Alan Webb slated to race the 800m in Indianapolis on 6/14

Webb has not demonstrated that he is clear and away the best in the world, even though he is the fastest from last year. He beat Lagat many times last year in late kicks, and Lagat still won the WC with a late kick.

Webb should have an immediate Goal of winning the trials. Anything less than winning the trials mean he is not ready to win on the world stage.

His next goal should be displaying sometime in July an ability to run faster than 3:49, and at least as fast as his 1500m in Paris last year. Intermediate goals of running under 1:45 or under 2:15 for 1k should also be reached.

His final goals before reaching the Oly Final should be qualifying easily for each subsequent round so he is not stressing or worried before going into the final. That does not mean winning his qualifying heats, it means easily qualifying.

After achieving all of these goals, he can with confidence attempt to win the final. Anyone in that final could win, however, due to the quality of the field. This years Oly final will be the most heavily contested finals in the 1500 meter Olympic/Championship history.

Some of the best won't even make it to the final.

To the guy who talks about running 10 seconds slower in the 1500 and 5 in the 800 and not being worried. I am sorry but I cannot think of the times that this happened in a race where I was going after it. I was a 3:49 1:52 guy and I could go out any day of the week in practice and run a 1:57 or 4:00. I would be running 110 miles a week with two workouts and race the same week and be 1 or 2 seconds off of my pr in the 1500. I never entered a race in which I thought to myself that I couldn't run a pr. Also the fact that Webb is a very mental runner I think he is in trouble. I say the only chance he has is to rip out the hair plugs, put on the half tights and go aerodynamic.

Perhaps there should be a knowledge test before allowing people to post; since when did a a guy who runs a 3:55x mile one week and a 1:47x 800m the next week have absolutely no chance on making the USOT. Not to mention the previous season this guy ran the 2nd fastest 800m in the world and set the American record in the mile.

Remember, guys like Lomong, Manzano, Lukezic, Myers, Sherer and Rankin are basically 3:35 1500m guys, which is about where a struggling Webb is right now. If Webb makes no improvement over where he is right now, he still has a shot a one of the two remaining spots, assuming Lagat has one of the spots locked down.

I understand Webb is off his game right now, but for people to suggest he has no shot at making the USOT is nuts. At the end of last year, Team-Webb clearly had a plan to 1.) Limit Webb's racing, 2.) Start the season late and 3.) Peak in August. With that said, Team-Webb is gambling a bit that Webb does not have to peak for the USO trails...if your goal is to win an Olympic medal, you should not have to be at your peak to beat guys who are just hoping to make the team.

Its not so much the speed, but the balance between speed and strengh and recovery. We all know that even in order to get to the final, Alan is going to have to get through some pretty tough heats, no one is ever a shoe in at the Games. What will dictate how he does is how fast he can recover and how much he restricts himself from going hard in the earl heats as he has done in the past 2 world championships which left him fried at the end. Hopefully his last tour of the European circuit has taught him how to run a pure tactical race, everyone is going to be prepared, so its going to come down to the end like what happened in '04 between Lagat and El G. Who has the sprint speed at the end. Beware of Bernard Lagat and Rashid Ramzi, Ramzi always seems to be there at the end.

To the post that stated the Banks comment is all wet, I appreciate your attempt to provide balance, but the NCAA loophole related to military service. Several African nations simply listed their runners as employed by the Army, which in some of those dictatorships was essentially true. Therefore, these athletes were often 26-28 years old when they arrived to compete in the NCAA. This is not an issue about foreign athletes per se, but about a NCAA reg that was designed not to penalize US athletes who were obligated to do military service. This was not explored to any extent by Bowerman, etc.

As to the "track coach" who suggests a knowledge test first before posting, please note that Webb's "camp" pointed to the World Championships last year and he went flat (not the first time), to which Webb responded in effect that he had no idea what was wrong and felt like he was lost. I believe this is more to the heart of the critique of Webb's Oly Trials chances.

