He says he skipped because of the risk of injury or sickness and that the last couple weeks have been good. This video was probably recorded like 1-2 weeks ago.
I have had achilles tendonitis. It's an injury I jogged / ran through and eventually it went away. It was unlike hamstring tendinopathy which doesn't go away without strength training.
He says he skipped because of the risk of injury or sickness and that the last couple weeks have been good. This video was probably recorded like 1-2 weeks ago.
He had claimed training has been going well for many months. He is obviously not revealing the whole truth here
I think the lesson here, is that the year round race fitness approach just does not work. Jakob trained and raced himself into the ground and his body has broken down. From what I have seen over the years is that once someone gets an injury like his, they are done man. They are never the same again. It’s over. I for one admired Jakob’s tenacity and his willingness to race and compete, but I thought he was arrogant and dismissive of his competitors. His accomplishments I would say put him in the top 20, but certainly not worthy of GOAT consideration. I think once Hoey has his inevitable toasted burn out and others like Nico and Blanks begin to falter, we will begin to see that all this double threshold, year-round race fitness, run hard every day, no breaks nonsense has been a training fad that is ineffective at having a career over a few years and makes serious injuries unavoidable.
He says he skipped because of the risk of injury or sickness and that the last couple weeks have been good. This video was probably recorded like 1-2 weeks ago.
He had claimed training has been going well for many months. He is obviously not revealing the whole truth here
He said in that video that he has just returned to normal mileage and "soon" will return to normal paces. It sounds like training is going well now, but who knows how long it took him to build up back to normal volume. Hopefully, this is a sign that the achilles injury, as a hindrance to normal training volume/intensity, is a thing of the past. The guy is still really young, so I have no doubt he can get back to WR form, health permitting.
He had claimed training has been going well for many months. He is obviously not revealing the whole truth here
He said in that video that he has just returned to normal mileage and "soon" will return to normal paces. It sounds like training is going well now, but who knows how long it took him to build up back to normal volume. Hopefully, this is a sign that the achilles injury, as a hindrance to normal training volume/intensity, is a thing of the past. The guy is still really young, so I have no doubt he can get back to WR form, health permitting.
This is another missed checkpoint, so I understand the skepticism from posters here. Lieven is a big one and the next one. If he doesn’t race there and set up a World Indoors defense, it’s very concerning. Obviously the bigger competitions this year are European Outdoors, Ultimate Athletic Champs and the Diamond League final. Still, if Jakob is right he doesn’t sit out chances to run fast, set records and beat his competition.
He had claimed training has been going well for many months. He is obviously not revealing the whole truth here
He said in that video that he has just returned to normal mileage and "soon" will return to normal paces. It sounds like training is going well now, but who knows how long it took him to build up back to normal volume. Hopefully, this is a sign that the achilles injury, as a hindrance to normal training volume/intensity, is a thing of the past. The guy is still really young, so I have no doubt he can get back to WR form, health permitting.
He said in that video that he has just returned to normal mileage and "soon" will return to normal paces. It sounds like training is going well now, but who knows how long it took him to build up back to normal volume. Hopefully, this is a sign that the achilles injury, as a hindrance to normal training volume/intensity, is a thing of the past. The guy is still really young, so I have no doubt he can get back to WR form, health permitting.
This is another missed checkpoint, so I understand the skepticism from posters here. Lieven is a big one and the next one. If he doesn’t race there and set up a World Indoors defense, it’s very concerning. Obviously the bigger competitions this year are European Outdoors, Ultimate Athletic Champs and the Diamond League final. Still, if Jakob is right he doesn’t sit out chances to run fast, set records and beat his competition.
Reality check: Jakob skipped Euro XC like almost every other top runner in Europe. I don't think it is a missed check point given his disjointed training leading into Tokyo, time off due to tonsil surgery and cautiousness building back up. In Jakob's own words, his training consists of building blocks, the foundations of which he wasn't able to do leading into Tokyo, and probably hasn't done since this time last year. Now is the time to lay the foundations again.
