A good friend of mine was there; he texted me after the first 30 guys or so had broken four minutes... he was losing his mind.
It is a bad time to be one of the "the shoes are just hype" people. And for people who say it is only because of that blazing-fast track, well yes, that's part of it too but not all of it (because Tuohy, Monson, and Nuguse ran pretty dang fast on the Armory track as well). Also, the people who say the double thresholds have "been around forever and don't represent a shift in training," well, you are wrong as well. People are getting better coaching these days.
It all matters. Better shoes, better tracks, better training and likely starting "real training" at a younger age (and not just doing 20-25 miles a week in HS). It is an exciting era to be a track athlete.
Ah yea the old “every college coach simultaneously switched to the same training” argument
Ah yeah the old “it’s a fast track” argument even though the BU track is the same as it was pre COVID and has been hosting the fastest indoor meets in the country fore more than a decade
Props to our former intern Karl Winter of Syracuse, but can we give a special shout out to MIT's Ryan Wilson. How in the world does someone go from 4:06.02 pb ot 3:55.29? And now he doesn't have a 1500 pb better than 4:06. He was in heat #6.
I think it is safe to say that breaking 4 is no longer a big deal compared to a generation or more ago. I would say that now breaking 3:55 might be the barrier which holds meaning for collegians but it just doesn’t have the same resonance with the average Joe.
I was confused but the explanation seems to be he’s been mostly doing the 800. He won the D3 title indoors and out. Obviously if you pair that speed with finishing 5th in an 8K at D3 nats…
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People like to think double threshold is some completely new revolutionary there but it isn’t. Many people still don’t do it either. Training is training. There’s no magic.
Sub 4, sub 5, sub 13, sub 16 and any other barriers have meaning. Breaking a big round number is something special.
Nope. Not at all. Rarity lends an aura of being special. When so many collegians are breaking 4 it is no longer special. It is like if there were 25 sub 4 minute miler in HS. It would not be quite so special. This is obvious to some of us.
This just means that the track at BU is complete bullshi__. Everybody say it with me: "times indoors are meaningless." I bet 2/3 of these guys don't break 4 in the outdoor season.
Exactly. I'd say any minute is a big barrier for the 5k, but 30 seconds is good as well, any 5-second mark is a barrier for the 800 (I saw someone go from 1:56, 56, 56, 54 high...51 2 days later), and any 10 second mark is a barrier for the mile.
Also say a 10 second mark is the barrier for the 3200 - I specialized in this, and there's a world of difference between 9:20 and 9:00, let alone 9:00 and 8:40
Sub 4, sub 5, sub 13, sub 16 and any other barriers have meaning. Breaking a big round number is something special.
Nope. Not at all. Rarity lends an aura of being special. When so many collegians are breaking 4 it is no longer special. It is like if there were 25 sub 4 minute miler in HS. It would not be quite so special. This is obvious to some of us.
Well stated. Id have to add 13:20 5k to that rarity list as well.
Ah yea the old “every college coach simultaneously switched to the same training” argument
Ah yeah the old “it’s a fast track” argument even though the BU track is the same as it was pre COVID and has been hosting the fastest indoor meets in the country fore more than a decade
it’s the shoes, get over it
Dude, I literally said it was the shoes. It was the first thing I listed. The other stuff matters as well. The exact percentages will differ from athlete to athlete (since some don't wear the super shoes, some never run at BU, and some don't do the DT workouts). It all matters and it varies from athlete to athlete.
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Webb inspired Centro. Centro inspired our current generation.
Everyone is watching the Billy Mills 10k vid on YouTube and staying on top of their intensity each lap. *SNAP* Putting forth that much effort each lap. *SNAP*
I love that we are part of a sport where 52 guys can be stoked that they crushed a huge historical barrier and are now sub-4 minute guys (obviously, some already were). In most sports there is one team of winners and one team of losers. Today, 52 dudes can be 100% stoked about the outcome of their race. That is cool.