Zane Robertson retires - was it worth it?

I just did a longish cool-down run with an ex-pro (easy run for him!) and we were talking about this current era vs. 10 years ago or (in our case) 20-30 years ago.

He said, "the current training philosophy is so different and so much smarter. We ran so hard on every interval and now you see people using science and blood testing and double-thresholds and so many smarter approaches to the sport. In the low-mileage 90s, we just killed ourselves doing all-out repeats and never really developed our actual physiology the way the best trained young runners are doing today." Maybe Zane was the last of that era? He'd probably be sub-13 if he trained in Norway or with BTC or at NAU. It seems like he did it the "old school" way and got very good. But very good back then was 27:30. Very good now is 26:45. There has been a jump at pretty much every distance.

I think Zane was amazing but somehow feel like he was more in the style of Craig Mottram or Adam Goucher than he is in the generation of today's stars like Yared, Hocker, Woody, Kerr, Wightman, Jakob, Fisher, etc.

When I was young, 13:13 (Zane's PR) would win the NCAA . Now 13:13 is like 8th place at BU in late January and you are dying just to out-kick Sam Parsons. It is not Zane's era anymore.

p.s. He also didn't have super-shoes during the prime years of his career, which DO make a difference for sure.

Totally agree, but also I don't think anyone would've contested that anyway.

Zane's timeline has been in line with Farah's time in the sport, his last track race was 5years ago now so I don't think anyone would've been putting him up against Yared, Hocker, Wightman, Jakob etc, nor would he have ever been in the same race as them. He moved up long ago

I take your point about how his times may have been worth more in the period he ran them, but still my question would be were they enough even then, to make that relocation seem worth it?

He's a multiple-time Olympian, multiple-time National Record holder, and international medalist.

Do you need to be an Olympic medalist to make becoming a pro worth it? Jeez

You missed the point. He was asking whether moving to Kenya was worth it, not whether becoming a pro runner was worth it. Don't think anyone can answer that question but Zane, maybe he enjoyed life there better. Believe he married a Kenyan woman as well, so more than just running to assess.

Who?

^^^ This ^^^

For anyone who doesn't think that the new training philosophies are having a massive difference on the times now days, you're fooling yourself.

For anyone over the age of 35, static stretching and high intensity interval after interval on lower mileage was the training methodology. That was basically all we did.

Let's not kid ourselves, most of his competitors were doping.

I first met the Roberston brothers in Kenya in 2007. It was directly after World XC in Mombasa, Kenya and they stayed in the country and never looked back. There were 17 years old. Trying to compare a high school junior in America today to what those two guys took on is like a different planet. They had very little money and were living pretty rough, they even got malaria. But they stayed at it and hung in there.

16 years in Kenya (and Ethiopia) those guys have seen, been through and done stuff that most folks can not imagine. Sometimes they may have been burning the candle at both ends in training and sometimes they may have let their emotions guide some of their efforts, etc., but they were 100% all in.

At the end of the day they lived through an adventure that you can't buy with money and put up some dang good performances on the way to be more than proud of.

I watched them scrape Zane up off the ground and into a wheelchair at the finish line of the Olympic marathon. There was a lot of carnage and a lot of DNF's (the entire Ethiopian team) on that day, but that guy hung in there and survived.

To have run 3:34 and sub 60 min half pre-super shoes and in the Olympic marathon is one heckeva career. How many guys have run 3:34 and 2:08? That list is pretty short.

All the best Zane, great career, inspired a lot of people. No regrets man. Good on you.

This is true AND he probably did not rest nearly enough after the hard efforts.

Was it worth it? Well, I suppose you have to ask what else he would be doing. For a white guy who isn't especially academic, he's probably been more successful than his non-runner peers back home. Maybe it would have worked out better for him in running if he had not moved to Kenya (white guys who move there to train don't seem to produce exceptional results as translated into championship medals but do seem to pick up Kenyan wives) and if he had gone to Flagstaff or somewhere it might have been better.

But as one of those white guys who prefers to be located in Africa, he has probably ended up with a more attractive wife than if he had stayed back home and if he is staying in Africa, then he will probably be richer than if he stayed back home.

He could still be training and racing and using the super shoes and modifying his training, so he sounds a bit stuck and not especially motivated.

I agree with this. They got to live in a different country (from NZ), experience lots of different things at a very young age. Honestly, I think it's brave what they did. How many teenagers would move out to Africa on their own and make a go of it, not come back? Not many IMO. I just hope they enjoyed their time there and they have things set up to do after retirement.

Was it worth it? Chasing his dreams I envy anyone who does that. It takes guts and is better than always thinking what if? I wish I could do it.

You stretched?

Was it worth it? Seriously, imagine the experiences and adventures he's had. I can't imagine it wasn't worth it.

If you have to ask if it was worth it, you obviously don't get it.

Respect.

He followed his dream to the end. I have nothing but admiration for them both. I wish him the best of fortune in his 'new' life.

Is he actually retiring or just unsponsored at the moment? Professional athletes make a living out of the sport. Without a sponsor he wouldn't be "professional"