After running 3000m of the 5000m at the Mt. SAC Relays in April and winning a 1500 at a small DII meet by almost minute on May 11, Athing Mu will run the 1500 at the Sound Running Track Fest on Saturday night.
She's in section 3, where Mu (4:03.44 pb) is the top seed by almost six seconds. The top section later in the night features Shelby Houlihan, Klaudia Kazimierska, Katie Snowden, Gabbi Jennings, and others.
Stupid move. How is she world class if she doesn’t even have the balls to run with competitors at her own level. So she can win a heat?
It's just a workout. She doesn't like doing long efforts solo in practice, so she just jumps into a local race. How hard is it for people to understand this? She's not racing, she's just running.
there's a lot to complain about with her, but I have no problem if she's in a group where she'll need to run close to 4:10 to pick up a win. I'd prefer she focus on 400/800, but if this is her direction, going long to short, leading up to worlds, is a viable strategy.
Stupid move. How is she world class if she doesn’t even have the balls to run with competitors at her own level. So she can win a heat?
Do athletes pick which section they run in, or does the meet manager make that decision? Is it possible she got placed in section 3 because she doesn't have a fast 1500 time within the last year?
Stupid move. How is she world class if she doesn’t even have the balls to run with competitors at her own level. So she can win a heat?
Do athletes pick which section they run in, or does the meet manager make that decision? Is it possible she got placed in section 3 because she doesn't have a fast 1500 time within the last year?
Good question since she would be 2nd fastest in the next race up.
Do athletes pick which section they run in, or does the meet manager make that decision? Is it possible she got placed in section 3 because she doesn't have a fast 1500 time within the last year?
I would expect that Athing Mu is a big enough name that she could get an exception made to whatever seeding rules there are if she wanted. As an Olympic gold medalist, if she wanted to be in the fast heat, she’d be in the fast heat.
I like her strategy of getting back into shape with some low-key races. But in the long-term, I feel like she needs to be okay with the idea of losing. Part of her problem is she never went through a phase where she gets obliterated every week. It toughens us up.
I like her strategy of getting back into shape with some low-key races. But in the long-term, I feel like she needs to be okay with the idea of losing. Part of her problem is she never went through a phase where she gets obliterated every week. It toughens us up.
Imagine if she had to face Semenya during the height of Athing's career like Ajee did.
there's a lot to complain about with her, but I have no problem if she's in a group where she'll need to run close to 4:10 to pick up a win. I'd prefer she focus on 400/800, but if this is her direction, going long to short, leading up to worlds, is a viable strategy.
It’s all about time and it doesn’t matter if she wins or not. She undoubtedly does a ton of speed work in practice, so whether she runs a 400, 800 or 1500m in low key meets,it will have no impact on how she does at the U.S. championships.
BTW, I asked Jesse Williams, the meet director at Track Fest, about this. He said Mu's agent asked for her to be put in the 3rd section, so he agreed. Tentative plan is for there to be a pacer and Wavelight set to 4:08 (pace determined by meet management, not requested by Mu).
there's a lot to complain about with her, but I have no problem if she's in a group where she'll need to run close to 4:10 to pick up a win. I'd prefer she focus on 400/800, but if this is her direction, going long to short, leading up to worlds, is a viable strategy.
It’s all about time and it doesn’t matter if she wins or not. She undoubtedly does a ton of speed work in practice, so whether she runs a 400, 800 or 1500m in low key meets,it will have no impact on how she does at the U.S. championships.
you're 100% correct. i shouldn't have said win. I should have said to be in the mix. The point is that she's in a group where she'll have to run fairly well to stay competitive.
Stupid move. How is she world class if she doesn’t even have the balls to run with competitors at her own level. So she can win a heat?
It's just a workout. She doesn't like doing long efforts solo in practice, so she just jumps into a local race. How hard is it for people to understand this? She's not racing, she's just running.
So what is she training for? The season is in full swing. One National championship?? That’s all she’s good for in terms of actual competition?
Lots of letsrunners love to hate Mu, but I don't mind her approach this season. It's pretty clear by now that she has been struggling mentally with pack running after missing the Olympics last year due to a fall - something not a single person on these message boards can relate to. So, she and Kersee have picked low stakes races to practice pack running and are slowly upping the intensity (speed of the race) by dropping down shorter distances until we culminate at an actual 800 race again at Pre Classic.
Are there other approaches that might get her there? Sure. Is this the best possible route? I'm not convinced, but I can understand the logic behind it. We'll see if it works out. I'm hoping that it does because competitive races with more of the fastest runners at their best are always better than slower, less competitive races. Cheer for Hodgkinson over Mu all you want, but it'll be a better race if Mu is able to show up at her best.
So, she and Kersee have picked low stakes races to practice pack running
This is absolutely laughable. Is it possible that a "Mu Cult" is developing here like the "Tuohy Cult" where anything and everything she does will be defended to the last?
She jogged in lane two the entire race with three other people and never once even got close to contact with anyone in race #1. See video linked. Second race, there were only three people in the race and she won by a full minute.
Please, feel free to point out in the video where she was "in a pack." I really wish that exciting victory by Mu from a couple weeks ago was available online.
