Being old I'm taking this Mu in the 1500 fractionally more serious than when Edwin Moses said he thought running 2 sub 50 400s and breaking 1.40 in the 800 wouldn't be that hard and Carl Lewis when he said he might try the triple jump at the height of his career.
If Mu somehow does win the Olympic 1500, every athlete in every event should be coached by Bobby Kersee.
Well except if Mu wins the 1500m Gold then it would be a bit hard to believe that Kersee is not doping her.
In Scott Reid's Bobby Kersee story last weekend, he said Mu wasn't going to be racing until the NYC Grand Prix on June 24, but she's listed in the entries for the women's 1500 in the Music City Track Carnival on Saturday.
This would be her first race since the World 800m final on July 24, 2022.
Maybe she watched Faith's WR today and got depressed.
Expect a DNS/DNF!!!
Or she looked at Welteji's 1:57/3:56 and thinks 1:55/4:05 is reasonable.
Yeah, I think she’s capable of running 4:05 if her training’s going well and has included significant strength work. Problem is that would put her about 100m behind Kipyegon and 50m behind Muir & Hull today.
To the poster who questioned why she’d step away from the 800: she’s not. There hasn’t been any talk of dropping the 800, only adding a second event. And I really don’t think she’s tired of how hard the 800 is, because that varies athlete to athlete and the 800 probably feels very natural to Mu who I’ve heard call the 800 “her baby.”
I really hope she runs tomorrow. Mu vs. Wiley at 1500 is what LetsRun needs. I could see the two of them battling stride for stride the final 100 for a time in the 4:07-4:08 range, not necessarily for the win.
Or she looked at Welteji's 1:57/3:56 and thinks 1:55/4:05 is reasonable.
Honestly going to lose my mind with how people don't understand basic physiology behind track events.
Short summary: holding up an 8:33 woman like Welteji and extrapolating 1500 times for a 400/800 runner is totally useless. Would be comparable to predicting Welteji running a 50.0.
Long summary:
The sprints overwhelmingly use anaerobic alactic (pure sprint power which lasts less than 15s) and anaerobic systems (going pure anaerobic last max 2min).
Events 1500 and over use a large majority aerobic energy.
The 800 is the cross over between these systems meaning you can approach at like a distance runner (eg Faith Kipyegon/Sifan Hassan who are 1:57 or better but also 14:30 or better 5k women), as 400-800 runners (eg Mu, Rogers), or as hybrids - low mileage but not sprint focused like Brazier, Giles, Wilson, or Bishop.
The further away you move from the energy system that underpins your success the worse you do. That's why despite Welteji, Muir, Hassan all being barely 1s off Mu's 800 PB, none of them have for a second considered doing the 400! That's because they approach it with training that is aerobically focused (they're all 8:33 or better in the 1500). I'd be surprised if any of them could break 54 from blocks.
Same idea, Rogers can do a 52.04, but hasn't broken 4:10. Mu 49s 400 but 4:16 1500m.
Hybrid athletes peak in the 800 but can run average to good in the 400/1500 but not world standard in either - eg Brazier (47/1:42/3:35), Arop (46/1:43/3:38), Wilson (53.6/1:55/4:05), Bishop (54/1:56/4:04).
It is staggering how many people in this conversation don't get that.
In Scott Reid's Bobby Kersee story last weekend, he said Mu wasn't going to be racing until the NYC Grand Prix on June 24, but she's listed in the entries for the women's 1500 in the Music City Track Carnival on Saturday.
This would be her first race since the World 800m final on July 24, 2022.
This will be very interesting as everyone has pointed out Kersee has never coached a world class 1500m runner.
I loved to know what tweaks to her training he has made to build her aerobic engine. More threshold, 1k repeats and faster stuff with much shorter rest would be logical but yea we'll see.
Or she looked at Welteji's 1:57/3:56 and thinks 1:55/4:05 is reasonable.
Honestly going to lose my mind with how people don't understand basic physiology behind track events.
Short summary: holding up an 8:33 woman like Welteji and extrapolating 1500 times for a 400/800 runner is totally useless. Would be comparable to predicting Welteji running a 50.0.
Long summary:
The sprints overwhelmingly use anaerobic alactic (pure sprint power which lasts less than 15s) and anaerobic systems (going pure anaerobic last max 2min).
Events 1500 and over use a large majority aerobic energy.
The 800 is the cross over between these systems meaning you can approach at like a distance runner (eg Faith Kipyegon/Sifan Hassan who are 1:57 or better but also 14:30 or better 5k women), as 400-800 runners (eg Mu, Rogers), or as hybrids - low mileage but not sprint focused like Brazier, Giles, Wilson, or Bishop.
The further away you move from the energy system that underpins your success the worse you do. That's why despite Welteji, Muir, Hassan all being barely 1s off Mu's 800 PB, none of them have for a second considered doing the 400! That's because they approach it with training that is aerobically focused (they're all 8:33 or better in the 1500). I'd be surprised if any of them could break 54 from blocks.
Same idea, Rogers can do a 52.04, but hasn't broken 4:10. Mu 49s 400 but 4:16 1500m.
Hybrid athletes peak in the 800 but can run average to good in the 400/1500 but not world standard in either - eg Brazier (47/1:42/3:35), Arop (46/1:43/3:38), Wilson (53.6/1:55/4:05), Bishop (54/1:56/4:04).
It is staggering how many people in this conversation don't get that.
Training, not physiology. Mu could run 4 flat but it would require very different training that would cost her some 400 speed. Coe was a 46 400m man who ran 1:41/3:29. Brazier might have done the same but it would have taken a lot more strength work (meaning 800 repeats and up).
Honestly going to lose my mind with how people don't understand basic physiology behind track events.
Short summary: holding up an 8:33 woman like Welteji and extrapolating 1500 times for a 400/800 runner is totally useless. Would be comparable to predicting Welteji running a 50.0.
Long summary:
The sprints overwhelmingly use anaerobic alactic (pure sprint power which lasts less than 15s) and anaerobic systems (going pure anaerobic last max 2min).
Events 1500 and over use a large majority aerobic energy.
The 800 is the cross over between these systems meaning you can approach at like a distance runner (eg Faith Kipyegon/Sifan Hassan who are 1:57 or better but also 14:30 or better 5k women), as 400-800 runners (eg Mu, Rogers), or as hybrids - low mileage but not sprint focused like Brazier, Giles, Wilson, or Bishop.
The further away you move from the energy system that underpins your success the worse you do. That's why despite Welteji, Muir, Hassan all being barely 1s off Mu's 800 PB, none of them have for a second considered doing the 400! That's because they approach it with training that is aerobically focused (they're all 8:33 or better in the 1500). I'd be surprised if any of them could break 54 from blocks.
Same idea, Rogers can do a 52.04, but hasn't broken 4:10. Mu 49s 400 but 4:16 1500m.
Hybrid athletes peak in the 800 but can run average to good in the 400/1500 but not world standard in either - eg Brazier (47/1:42/3:35), Arop (46/1:43/3:38), Wilson (53.6/1:55/4:05), Bishop (54/1:56/4:04).
It is staggering how many people in this conversation don't get that.
Won't run. Her coach is a disgrace to the sport. Hope she wakes up and understands how her stock is dropping with the fans. Maybe she doesn't care about the people who support track and field, just like her coach.