fasfa wrote:
HOLY SH-T GUYS, ARE YOU F-CKING RETARDED?
HES GOING TO TRAIN WITH HIS BUDDIES AND WARHURST.
WILLIS, BETHKE, EMMANUEL AND THE CREW.
HOW CAN THIS BE SO OBVIOUS?
this is true.
it's also a terrible decision.
Ron Warhurst is THE most overrated coach in history. Doesn't know shit.
.
LOL@YALL wrote:
Obvious April fools joke is obvious.
Guarantee this isn't real. You'll all be so stunned tomorrow. Just wait.
Noo
Makes sense, except it isn't April Fool's Daybs.
I immediately thought of Coach Li when I saw the news.
If I were Allen Webb I would someone like Steve Scott at
UC San Marco's. Probably Amercia's most consistent Miler.
The Old Coach wrote:
If I were Allen Webb I would someone like Steve Scott at
UC San Marco's. Probably Amercia's most consistent Miler.
Steve Scott 'the runner' was awesome and intense. Steve Scott 'the coach' seems (too) laid back. Runners go to Scott's program because of he's not going to drive them into the ground. Plus Scott purposefully chose Cal State San Marcos to be in a low pressure situation. He could have easily gone back to UC Irvine his alma mater and try to "revive" the program but chose not to.
Also Steve Scott the runner was a high mileage/high volume guy. I don't think Webb mixes well with 80 to 100 mile weeks.
The Sam Bell/Jim Spivey type training which incorporates some speed work (example: 20x100 session during the base phase) essentially year 'round seems more compatible with Webb's "running physiology."
The Old Coach wrote:
If I were Allen Webb I would someone like Steve Scott at
UC San Marco's. Probably Amercia's most consistent Miler.
Why do people think that a great athlete makes a great coach?
Salazar was a great marathoner but has been weak at coaching the marathon?
Who has Shorter or Rodgers ever coached?
Squires was a great marathon COACH, what was he as a marathoner? How was Vigil as a runner? How about Lannana?
Make a list of the greatest athletes and then see how many of them made great coaches? Very few.
"Squires was a great marathon COACH, what was he as a marathoner?"
Was he National Class (Bill ran at least one marathon)? No, but he was a fine college miler at Notre Dame and when he became interested in coaching, he decided to train and run a marathon so he would become aware of its unique challenges.
Fine runner, top level coach.
Thanks for helping me to make the point. Coach Squires is a genius coach but no one would ever think of him as a great marathoner.
Here's what it boils down to: We're entering the fourth anniversary year of Webb's incredible 2007 season. That season was FOUR years ago this summer. In those four years, he hasn't even been relevant on the national stage, let alone the world stage. He's failed to make two national teams in that time, and in one didn't even run the finals of the selection race. And he doesn't exactly have great odds to make this years WC team, either.
Whatever his problems are (and he's been chronically injured) they've now reached the point that he's faced with a very daunting task. Consistent world-class performance requires consistent world-class training. And "consistent" as used here means years, not week or even months. Be inconsistent long enough and you get a situation where you have to back way up and just start over.
There may have been someone that I can't recall, but I cannot think of a single runner who has fallen that far and stayed down that long who ever got back to their previous level.
But then again, this is Alan Webb. He's alternatively dazzled and dismayed us for ten years. For Alan's sake, I hope that he finds solutions to whatever the issues are that have prevented him from performing up to his incredible potential. I have no idea if this coaching change is a good idea or not. I just hope it works for him.
Jim Spivey might be an interesting choice for Webb. When I read this Spivey quote I thought of Webb's 1000M trial before the WC and you see the difference between a talented athlete who needs reassurance and a competitor:
"I might run 200's in 28.5 seconds in July, yet be in shape to run 3:33. Why need to run :25's in practice, just to prove I could do it? If I knew it anyway, why not run paces that will teach my body to run at the pace after the 800 metes. "
http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=2434
Just in Webb just registered for flocoach and will be coached by all the best coaches in America. http://www.flotrack.org/speaker/898-Ryan-Fenton/video/479136-Flocoach-is-here-sign-up-today
broahstreetbob wrote:
I immediately thought of Coach Li when I saw the news.
Me too. Lagat trains for the 5k now, though. He runs most of his mileage at a pace probably faster than what Webb is used to running, and he does less volume and less workouts at his age. Webb left to find mid-d training partners. Lagat does not seem to fit this role.
I tend to believe in order for Webb to succeed he has to be with the one he has personal faith in, someone he trusts and someone he gets on with.
Coaching, like any relationship, e.g marriage, is a partnership that ideally empowers both players.
It's not easy for us to make this determination of a coach for Alan. Only he can recognize who is right for him. I hope to see things work out for him and his choice proves positive.