As for me, I have fervently been pulling for Webb to succeed at every race and every level and can offer my comments as a fan who must face the reality that his training continues to confuse, to include the races this year which he either had to cancel or tanked in, with the Drake relays yet another instance.

ceelo wrote:You're right. But I meant in the 1500. I should've specified, though. Sorry about the confusion.

how long after the 800 did he rabbit the 1500?

and he did that in 2:53.....is that correct?

PatMcP wrote:

To the post that stated the Banks comment is all wet, I appreciate your attempt to provide balance, but the NCAA loophole related to military service. Several African nations simply listed their runners as employed by the Army, which in some of those dictatorships was essentially true. Therefore, these athletes were often 26-28 years old when they arrived to compete in the NCAA. This is not an issue about foreign athletes per se, but about a NCAA reg that was designed not to penalize US athletes who were obligated to do military service. This was not explored to any extent by Bowerman, etc.

Regardless, it's a red herring. Correlation doesn't equal causation. Any correlation is even tenuous. That kind of athlete for the most part was out of the NCAA by the mid-1980s. The US distance slump came several years after that. Also, partial credit is due to Chaplin for opening the Kenyan door in US collegiate distance running.

I see that there is no point in continuing to discuss this issue, as one of your comments actually support my point and the others are subjective without supporting evidence.

As for stating that a runner who is training exceedingly hard for 5-6 years to the point they are running in the low 14's (still a good time, just check the NCAA meets this year up through conference championships), but then realize that they have no chance to win virtually any meaningful race during their career and can only hope to get within 15-30 seconds of the leaders as a best result, but that they will train just as hard, well, I don't know any champions with that mentality, as the extra effort required to have a shot at winning can not be sustained. I know some nice guys who train hard and love the sport and took pride in their overall improvement, but they were never the best at any level.

Best wishes.

I see that there is no point in continuing to discuss this issue, as one of your comments actually supports my point and the others are subjective without supporting evidence.

As for stating that a runner who is training exceedingly hard for 5-6 years to the point they are running in the low 14's (still a good time, just check the NCAA meets this year up through conference championships), but then realize that they have no chance to win virtually any meaningful race during their career and can only hope to get within 15-30 seconds of the leaders as a best result, but that they will train just as hard, well, I don't know any champions with that mentality, as the extra effort required to have a shot at winning can not be sustained. I know some nice guys who train hard and love the sport and took pride in their overall improvement, but they were never the best at any level.

Best wishes.

Excellent post. Thank you for speaking sense.

You should email that to Scott and see what he thinks.

Scherer, McClary and Lukezic are now # 4,5,6 on that list.

LAGAT is a druggie

It was about an hour after the 800. Maybe a little less. He actually looked pretty good during the 1500.

Just as all of your comments have been subjective without supporting evidence. So why bring up that point now?

What "NCAA meets?" I don't know any "champions" that are still running "low 14's" after "training exceedingly hard for 5-6 years." You might as well have told them that they should've been born in a softer era. Realistically, it should've been a cue to move up or try the steeple. Run some solid steeples and/or 10,000s as an upperclassman and contribute on the xc course and then get after the marathon upon graduation. Beats a welfare system of pluralistic achievement that acts to hold back the entire generation.

Likewise.

He’s stronger, fitter, and nearly six seconds faster than he was in 2001, when he smashed Jim Ryun’s high school mile record. But consistency has never been Alan Webb’s strong point. Will Beijing finally bring America’s star runner the glory he—and the rest of us—have been waiting for?

1. As at least one of you has mentioned, perhaps Webb is rolling the dice and trying to peak for the Games, thinking he can qualify for the team without too much sharpness. Not saying it may not be his undying, just proposing...

2. If 52.x is "tactical" for Webb's 800m, why couldn't he at run better than 54-high/55-low for the second lap?