The unjustified criticism of Parker after another masterful front-running display of pure excellence likely has deep seated psychological reasons. I suspect when a poster looks for some irrational nitpicking critique they are subliminally thinking about the vast difference in the appearance of their overweight partner and the glowing beauty of Parker. Yes, jealousy is a pernicious emotion that can take the joy out of life.
Today’s 3k will be another chance to Expect Great Things!!!
Don’t know if already mentioned but as someone who always thought valbymania was annoying maybe a little cringe this performance won me over. At the end an official seemed to indicate for Valby to remove herself from the track and it seems like she was like no I’m gonna congratulate these girls. her excitement and joy are almost palpable. And her post-race interview is very charming.
Don’t know if already mentioned but as someone who always thought valbymania was annoying maybe a little cringe this performance won me over. At the end an official seemed to indicate for Valby to remove herself from the track and it seems like she was like no I’m gonna congratulate these girls. her excitement and joy are almost palpable. And her post-race interview is very charming.
I'm won over as well. If you watch the race video, on the home stretch of lap 8, she openly smiles, thumbs-up, and congratulates a long jump teammate who just had a great jump. She's racing for an NCAA title and celebrates with a teammate who doesn't even run distance. I can't tell you how many times I've talked to my high school team about getting out at track meets and cheering on teammates, but it's like punishment to them. Valby has leadership qualities you can't teach.
1) very few internationals run 5000n indoor (that’s a US thing)
2) women Olympic standard is weak
She is 33s slower that the US record. That’s a lot of seconds
Top US woman is 19s slower than top in the world. That’s also a lot of seconds
You can pretend that 14:52 is amazing and requires PED to be achieved. It does not.
Who stole your breakfast? It's a college meet. That was a college record and just missing Olympic standard. (but will probably get her in on ranking anyway)
It's also the national record for Tonga and Ghana.
Who cares if it's off the us and world records? All the us record holders came thru college system, so plenty of opportunity in the future for PV to chase that.
1) very few internationals run 5000n indoor (that’s a US thing)
2) women Olympic standard is weak
She is 33s slower that the US record. That’s a lot of seconds
Top US woman is 19s slower than top in the world. That’s also a lot of seconds
You can pretend that 14:52 is amazing and requires PED to be achieved. It does not.
Who stole your breakfast? It's a college meet. That was a college record and just missing Olympic standard. (but will probably get her in on ranking anyway)
It's also the national record for Tonga and Ghana.
Who cares if it's off the us and world records? All the us record holders came thru college system, so plenty of opportunity in the future for PV to chase that.
Meanwhile we celebrate!
I’m simply saying that it’s not suspect. It’s a good College performance by a great athlete.
I have a different recollection of 2022. My perception at that time was her ability to run as well as she did primarily from cross-training showed she had exceptional talent and enormous potential if she could find a way to stave off injuries.
I think what we’re seeing now is what she’s been capable of all along with uninterrupted training and physical maturation. As far as I know, she hasn’t been injured since last spring. That means she’s finally been able to have nearly a full year of uninterrupted training and progression.
If Valby could run 15:20 two years ago while coming off an injury, it makes sense that she can run as fast as she is now after a year of steady training.
Hopefully she doesn't over race in the outdoor season and will be fresh and ready for the Olympic Trials. She certainly looks like she will be able to run 14:30's outdoors. However the Olympic Trials could easily be a tactical race so the ability to run a really fast last 800-1200 will be key.
No it’s not. Sub 14:52 is the Olympic standard. She ran 7th fastest in the world this season, #3 in the US.
1) very few internationals run 5000n indoor (that’s a US thing)
2) women Olympic standard is weak
She is 33s slower that the US record. That’s a lot of seconds
Top US woman is 19s slower than top in the world. That’s also a lot of seconds
You can pretend that 14:52 is amazing and requires PED to be achieved. It does not.
US record in 2014 was Molly Huddle's 14:42.64.
Perhaps Parker Valby and her training methods should be revolutionizing NCAA women's distance running. We've lost too many outstanding athletes to injury, especially in the college ranks, but also the pro's (e.g. Schweizer, D'Agostino). It will be interesting to see if the coaches take Valby's lead.
It's hard to tell, because it may be that Valby is simply a supernatural being. Her every single race since last fall has crushed expectations.
A lot of rationalizations for why it works on this thread. She is not mentally tougher than all of her competitors, the whole NCAA, or more of a gamer. Just listen to her interviews. She is just fitter than everyone else. How she got there, that is the question.
I actually think she is beating her competition as much on mental fitness as physical, which is saying something. Just listening to her interviews over the past few years, she has revealed some mental tricks that keep her motivated at all parts of the race. Mentally she seems "built different". She definitely has more confidence than she did in the days that she was 2nd to Tuohy, so much so that sometimes she comes off a little arrogant. Not really a critcism since she backs it up, but still I think this gives her a boost over her peers.