In one thread on LRC, people are criticizing Hoey for going too hard in December, and in another sounding alarm bells because Jakob is skipping a race at the end of a long 2025.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Reality check: Jakob skipped Euro XC like almost every other top runner in Europe. I don't think it is a missed check point given his disjointed training leading into Tokyo, time off due to tonsil surgery and cautiousness building back up. In Jakob's own words, his training consists of building blocks, the foundations of which he wasn't able to do leading into Tokyo, and probably hasn't done since this time last year. Now is the time to lay the foundations again.
In one thread on LRC, people are criticizing Hoey for going too hard in december, and in another sounding alarm bells because Jakob is skipping races.
Well your reality check is Jakob doesn’t operate like “almost every other top runner in Europe.” He typically runs each European championship (including XC/indoors), each track World championships (including indoors) that he can. Historically, he doesn’t pick and choose like your typical guy.
Now, if you want to say Jakob isn’t properly prepared due to the operation AND his injuries that’s fine. But if you’re saying Jakob is now going to pick and choose his spots like nearly everyone else then the injury is a significant turning point in his career. It seems to me we are seeing a mixture of both right now. You are taking a very rosy view of things if you can’t connect the dots with the concerning trajectory as it relates to his brothers. But again, let’s see when it’s time for Lieven and if he is able to train at a high level until then. But even if it’s a philosophical shift that keeps him from racing indoors that’d be something that’s new for him and unfortunate for Jakob fans/fans of the sport. But it might be best for his longevity.
he is so driven to be the best...if he isn't 100% he does not want to have results like 1500s recently...for an athlete like him to be absent for nearly a year something major is going on...will not be a bit surprised if this is another ca$e of an elite runner overtraining/competing and the body just says no
he is so driven to be the best...if he isn't 100% he does not want to have results like 1500s recently...for an athlete like him to be absent for nearly a year something major is going on...will not be a bit surprised if this is another ca$e of an elite runner overtraining/competing and the body just says no
I posted the same sentiment yesterday. I think Jakob is cooked. Add to that the emotional toll of the public family drama that played out with Gjert essentially accusing Jakob of being a liar. And that he has been forced to train like a pro athlete since he was like 10. It’s been 15 years of relentless hard training. Nobody can physically or emotionally sustain that forever. I think he is done and is looking for an out at this point. Coaching would be a seamless transition and it’s not like he doesn’t know every aspect of training.
He says he skipped because of the risk of injury or sickness and that the last couple weeks have been good. This video was probably recorded like 1-2 weeks ago.
He had claimed training has been going well for many months. He is obviously not revealing the whole truth here
I mean, what do you expect me to say? Do you think he is secretly injured and is just going to altitude for no reason? He is building up, and doesn’t see Euro XC as the top priority due to probably a million things (past injuries, getting an illness at the event, less time training than previous years due to tonsil surgery, self-stated goal of setting three WRs outdoors, three big championships in the upcoming year plus a lot of important races he wants to prioritize). It just wasn’t worth it. I don’t think there is this grand conspiracy here.
I think the lesson here, is that the year round race fitness approach just does not work. Jakob trained and raced himself into the ground and his body has broken down. From what I have seen over the years is that once someone gets an injury like his, they are done man. They are never the same again. It’s over. I for one admired Jakob’s tenacity and his willingness to race and compete, but I thought he was arrogant and dismissive of his competitors. His accomplishments I would say put him in the top 20, but certainly not worthy of GOAT consideration. I think once Hoey has his inevitable toasted burn out and others like Nico and Blanks begin to falter, we will begin to see that all this double threshold, year-round race fitness, run hard every day, no breaks nonsense has been a training fad that is ineffective at having a career over a few years and makes serious injuries unavoidable.
You’re half right, but we have seen runners take long breaks only to come back stronger than ever. We’ll see. I also don’t think he was arrogant or dismissive of anyone other than Wightman in 2022 when he called him a lesser runner. Everything he said to Kerr was true and factual. I’d probably put Jakob closer to top 10 depending on what GOAT list we are talking about.