Has Anyone mentioned Julie (Hennner) Benson as someone he might end up with?
I think this is a serious possibility. My understanding of his time in Northern Virginia with Raczko, he used to often workout with Chris Lukezic, who was being coached by Julie Henner at the time. So, she'd obviously know his past training and already have a relationship with him, understand his idiosyncrasies, and what not...
Also, Webb needs a lot of attention. Barringer went with Julie Benson as her coach for a similar reason. She is the Head coach at Air Force. She's not going to be overwhelmed coaching a huge and competitive team. She can give pro runners a lot of attention. As far as I know, Barringer is the only pro she has training under her in Colorado Springs. So, Webb would be the Alpha-male.
Totally just a thought, but I think a highly reasonable one. so, now you can go ahead and tell me I'm an idiot and he should train with Schumacher...
Just so you know, Frank Gagliano AKA "Gags" is back coaching in the mid-Atlantic area.
conto, that's awesome! I wish I had been healthy when I was in the Peace Corps in Malawi in my 20s at altitude surrounded by hilly dirt roads with some very undertrained sub 2:40 (barefoot on dirt) hs kids. let us know how it works out.
This was one of the few smart things said in this thread. Webb's contract is running out, but like Dathan, was surely encouraged to move and train with the OTC. Nike prefers it's athletes working out with one of it's clubs and under it's coaches.He is healthy, ran 3:37 early in the season, will prob not get the same contract deal he previously had, and now that he can lay down some fast times again is making an intelligent decision. Find a successful mid-D coach, shop yourself around during a big comeback year, and be in position to make the most money heading into an olympic year when sponsors will be much more willing to give marquee track athletes their money for exposure in London.I doubt Alan will join Cook. He would have to move to either Cali (Torrence, Rowbury, Clement) or Austin (Manzano, Solares, Hernandez, Ruiz), and Texas would be one hell of a climate adjustment from the Northwest. Also, as someone already mentioned, he is no longer a kid. Webb is married and uprooting your family to a totally different region is a very difficult thing. I think the Flocast guys had it right when they predicted that he ends up in Michigan with Warhurst and Leer/Willis.
exactlee what noone realizes wrote:
What everyone's forgetting here is that Webb was forced to go to Beaverton by Nike... Nike had invested a ton of money in him over the years and basically threatened to take away his contract if he didn't agree to head to Beaverton and recover from his injuries UNDER THE NEUROTIC EYE of Al Sal. They threatened Ritzenhein with the same thing... Nike's lawyers are f***ing the best in the business(i.e. the most brutal)... and after the recession, athletes, and especially track and field athletes, have been forced to do whatever their sponsors tell them to do...
Now that Alan is healthy -- which I assume was the goal all along when he headed to Beaverton, with all the resources available there (Justin Whitaker therapy, antigrav treads, nike house, Nike HQ) -- he should definitely be looking for more mid-d specialists to train with....
Although I have to say that I believe he would be infinitely more successful at the 5k than the 1500M... So, if he were to just head over to the Schumacher group, I believe he would win olympic gold after getting into some Solinsky-UBERSTRENGTH training sessions...
This could all very well, on the other hand, be a move by Alan as a result of ANOTHER injury... which is indeed a possibility very few are considering... The achilles tends to flare up after being injured for the first time... (e.g. Craig Mottram)... and therefore undoubtedly a loss of his contract with Nike(as happened with Craig Mottram)...
I feel the move is more a training partners thing than a coaching thing. Pretty much all of AlSal's athletes are 10K+, Webb probably wants to go somewhere he's the best but others are close enough to push him. With his competitive drive it's gotta be hard for him to accept being driven into the ground every tempo by Rupp and now Farah.
If an athlete wants to be super serious, Scott will train him for higher level competition.
O'boyle has been at Irvine forever. Scott hasn't been in the position to take his spot. When he does retire, Scott may want to take that position but may not want the headache. I don't think the school would have kicked out Vince even though they should if someone like Scott was interested in the position.
XC Junkie wrote:
Jim Spivey might be an interesting choice for Webb. When I read this Spivey quote I thought of Webb's 1000M trial before the WC and you see the difference between a talented athlete who needs reassurance and a competitor:
"I might run 200's in 28.5 seconds in July, yet be in shape to run 3:33. Why need to run :25's in practice, just to prove I could do it? If I knew it anyway, why not run paces that will teach my body to run at the pace after the 800 metes. "
http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=2434
I take it you skipped over this part?
"In 1986, I knew I was in great shape, and had run 10x400 in 57-58 with 200m job between. I ran 1:48 solo 800 in practice a week before Oslo."
Sounds a lot like what Webb did.