I posted a couple of years ago that even though I am a huge fan of Tuohy that I thought Parker was going to end up the faster runner. When she was trailing Tuohy, it was only by a couple of seconds. This was when Tuohy was doing "intense" workouts, according to Laurie Henes. During this same time Valby admitted on podcasts that she didn't really strength train and sucked at push ups, and she was missing a lot of training due to injury. During this past xc season she stated that she had added dedicated strength training. I think it has made her a more powerful runner. Also, the coach at Florida changed, and I think this coach came in with a better plan for her training that really brought out her full potential. Also, she has been able to go longer without being injured and we are getting to see how she runs with more consistent training.
The thing that was kind of stunning yesterday is that she did not seem too spent after that effort. She left a talented field in the dust. When Tuohy ran 15:03 she was laying on the track after the race. 14:52 did not seem like even a full effort for Valby. I am curious how fast she can run going 100%. I think if Tuohy had been in this race she would have gotten beat yesterday. Not only is Parker Valby physically a running beast, she does not seem to be intimidated at all. I can't wait to see what she does in the trials.
If only you experienced her attitude towards competitors, along with inconsistent comments about training in high school, you may think differently about her. There’s a reason why some people on here are very vocal about questioning her performances and her “genuine” attitude toward others.
A lot of rationalizations for why it works on this thread. She is not mentally tougher than all of her competitors, the whole NCAA, or more of a gamer. Just listen to her interviews. She is just fitter than everyone else. How she got there, that is the question.
think if Tuohy had been in this race she would have gotten beat yesterday.
All available evident suggests that Tuohy would have gotten destroyed.
Taking PEDs out of the discussion for now, I think as more time goes on, we’ll see a handful of universities and even some pros adopt some of these methods of training especially injury prone athletes. Yes, the super spikes have significantly dropped times across the board, but I think now we’re seeing more coaches take the recovery aspect of training more seriously. For this particular method of training, we’re only seeing a few years of it in play and it will be interesting to see if it translates to the world class level and possibly extend athlete’s careers.
Personally, I’m not a fan of Parker Valby just because she typically comes off kind of like a dingbat or plays this whole charade of like “Silly me, I just ARC train because I guess it works and I guess sub 15 is fast!?” However, it takes a lot of confidence to believe in this particular sort of training and execute it.
Nailed it. Let’s see what happens in the coming years.
Unfortunately, the world is also becoming more corrupt. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing NCAA drug busts in the coming years. That will spell the end of the ‘mainly drug free NCAA track’. NIL and the $ of scholarships (inflation, inflation..costs of degrees have grown staggeringly in the past 30 years), and the impoverishment of middle America means that more people will be more desperate. Doping starts to seem more attractive as the benefits outweigh the risks by some way. Desperate people do desperate things. Add in the internet, easy availability of drugs etc (the internet and ease of distribution is a phenomenon only seen in the past 15 years really). It’ll be a shame, but I fully expect it.
One failed to mention detail is that Valby’s father is a pharmacist.
I interpreted her “6 or 7 out of 10” comment as her trying to be funny or sarcastic. She seems to have kind of a deadpan sense of humor. Similar to her joking that she runs 90 miles a week now.
Interesting. I’ve wondered about this certainly. But that gesture at the end of the 5k seemed genuine (albeit I take the caveat for as a champ it is undoubtedly easier to feel good abt wanting to share your felicity and transmitting that as compassion). Care to elaborate?
Hopefully she doesn't over race in the outdoor season and will be fresh and ready for the Olympic Trials. She certainly looks like she will be able to run 14:30's outdoors. However the Olympic Trials could easily be a tactical race so the ability to run a really fast last 800-1200 will be key.
Who knows what will happen, but something tells me Valby won’t be intimated at the Olympic trials and she will run her own race, even if that means she is the one out there pushing the pace and not letting it be a kickers race. We just saw she can solo a 14:52 wire to wire and did not appear to be all out. I think she can definitely go faster. Does that mean she might serve as a nice rabbit for someone like Cranny to kick by her - of course that’s a strong possibility. But if she goes out there and leads a 14:40’s/ low 14:50’s race from the gun, I don’t think there are three women (*who will likely be running the 5k at trials*) that can out kick her at that pace with the current landscape of the women’s 5k and injuries among other competitors. Even more so if it’s hot in Eugene for trials, which is hit or miss.
I posted in another thread going through all the American women who are factors at the 5,000, which ones are likely to be running the 5k at trials based on interviews and social media posts so far this year, and how they all stack up. Of course there is a long time between now and trials and a lot can change. But If Valby stays healthy and there are not several major changes to the other women’s planned events (ie. Monson is seemingly only running the 10k), I think a spot on the Olympic team is Valby’s to lose.
Maybe. Then again, Tuohy never lost a track race to Valby, and her 15:03 was run after she was worn down, something that Valby seems oddly immune to. She even beat her at regionals after doubling off the 1500. If Valby is supposed to have improved so much based on nothing more than training, not sure why KT could not. KT never even doubled in college.
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