Travel is an additional stressor, and can take an unexpected toll. The consistent 3200’s might almost be like workouts for her.
The 3200's aren't "almost like" a workout. They are in fact a workout.
She likes being with her team, but she also needs to train. So she goes to all of her team's meets and runs her workouts in the races.
Her only travel was to New York for the Millrose Games. And then to New York again for Nike Nationals in 2 weeks. That's only twice.
Why race 3 days before and 4 days after a meet that required travel, like Millrose? That doesn't make sense. She isn't receiving good guidance from her coach.
Ellie Shea raced a lot, and raced well for several years but this year she must have gotten injured or something and just has not been the same runner.
Yes, Ellie Shea got injured this summer, and she still hasn't gotten fully back into shape yet.
I hope that Shea is in tip top shape by June, so we can see a 2 mile race between Shea, Hedengren, Leachman, Engelhardt, Forsyth, and Ritzenhein. That would be epic!
Considering Leachman is soloing 9:4x two mile equivalents in consecutive weeks (without much taper), the question arises as to whether she will break 9:40 with some taper and competition.
But factor in the nervousness of racing against Hedengren (who beat her the last time they raced), Leachman's tendency to go out too fast when faced with tough competition
You made a lot of great points in your post, which I think are very likely, but I am hoping it will go as well as their Woodbridge matchup did: 2 incredible athletes pushing each other to the line. While an indoor sub 9:40 2m sounds wild for a HS girl (much less a sophomore), these two are amazing. I’m giving the edge to Leachman since Hedgeren (sp?) is still coming back from injury.
Second, I was at NXN. Just past the mile marker, Leachman runs by with a huge lead, and my buddy says, "She...doesn't look good." My other buddy replies with, "Out to fast." My first buddy says, "Yeah, but she also just doesn't look...healthy." Addy Ritzenhein and the other girl from CO that formed the two person chase pack that eventually ran her down go by, and he says, "Now they look healthy."
Look, a lot goes in to performance and development, and I'm sitting behind a keyboard a thousand miles away. None of this is definitive. I appreciate her talent and toughness, and her performances for her whole sophomore year have been incredible. I hope its all being done in a way that best sets her up to the the next great US distance Olympian. I'm just a bit apprehensive.
I share some of the same sentiment, and I say that as a fan. I don’t want to compare these young athletes’ bodies to each other, I just hope she has a good support system around her. Far too often we see the end result of a body type that trains too lean: spinal or hip stress fractures. And they seem to be extremely difficult to fully bounce back from. But it could all be down to growth spurts as well, so we should be mindful of that.
Why race 3 days before and 4 days after a meet that required travel, like Millrose? That doesn't make sense.
Just to clarify, those 3200's aren't "races" they are just training runs.
I realize that some people here have a hard time believing that a high school girl can run sub 9:50 in training, but Leachman is in insanely good shape right now.
Yes, Ellie Shea got injured this summer, and she still hasn't gotten fully back into shape yet.
I know this thread is about Leachman, but I've been curious about Shea too. Do you know for a fact that she got injured? Publicly at least, her club attributed her good-but-not-amazing performances in Nov/Dec simply to her starting training late after a busy summer, and her 6th place at last month's USATF U20 XC championships to a cold. She hasn't raced since and withdrew from a couple meets, which would certainly suggest some recent or ongoing injury or condition, but while respecting her privacy, I'm just trying to separate fact from speculation.
Yes, Ellie Shea got injured this summer, and she still hasn't gotten fully back into shape yet.
I know this thread is about Leachman, but I've been curious about Shea too. Do you know for a fact that she got injured? Publicly at least, her club attributed her good-but-not-amazing performances in Nov/Dec simply to her starting training late after a busy summer, and her 6th place at last month's USATF U20 XC championships to a cold. She hasn't raced since and withdrew from a couple meets, which would certainly suggest some recent or ongoing injury or condition, but while respecting her privacy, I'm just trying to separate fact from speculation.
I heard from another high school girl in the Northeast who competes against Shea that Shea was injured at some point over the summer.
I don't know anything about Shea having a cold at the U20 race.
I'm not aware of any injuries Shea may or may not have had since Foot Locker.
I hope Shea is not racing at the moment just because she is training hard for the world U20 xc race, and her lack of recent races isn't because of a new injury.
In any case, Shea has about 3 and a half more months to keep getting into better shape before the national races like Brooks PR, Nike, and New Balance. She had a great junior year, and I hope her senior year she can run even faster.
Perhaps not great speed, but, not only was that 800 twenty minutes after her 9:46 3200 but she was blocked for the first 100m of the 800 and wasn't able to catch the leader until around 200m. I don't know how much time that cost her. I'm speculating that, under better conditions, she could break 2:10, maybe 2:08. She ran ~1:05 at the end of that 'Michigan' last fall.
I think the most concerning takeaway is that a young athlete reads letsrun and what is written about them. This forum is full of trolls who love to instigate; oftentimes, that involves tearing down athletes for every little decision or mistake.