In the 3000m today at NBGP, two of her three slowest laps were in the final two laps of the race. This is pretty common with her and it never seems like she has a kick. This was fine in college when she was so much fitter than everyone but every pro race is a kickfest these days and you need to be able to close crazy hard to win anything significant.
Can she develop a kick? I don’t know, but a move to the roads would be difficult because of her low volume. Thoughts?
You are very, very, very much overreacting to an indoor 3K professional debut.
Valby's kick was lackluster, but A) that can be developed, B) the shorter race distance means more anaerobic work than usual for her, which unsurprisingly weighs down the legs and the kick.
Also, there have been thousands of these threads about guys like Fisher, who got cooked in the bell lap at Millrose and LAGP last year. Worked out fine for him.........
In the 3000m today at NBGP, two of her three slowest laps were in the final two laps of the race. This is pretty common with her and it never seems like she has a kick. This was fine in college when she was so much fitter than everyone but every pro race is a kickfest these days and you need to be able to close crazy hard to win anything significant.
Can she develop a kick? I don’t know, but a move to the roads would be difficult because of her low volume. Thoughts?
disagree.....she had used up her kick earlier in the race and was on fumes but still ran 35s at the end. But agree her strength is not a kick
Valby actually is going through a big transition in training with significantly more road miles. I don’t think Ethiopians train with a lot of road miles. However, her high stack New Balance trainer can help, somewhat, in easing the load.
My gut reaction is that ideally, she should be full-time at altitude, and not wait so long into her career to make such a move, like Kincaid, Fisher and Cranny did, but there are many positives in her current set-up training with a mid-distance camp (though it should be understood that lack of altitude is going to be less detrimental to mid-distance athletes.)
she should be full-time at altitude, and not wait so long into her career to make such a move, like Kincaid, Fisher and Cranny did,
Um, Cranny grew up in Colorado. Research shows that "native" altitude dwellers have the greatest advantage, even more than those who move there to train.
"An individual's adaptation to high altitude depends on whether he or she is a native, resident, or visitor to the area. Natives of areas with high altitude have a larger chest capacity, more alveoli, more capillaries that transport blood to tissue, and a higher red blood cell level. In contrast, the resident or the individual who stays at a high altitude for months or years makes a partial adaptation. His or her later adaptation includes the conservation of glucose, and increased number of mitochondria, and increased formation of hemoglobin."
-- From "Principles of Athletic Training" 18th edition, William Prentice
she should be full-time at altitude, and not wait so long into her career to make such a move, like Kincaid, Fisher and Cranny did,
Um, Cranny grew up in Colorado. Research shows that "native" altitude dwellers have the greatest advantage, even more than those who move there to train.
"An individual's adaptation to high altitude depends on whether he or she is a native, resident, or visitor to the area. Natives of areas with high altitude have a larger chest capacity, more alveoli, more capillaries that transport blood to tissue, and a higher red blood cell level. In contrast, the resident or the individual who stays at a high altitude for months or years makes a partial adaptation. His or her later adaptation includes the conservation of glucose, and increased number of mitochondria, and increased formation of hemoglobin."
-- From "Principles of Athletic Training" 18th edition, William Prentice
Your point?
BTW, for a little bit of perspective, Cranny is going to be 29yrs old in a few months, so she has been training as a pro for some 6 years, at least. She was a 9min 3000m runner six years ago when she was Parker Valby’s current age.
Um, Cranny grew up in Colorado. Research shows that "native" altitude dwellers have the greatest advantage, even more than those who move there to train.
"An individual's adaptation to high altitude depends on whether he or she is a native, resident, or visitor to the area. Natives of areas with high altitude have a larger chest capacity, more alveoli, more capillaries that transport blood to tissue, and a higher red blood cell level. In contrast, the resident or the individual who stays at a high altitude for months or years makes a partial adaptation. His or her later adaptation includes the conservation of glucose, and increased number of mitochondria, and increased formation of hemoglobin."
-- From "Principles of Athletic Training" 18th edition, William Prentice
Your point?
BTW, for a little bit of perspective, Cranny is going to be 29yrs old in a few months, so she has been training as a pro for some 6 years, at least. She was a 9min 3000m runner six years ago when she was Parker Valby’s current age.
Edit, actually, six years ago, Cranny would have been a year older than Valby’s current age, but the part about Cranny being a 9min 3000m pro-athlete back then is correct.
In the 3000m today at NBGP, two of her three slowest laps were in the final two laps of the race. This is pretty common with her and it never seems like she has a kick. This was fine in college when she was so much fitter than everyone but every pro race is a kickfest these days and you need to be able to close crazy hard to win anything significant.
Can she develop a kick? I don’t know, but a move to the roads would be difficult because of her low volume. Thoughts?
She's not ever going to have a huge kick, but today is nothing to do with that. She'd been chasing a pace that was a fair bit quicker than her current best; was clearly working hard from the start; and tired in the last few laps.
Three thousand is a long way short of her optimal distance too.
Mackey wasn’t able to close a 2 second gap on her. I’m not saying she has an amazing kick, but this is the first race of the season for those two. The first in 6 months for Parker.
I also want to point out that Bryant had a previous PR of 8:37, and she’s been around a while. Where did the 8:28 come from?
Her lack of kick is at least partially a function of her poor mechanics. She needs a form coach. Typically more strides would help as well, but I'm not sure if her propensity for injuries would be exasperated with more high speed strides. I'm sure her coaches have evaluated this, but her form today was similar to or worse than last year. Definitely not better.
I suppose this is one reason she will always be better at 10k-plus compared to 3k.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Valby actually is going through a big transition in training with significantly more road miles. I don’t think Ethiopians train with a lot of road miles. However, her high stack New Balance trainer can help, somewhat, in easing the load.
In yesterday’s LRC interview, Valby mentioned running more miles on the roads than she did in college. This link shows some of her recent road work:
Having a kick is related to how much at your limit you are during the race. It is not some separate thing. Same posters here wonder how Grant Fisher can beat Hocker in a 5000. Really?
Valby actually is going through a big transition in training with significantly more road miles. I don’t think Ethiopians train with a lot of road miles. However, her high stack New Balance trainer can help, somewhat, in easing the load.
In yesterday’s LRC interview, Valby mentioned running more miles on the roads than she did in college. This link shows some of her recent road work:
Having a kick is related to how much at your limit you are during the race. It is not some separate thing. Same posters here wonder how Grant Fisher can beat Hocker in a 5000. Really?
It is 1st grade level analysis to blame Valbys finish today on her kick. She went out at 8:30 pace (2:49 second K) and was redlining. Her kick isn’t a huge asset yet, but aggressively running at the front cost her while 4th and 5th place sandbagged and the top 2 were fitter. If she’d run 2:56 the middle K she’d had a good last lap too.
Having a kick is related to how much at your limit you are during the race. It is not some separate thing. Same posters here wonder how Grant Fisher can beat Hocker in a 5000. Really?
it's related to that, but it's not even close to the whole story. If she's in a 9:00 race with the 3 girls who were within 2 seconds of her, who wins?
Healy, Mackay, Bell, or Valby? Does PV finish 1, 2, 3, or 4?
it's related to that, but it's not even close to the whole story. If she's in a 9:00 race with the 3 girls who were within 2 seconds of her, who wins?
Healy, Mackay, Bell, or Valby? Does PV finish 1, 2, 3, or 4?
Valby told us that in a 3000m race, she isn’t in the same wheel house as the milers, so why would she let a race dabble to a 9min finish, in the first place? She won’t.