Gwen Jorgensen 2:36:23 - where does she go from here?

At least she beat a 15 year old in the middle of her cross country training by over 3 minutes!

MyTheory1 wrote:

My theory:

Gwen has developed an eating disorder.. seems like every video she posts is about food and I saw videos posted where she is getting on the scale before/after workouts.

Seems very very bad to focus so much on weight/calories.

I think you have to either fuel for health or fuel for performance. To me, it seems like she is skimping on the calories in a foolhardy attempt to lose weight, thinking that the extra weight loss will help her shave off some time given her lack of running abilities.

Clearly, that ain't working.

Getting on the scale before and after a workout is typical of someone who is serious about their hydration.

Gwen looks like she could be Kristin Armstrong's younger sister. That ought to tell you where her talent lies.

Anyway, if you think she looks thin now check her out when she was racing at Wisconsin. Point being, she's very clearly naturally a bird.

If she was sick leading up to this race then nobody can say for sure what she's capable of.

120mpw for someone that was recently a triathlete sounds pretty absurd. She was likely sick and overtrained. All things considered maybe not a bad performance at all.

Gwen says all of the right things. She knows the running lingo, but she can't back up anything she says with real results. It will take her a long time to become a solid marathon runner.

What the heck was Jerry thinking letting her on the team?

From what I've read it seems like she's been pushing hard to build up to "the kind of training world class marathoners do", meaning 120mpw with work outs etc. I can't imagine she's actually able to benefit from that kind of volume so soon - maybe a very rare athlete could build up that fast and not overtrain but it seems clear to me that's not the case here. Her performances have gotten progressively worse sine that first 5k and I have to feel like she is just fried from training.

I agree with others in this thread that maybe she should back off the mileage and try to find a lower volume where she can actually absorb and benefit from the training. OR, she could stick with her current volume and just hope to come around over the next year or so. I think that's a tough and unnecessarily risky path though.

She has a lot of work to do if she intends to make the US marathon team. We will see how she progresses in her next race, whenever that may be. As I had stated previously, 2020 may be too soon to get to and favorably respond to the type of training she has to do to be competitive as a marathoner. 2024 may be a better option if she cares to wait that long. Time will tell.

Forget about the marathon Gwen. Go back to the triathlon. Gold medal at the games? You have to be in the 2:18-2:20 range to even be on the podium. Forgot---you have to make the team first. Sorry Gwen, your not marathon material.

Gwen still did a pr and a pr is a PR. Nevertheless, it's not in the ball park where she wanted it to be. But a pr is a pr.

I hope she realizes the marathon is a different sort of animal. There is no bluffing your way through. When you hit the wall, it's real and there's really no way around it other than through. It's a matter of how much time you lose to get through the dips that will dictate the end result.

She felt badly at the end, she had a terrible experience. She is learning. She'll deal with the weaknesses.

She had a temperature in the beginning of the week. She was a tad under and didn't feel up to par but the champion that she is she thought she could pull it out. And that's ok, She's trained to think that way. I think she needs to expand her thinking though that the marathon is not a smooth ride. It's how you handle the crisis and carry on. I suggest some free weights , deadlifts, bench and have an all out strength day at least every 10 days or two weeks.

It's way to early for her, I think, to drop the marathon She needs time and MORE distance simulators. One to harden herself to the ebbs and flo of the marathon. To be able to muscle through a bad patch just by holding form. That takes strength. She was pretty steady at around 18 minutes per 5k. Two, I think the social media she is doing is robbing her energy bit by bit. I think she should go under the radar for awhile and get busy. All the adrenaline that flows out taxes her pituitary glands and her thyroid and her kidneys.

Say something useful wrote:

Prime Donna wrote:

She needs to stop acting like a diva and focus on training. Did you see the picture of her traveling to Chicago? She had more luggage than a Vanderbilt traveling on one of their trains in the 1890s. You don't need 10 suitcases to travel to a marathon to run 2:36. Give me a break and get serious.

What’s wrong with you? Please don’t subject us to this kind of opinion, it’s a waste of time.

And I wouldn’t say I am a fan of hers- I just have respect for any hard working runners, amateur or pro, including when they fall short of their goals.

Absolutely nothing is wrong with me but the better question is what is wrong with you that you can't handle another reasonable opinion? She was the one who posted a picture of herself with more suitcases than a family of 8 would need (especially when she doesn't wear nice clothes) on IG. Not everyone has to think "aw, how cute." You don't need to travel like a Vanderbilt to run a 2:36. Maybe leave the rice cooker at home next time and eat out like the rest of the planet, including the other pros. How much slower would she have been with only, say, 3 suitcases?

