in the sport -- from where this armchair quarterback sits, guessing Grant & Mike will eventually decide to hit the pause button on Grant's marathon debut until after the LA Olympics.
Fisher’s goals are far more ambitious than just making a marathon team. If Fisher’s track times fall off a cliff, it won’t be any better for him in the marathon. If it got that point, Father Time is more likely to push Fisher into retirement.
I thought it was interesting on the Coffee Club podcast that Grant questioned if is ligaments and tendons would allow him to run a cross country race when he’s 36. They were talking about if it were in the 2034 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. I wouldn’t think that’s a worry for a healthy athlete in his prime.
i have to agree with the negative nellies. There's the chance that it was just an off day where his body didn't work the way it otherwise would. but honestly to me this shows that he likely can be pretty good on the roads, but he's not gonna be as good as he is on the track, and certainly not better. as a poster above said, Grant is going for "pretty good."
like cheptegei. Chep is working his way to better and better results, and that's great. but he has no chance of ever approaching the very best. He's a track guy.
I am the biggest Grant Fisher defender out there, so I don't say this lightly:
That was disastrous. You skipped WXC, Millrose, and WCi for...that? To get beat by guys you were pantsing in college?
2 things I don't understand when smoking copium:
1. Do professional runners have the immune systems of a bubble boy? This isn't even specific to Grant; every time someone falls short, you can cue the, "well they had a little cough/illness last week". And? You are a professional athlete with every recovery option out there around the healthiest people in the world. I don't buy it. Something else went wrong in training and it wasn't the sniffles. Obviously, I'm not a pro, otherwise I wouldn't be posting here, but having run competitively at high levels for over a decade, I can count on one hand how many times I've been sick enough for it to make even a minor difference.
2. "He's still figuring out the roads". You mean, where there are larger fields to pace off of on trampoline shoes? He fuels during workouts and has done workouts at this length. I do not and never will buy 'learning the roads' at any distance under the marathon.
TL;DR: That sucked, especially given what we missed seeing indoors this year from Fisher. The illness and 'learning the roads' excuses are lame and lazy.
My only gripe is why did he need to experiment with this now? Careers are short and unpredictable, and there were other high level track competitions in his current wheel house: World XC, US indoors and possibly World indoors. It makes no sense to sacrifice those opportunities now to test the roads for something that may or may not happen in the future. The US indoors 3K was no joke, and he has plenty of competition in track events rather than testing the roads.
My only gripe is why did he need to experiment with this now? Careers are short and unpredictable, and there were other high level track competitions in his current wheel house: World XC, US indoors and possibly World indoors. It makes no sense to sacrifice those opportunities now to test the roads for something that may or may not happen in the future. The US indoors 3K was no joke, and he has plenty of competition in track events rather than testing the roads.
One thing I’ll take issue with is that I don’t think Grant would’ve sacrificed World XC for this race. His injury took him out of that as he had almost no training ahead of when Trials were. Training for XC would be perfect for his half prep. Wildschutt and Megan Keith showed that.
World Indoors/USA Indoors yes, but Grant would’ve been a long shot to beat the top 3 from this year in a championship race. I wouldn’t count him out but he’d have to really have an amazing drive from the front.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Who is the third placed guy? Never heard of him. I guess we have to wait for the test results.
Because you don’t follow the sport! Chaudhary, Sable and Joshi all train under Scott Simmons’ supervision in Colorado Springs. They train along with the army guys most of the time! India has invested heavily in training camps and these athletes have been coming and going for many years now.
As for your concerns, they are not hard to find for WADA or USADA as they are registered as pro athletes and have US visas for the same reasons😉
I am the biggest Grant Fisher defender out there, so I don't say this lightly:
That was disastrous. You skipped WXC, Millrose, and WCi for...that? To get beat by guys you were pantsing in college?
2 things I don't understand when smoking copium:
1. Do professional runners have the immune systems of a bubble boy? This isn't even specific to Grant; every time someone falls short, you can cue the, "well they had a little cough/illness last week". And? You are a professional athlete with every recovery option out there around the healthiest people in the world. I don't buy it. Something else went wrong in training and it wasn't the sniffles. Obviously, I'm not a pro, otherwise I wouldn't be posting here, but having run competitively at high levels for over a decade, I can count on one hand how many times I've been sick enough for it to make even a minor difference.
2. "He's still figuring out the roads". You mean, where there are larger fields to pace off of on trampoline shoes? He fuels during workouts and has done workouts at this length. I do not and never will buy 'learning the roads' at any distance under the marathon.
TL;DR: That sucked, especially given what we missed seeing indoors this year from Fisher. The illness and 'learning the roads' excuses are lame and lazy.
Deep breath, deep breath. The sky isn’t falling. You’re gonna make it, man. Just hang in there
This is the answer. Maybe there's a market for pre-bunched panties? Someone could sell millions here!
Because you don’t follow the sport! Chaudhary, Sable and Joshi all train under Scott Simmons’ supervision in Colorado Springs. They train along with the army guys most of the time! India has invested heavily in training camps and these athletes have been coming and going for many years now.
As for your concerns, they are not hard to find for WADA or USADA as they are registered as pro athletes and have US visas for the same reasons😉
Indeed, they are not hard for USADA to find. Singh's training partner Kartik Kumar was busted for four different steroids in two different tests.
Frsher had a terrible day at the race, I don't think he can blame sickness for how badly he ran. And its ok to say that. Enough of making excuses, some days are not your best. And talk about bouncy shoes, what the heck was he wearing?
For some context Habtom Samuel jumped into a half marathon (Houston) between training for indoors and outdoors and ran 59+. It wasnt even his focus.
Lastly, definitely shameful that not one person commenting mentioned Gulveer Singh, hes not an unknown, last yr he ran some very fast 5 and 10ks on the track. Very impressive dude.
ya, i don't know about the prep, but mo farah was 7 weeks between a 3:28 1500 and 59:22 half. pre super shoes era 2015. there was also probably a strong taper in there for worlds, which took up the pretty much the last 2 weeks before the half. so he was tuned up for what that would entail.
He also ran a 59:32 half in the spring, almost exactly 4 weeks after an 8:03 indoor 2 mile. not at boston. pre super shoes.
I mean, one of the two is a great runner, and the other is a ten time 5k/10k gold medalist.
Because you don’t follow the sport! Chaudhary, Sable and Joshi all train under Scott Simmons’ supervision in Colorado Springs. They train along with the army guys most of the time! India has invested heavily in training camps and these athletes have been coming and going for many years now.
As for your concerns, they are not hard to find for WADA or USADA as they are registered as pro athletes and have US visas for the same reasons😉
Indeed, they are not hard for USADA to find. Singh's training partner Kartik Kumar was busted for four different steroids in two different tests.
There is no guilt by association! Innocent until proven guilty! I remember one time a guy from Hoka Nazelite popped, it doesn’t mean the whole group is dirty! Same with burrito girl! 🤣
I trust the system! As for me, there should be life ban instead. You get caught see ya! 2yrs for whereabouts, 4 for Epo is nonsense! It’s like telling a thief come back in 4yrs may be you would have changed! Why do we have to forgive them?