Wisconsin Bonk due to...

Absolutely no correlation. None. Nada. Zip.

I get the impression that they party AFTER the season is over...but I could be wrong.

Tell me whatcha think wrote:

Did Wisconsin perform so badly at Nationals because they party too hard. I have heard that Solinsky likes to knock back more than a few beers, and the same with some of his teammates. Could this have been the downfall of the Badgers this season?

If this was true all season, they they should have sucked all season and never been the favorite.

Or, are you saying they partied the night or two before nationals?

I have no idea if this is true or not, but, I have seen in the past how drinking during a season can negatively effect performances. Often during the season runners will be fine in both competition and practice, but the toll of drinking and staying up late and not sleeping enough over the course of a season is high. The body begins to wear down making runners more susceptible to getting sick or minor injuries, both of which set back training. Even without noticeable setbacks, after not taking care of the little things (i.e. sleep and recovery) when other teams are ready to roll at the end of the season, a squad which drinks moderately and stays up late, is unable to perform at a level they otherwise would have been able to attain. At least that was the case for my team.

They don't drink during the season.

And did they really bomb that bad? Man, if they ran as bad as you make it sound and still end up second, damn, they're good!

That's my point. I really have no idea what they do or don't do during the season, I don't know anyone on the team and I've never been to Wisconsin. All I'm trying to say is that in my experience, drinking moderately and staying up later slightly impacts performance by the end of the season. Not enought to make a team completely tank, but enough that they're just not quite as good as they could have been. Wisco didn't collapse (they did get 2nd) but everyone recognized before the race that they would have to have an off day not to win. I'm just sitting around thinking about it and drawing on my own experiences to try explain their off day. Maybe it's not taking care of the little things during the season, maybe they all got sick the week before by chance, or maybe it was some combination of the two.

I saw Tegenkamp and Spiker at a party once in college and both of those guys got wasted big time. Threw up a lot and passed out. Both werent thaaat great in college. I think the Wisconsin guys do party a little hard.

Didn't one of the Wisco guys keep an online journal a few years ago? I remember reading in it that they stopped drinking after the first week or two of school.

I think it was the same journal that first discussed "badger miles." Ayone remember which site had that?

Three possible reasons come to mind:

Alex Rodriguez gave a rousing pep speech at the Wisconsin team dinner the night before

Budget cuts at Wisconsin meant the men's team gynecologist could not travel to Terre Haute

CVS in Terre Haute was sold out of Vagasil.

I am Running Err wrote:

I saw Tegenkamp and Spiker at a party once in college and both of those guys got wasted big time. Threw up a lot and passed out. Both werent thaaat great in college. I think the Wisconsin guys do party a little hard.

You have got to be kidding me. Being friends with both of them I know they both took there running very seriously in college. Yes at times they acted like normal college students but this was rare.

When you say they were not that great in college you don't know the half of it and I think you are not remembering all of their accomplishments. Not only were both of them highly successful runners, both were injury prone making it hard to reach the pinicale of the NCAA. Look at Tegenkamp now. Oh yeah and one of them was also a tremendous student.

I don't know Tegenkamp or Spiker, but I do admire both of them and I have no idea if they partied in college or not. But "Running Err's" response contradicts himself.

It is farily well known that you are much more injury prone if you do not take care of yourself, which many college kids don't do by partying too much, not getting enough sleep, not eating right, etc. That is why so many athletes improve dramatically after college after they stop living the "college life" and get serious about their training and they no longer get injured as much because they take better care of themselves. From the outside this would appear to be what happened to Tegenkamp, although I have no idea.

I meant to say "are you kidding me" contradicts himself, not "running err". By emphasizing that Tegenkamp was injured a lot in college and not out of college, you agreed with "running err".

Axel F wrote:

I meant to say "are you kidding me" contradicts himself, not "running err". By emphasizing that Tegenkamp was injured a lot in college and not out of college, you agreed with "running err".

And he has been injured after college too. Maybe he is just that damn good. So STFU if you don't no what you are talking about and stop trying to smear Wisconsins CC reputation. The school is very much a party school. The team on the other hand is very focused.

Any of you guys remember the theory John LeRoy from UW-Oshkosh had about drinking a couple years ago...i forget the site it was mentioned on but it was something like the more you drink the crappier you feel so the harder you have to train...i think this needs to be looked into

Are You Kidding wrote:

And he has been injured after college too. Maybe he is just that damn good. So STFU if you don't no what you are talking about and stop trying to smear Wisconsins CC reputation. The school is very much a party school. The team on the other hand is very focused.

I am pretty confused as to what you are angry at me for. I didn't try to smear Wisconsin's CC reputation at all. In fact I am a fan. I was just trying to point out how you kind of played into "running err's" hands with your argument. I think Tegenkamp is an outstanding runner and I have no idea of his injury history, either in college or out of college. I also have no idea or could care less if he is a partier or not. I just think you need to be more careful in your answers that you might think mean one thing, when in reality they are agreeing with the poster you are trying to argue with, which is "running err" by the way, not me.

I read a Tegenkamp journal where he explained some of his diet and he said he normally eats TV dinners.

I know he did party some, and I saw it a few times, but I dont think it was too much.

He was hurt a lot, but there are probably a lot of things he did mediocre as far as living well, but he was also in college.

Im sure now that he has some money and is professional, he takes things more seriously and that is part of the reason for the huge improvements. (along with epo)

...Chris Solinsky and Christian Wagner having sub-par races.

Tegenkamp on EPO?...give me a break. And as far as TV dinners go, his wife is getting her masters in the nutrition field, so I highly doubt it.