I'm sure it's already been stated but yesterday was far from ideal. The humidity was awful and a lot of women who you would have thought would attack sub-2:30 fell off. Not the best excuse since the Olympic Marathon won't be held under ideal conditions but some people react worse to things like heat and humidity. There's no doubt Gwen would have run a ton faster if it were 45-50 with no humidity. We can't put too much stock into this run. We still don't really know how competitive she'll be at the marathon. She's done well on the roads half marathon and under. Gotta be a tough run for her mentally though to not get caught up in the time.

Who are all of these unknown women who were supposed to have been "attacking" 2:30? She couldn't handle 2:31 pace so how would she have handled 2:29 pace?

The weather was fine. 61 degrees, 73% humidity and very little wind. It sure didn't seem to have an impact on Crouch, Kosgei or the men's race, where Sir Mo went 2:05 with a negative split and Rupp was 2:06. People need to stop making excuses and just call it like it is. She ran her mouth big time and couldn't back it up. It's not like any of her results this year indicate that she was ready to run 2:28. Pittsburgh and Peach Tree were very underwhelming.

As a big fan of Gwen and what she's trying to do, today was a tough one to watch. I really don't know what to make of her race. I think it would have been smart of her to drop after 30k; she didn't have it. She finished so she got some experience trying overcome a bad race and gut it out. Her form is bad normally but it looked really bad near the end of the race. I hope she sticks with it because I still think she can make some waves on the road scene but after today the trend is in the wrong direction with the 2020 trials.

Where is video of that? I only saw the lead women on TV, do you have a link? Thanks

HMMM... wrote:

Her form is bad normally but it looked really bad near the end of the race.

Hmmmmm.........

“To be brutally honest, right after the race I looked at my husband and said ‘Oh my goodness, I’m really questioning what the heck I’m doing,’” Jorgensen said.

Somewhat of a surprising comment being she is coached by Jerry S who is one of the best coaches in the world.

Go back and defend your Olympic title in the triathlon. This seems to be a more realistic goal and somewhat more obtainable. The marathon is a very tricky distance to race and you need years of specific training and long races (half marathons) to get it right.

Respect the 26.2!!!!

Wait a sec - she has a 14 month old, too, as a first time mother??? Good grief. I have a kid of a similar age (and my first as well), and as soon as the kid started going to daycare, I couldn't stop getting sick. Baby and I both just had a 104 fever a month ago, and I couldn't run for a least a week afterwards, and even then it was just really easy . It's going to be tough for her, but I'm rooting for her. These early years as a parent are rough. Given that, sub 2:20 is a pipe dream given her situation and age. I really hope she does it, though. Eliud K is a year and a half older and just set a PR.

yertesyd wrote:

Having been through a 3-4 day fever 2 weeks before my first marathon, I'd say she did pretty well. The marathon amplifies everything, and she's probably going to be sick for another month or two. On a good day, I say she goes sub 2:30 easily, maybe 2:25.

48yroldrunna wrote:

Not saying it's not total BS, but Gwen did say she had a fever all week and felt bad from the start of the race.

Except that her kid doesn't go to daycare...

Hmmmmm.........

“To be brutally honest, right after the race I looked at my husband and said ‘Oh my goodness, I’m really questioning what the heck I’m doing,’” Jorgensen said.

Somewhat of a surprising comment being she is coached by Jerry S who is one of the best coaches in the world.

+++++++++

GJ also needs coaching on how to use social media--never post your feelings immediately after a bad or disappointing race.

Holy smokes - that's even rougher then. That's a lot of work. While I love my child dearly, going to work feels like a vacation in comparison.

Oh Stanley wrote:

Except that her kid doesn't go to daycare...

MyTheory1 wrote:

My theory:

Gwen has developed an eating disorder.. seems like every video she posts is about food and I saw videos posted where she is getting on the scale before/after workouts.

Seems very very bad to focus so much on weight/calories.

I think you have to either fuel for health or fuel for performance. To me, it seems like she is skimping on the calories in a foolhardy attempt to lose weight, thinking that the extra weight loss will help her shave off some time given her lack of running abilities.

Clearly, that ain't working.

She clearly has something going on. Some people get an unhealthy addiction to pushing their bodies and this may a case of that.