Reality check: Jakob skipped Euro XC like almost every other top runner in Europe. I don't think it is a missed check point given his disjointed training leading into Tokyo, time off due to tonsil surgery and cautiousness building back up. In Jakob's own words, his training consists of building blocks, the foundations of which he wasn't able to do leading into Tokyo, and probably hasn't done since this time last year. Now is the time to lay the foundations again.
In one thread on LRC, people are criticizing Hoey for going too hard in december, and in another sounding alarm bells because Jakob is skipping races.
Well your reality check is Jakob doesn’t operate like “almost every other top runner in Europe.” He typically runs each European championship (including XC/indoors), each track World championships (including indoors) that he can. Historically, he doesn’t pick and choose like your typical guy.
Now, if you want to say Jakob isn’t properly prepared due to the operation AND his injuries that’s fine. But if you’re saying Jakob is now going to pick and choose his spots like nearly everyone else then the injury is a significant turning point in his career. It seems to me we are seeing a mixture of both right now. You are taking a very rosy view of things if you can’t connect the dots with the concerning trajectory as it relates to his brothers. But again, let’s see when it’s time for Lieven and if he is able to train at a high level until then. But even if it’s a philosophical shift that keeps him from racing indoors that’d be something that’s new for him and unfortunate for Jakob fans/fans of the sport. But it might be best for his longevity.
We can’t forget about the psychological toll the trial for Gjert had on him after racing two hard championships in Apeldoorn/Nanjing. It may have been the deciding factor between injury/no injury after a historic indoor season.
edit: Also, this may not be relevant to him but it could just be that he knows he is already the most successful or 2nd most successful runner at the European XC/Indoor championships (Only behind Serhiy Lebid in Euro XC Junior/Senior titles and tied with Valeriy Borzov for the most Golds at Euro Indoors). Winning more golds there won’t really change the mark at this point in his GOAT rankings I think. He has the most golds at the European Outdoor championships (but I’m sure he would love to make a huge statement by making it 8 total golds this summer). I’m a Jakob fan but I’d prefer if he focused on things like World XC or World Indoors at this point rather than adding yet another European title. Just my opinion, and I think he may recognize this based on some rumours.
This post was edited 9 minutes after it was posted.
We can’t forget about the psychological toll the trial for Gjert had on him after racing two hard championships in Apeldoorn/Nanjing. It may have been the deciding factor between injury/no injury after a historic indoor season.
edit: Also, this may not be relevant to him but it could just be that he knows he is already the most successful or 2nd most successful runner at the European XC/Indoor championships (Only behind Serhiy Lebid in Euro XC Junior/Senior titles and tied with Valeriy Borzov for the most Golds at Euro Indoors). Winning more golds there won’t really change the mark at this point in his GOAT rankings I think. He has the most golds at the European Outdoor championships (but I’m sure he would love to make a huge statement by making it 8 total golds this summer). I’m a Jakob fan but I’d prefer if he focused on things like World XC or World Indoors at this point rather than adding yet another European title. Just my opinion, and I think he may recognize this based on some rumours.
I think you can rule out World XC. It would be very encouraging if he did World Indoors.
No way he is done, unless by done you mean not a big threat to set 1500 or 5000 meter world records. That's definitely a longshot now. Age 24 or 25 or MAYBE 26 would be the sweet spot for a precocious talent like him. And it will take more than a year of uninterrupted training to break those records.
He'll always have the memory of those mind-blowing 3000/2-mile records.
No way he is done, unless by done you mean not a big threat to set 1500 or 5000 meter world records. That's definitely a longshot now. Age 24 or 25 or MAYBE 26 would be the sweet spot for a precocious talent like him. And it will take more than a year of uninterrupted training to break those records.
He'll always have the memory of those mind-blowing 3000/2-mile records.
I think he still has a good shot at 5000m, slim chance at 1500m.
Fitness wise, I don't see why he can't get back to his 2024 shape next year. I'm hopeful he can stay away from his achilles injuries with some tweak to his training