Alan Webb... It might be over.

Webb is likely what he is doing the year he ran 27:20. He never ran a good mile that year but tore things up the following year.

I am not saying he is not F-ed, but I bet this is his plan.

I highly doubt this is the case. If you are right then he would have run a 5 or 10K this spring...it won't happen.

I have word straight from training partners that he has had a couple of bad workouts the past two weeks and just felt flat.

But the weeks before that, Webb was in phenominal shape doing 9-10 800's in 2:06-down to 2:00 for the last 4.

That does not equate to a 3:42 1500 runner.

He just needs to back off this next week and recover,and he will absolutely fine. Trust me

me o my wrote:

Webb is likely what he is doing the year he ran 27:20. He never ran a good mile that year but tore things up the following year.

I am not saying he is not F-ed, but I bet this is his plan.

Naw.

Webb hardly ran 27:20 in 2006; he ran 27:34. More importantly though, he ran that in late April, at the very beginning of his season. He hardly made an attempt at anything else that year. He was coming off of 2005 where he ran impressive prs in the 5k and 2 mile, and was trying to diversify his strengths before a two-year push toward the 08 olympics. This season looks nothing like his 2006 season.

You really think he's slogging around with 4:00 races, all while wringing his hands together and laughing maniacally about the 27:30 coming down the pipes? It seems to me that a better explanation would be that he's having an awful season.

youhavenoidea wrote:

I have word straight from training partners that he has had a couple of bad workouts the past two weeks and just felt flat.

But the weeks before that, Webb was in phenominal shape doing 9-10 800's in 2:06-down to 2:00 for the last 4.

That does not equate to a 3:42 1500 runner.

He just needs to back off this next week and recover,and he will absolutely fine. Trust me

I'm hoping and hoping that this is true. That 800m workout is very promising, assuming approximately equal breaks. Low confidence + exhaustion do not typically yield a good result. I still believe that he can do it.

I think many of us on here, even the ones suggesting he needs to change coaches, would love to see Webb break through whatever's holding him back lately. A fast, successful American miler who can threaten on the world stage is one of the things I'd most like to see from American track & field, and it's still possible Webb could become that again.

why would webb be training through this race? no one else seems to be, and he's the one who needs the confidence boost from a fast, high finish. and by high, i mean top 3, not 10th through 13th.

A local high school track coach told me it looked like Webb was not really pushing himself.

There also seems to be a lack of urgency lately in Webbs races.

IMO, he has lost the "desire" to "race". If he does not care to WIN...........he won't.

Apologies for the crude formatting...

Year . . . . .Time . . . . . . Place

2008 . . . . 3:55.47 . . . . 7

2007 . . . . 8:23.97 . . . . 9 (Two-Mile)

2006 . . . . 4:00.87 . . . . 11

2005 . . . . 8:11.48 . . . . 2 (Two-Mile)

2004 . . . . 3:50.85 . . . . 1

2003 . . . . 3:58.84 . . . . 10

2002 . . . . n/a . . . . . . . .n/a

2001 . . . . 3:53.43 . . . . 5

Total Races = 7

Total Wins = 1

Top 3 Finishes = 2

Bottom Half Finishes = 4

Last Time Finished In Top Half = 2005

Average mile time = 3:55.89

Average place (all races) = 6.4

Well most probably Webb might be in the end of his career...

you must remenber he peaked really early (was it 17 or 18).. so problably he wasn't well coached... who knows....

You guys in America wan't everything to fast... problably Webb just burned some essential stages in the development of the fitness and consistency of a midle distance runner...

He planned his career with more time, following a step by step approach is top form/career would last at least 10-15 years not just 4.

One example just look at Fam (or Meb), he is a pretty consistent guy with a steady evolution (despite the injuries).

I really hope that I'm wrong, but I think that also the career of Hall, Ritz, German or Rupp will end sonner than expected...

Problably they just burn out (it isn´t normal High school boys/or girls running already 100 miles per week) you really need time (i.e. years) in order to naturally do this kind of milage with perfect recovery.... that's what I think... (probably I'm wrong)

I really hope to see Webb comeback (if he can...)

Webb isn't (hasn't) doing that kind of mileage, though we don't know how hard we went in training to get 3:46 and 3:30.54 (and nobody yet has run those times since).

But he's still young, and lacking:

(a) training errors;

(b) medical problems;

(c) lack of desire to train the same way;

It doesn't make sense. Lagat has had medical problems in both 2007 and 2008, but came back to form.

Could you explain this table to me? I think you're trying to make the point that he's not a good racer, but you seem to be missing a lot of races.

data wrote:

Apologies for the crude formatting...

Year . . . . .Time . . . . . . Place

2008 . . . . 3:55.47 . . . . 7

2007 . . . . 8:23.97 . . . . 9 (Two-Mile)

2006 . . . . 4:00.87 . . . . 11

2005 . . . . 8:11.48 . . . . 2 (Two-Mile)

2004 . . . . 3:50.85 . . . . 1

2003 . . . . 3:58.84 . . . . 10

2002 . . . . n/a . . . . . . . .n/a

2001 . . . . 3:53.43 . . . . 5

Total Races = 7

Total Wins = 1

Top 3 Finishes = 2

Bottom Half Finishes = 4

Last Time Finished In Top Half = 2005

Average mile time = 3:55.89

Average place (all races) = 6.4

Could you explain this table to me? I think you're trying to make the point that he's not a good racer, but you seem to be missing a lot of races.

You can't just throw up the yearly progression data and conclude anything about Webb, his current capability, his troubles or his future.

What went wrong? The much more likely possibility is just as Webb has stated: overtraining. He bought into the volume hype wrongly assumed that more was better than less. The other trouble of course is that Webb went for additional strength and added too much mass. A tough corner to get out of but not impossible.

Now it is interesting to me to see the same poor logic applied to Webb's interval results. 10x800 200 - 206 does not make 346 (or even 356) a slam dunk. Imagine this exact same session is completed by two different runners. The first has a 1x800 capability of 159, the other can make a 143. Which runner would you pick to win a fast 1500m race?

is webb a slightly faster version of steve holman?

Rich Rickerson wrote:

A local high school track coach told me it looked like Webb was not really pushing himself.

There also seems to be a lack of urgency lately in Webbs races.

Well, that settles it then. Who could doubt you and the local high school track coach.

It's just his races at Prefontaine. I think he's trying to illustrate that Webb has good and bad days just like everyone else. That, and that he hasn't run well there for quite a while.

me o my wrote:

I am not saying he is not F-ed, but I bet this is his plan.

Webb doesn't have a real plan. Unless you count giving excuses for poor performances a plan.