response to Jason from Yobo

yobo wrote:

If you want to impress me how about running 2:18 while putting in only 30miles a week.

Hey how about not being a complete dumbass, might give people a better impression of you.

I agree with yobo. If you're running a 125miles a week at altitute, 2:18 pretty much sucks. Bottom line Jason, you train with women buddy because you cant hang with the guys. Maybe if you shut your mouth more and just ran, people would respect you more. Atleast Teddy is catching onto that concept.

You know Yobo ... I have not been too impressed with Jason's posts. In fact, I often avoid them.

But Jason set a goal, and sacrificed to meet that goal. Who cares if it was on 30 miles a day or 30 miles a week? He set the goal and found a way to acheive it. By the way - that goal happened to be a time that got him a qualifier for the trials - so it is fairly admirable.

I have met a lot of guys with a ton of guts, character and have worked there asses off to get that time. And they have not got it. I have a lot more respect for them then the guy that gets it off of 30 miles a week. They have earned it more with the 30 mile days in my opinion.

I have a lot more respect for the athlete that sets a goal that requires the greater sacrifice.

I remember seeing El G win in some sub 3:30 time and blowing kisses to the audience. That was great ... but frankly, be it the marathon or the mile, I appreciate the effort that is a stretch for the athlete much more than the guy who gets it off of talent (in comparing El G, I think of Walker's face as he broke 3:50 for the first time, Aoutia's gritted teeth) (for a local guy daring to put in 100 mile weeks in and out and to resist the temptations of our society to be the best he can be).

Just my take. If you are running sub 1:50 or sub 2:18 on thirty miles a week, I would argue you are cheating yourself and that you could run faster at both by doubling or tripling your mileage (although it seems your attitude would need an adjustment too).

Dweezil

since when did a great work ethic deserve less respect than a shitty one?

he wanted to run 2:18, knew he couldn't do it off of 30 miles, so he worked to achieve it. that's awesome if you ask me.

being a hard worker and becoming successful should be considered in higher regard than not working hard and being successful.

Maybe people are misunderstanding my post. Thats great that he set a goal and reached it. Good job Jason! What I am sick of was reading all the other crap, message after message about how tough he is, how many women he's doing, how much he's drinking etc. If you want to post your training log, thats great, but please less of the profanity and stupid comments. Having lived, and current living in Asia, I can pretty much guarantee that the only thing he is banging in China is his head against the wall.

I don't know. Judging by what Jason says he was doing in workouts, thought he should be quicker.

I don't want all you Jason-lovers to jump all over me because, your right, I will never run a 2:18. However, there is a lot to be said for running to your potential. Whether you have the potential to run a 2:12 or a 3:12. If you are going to be shooting off your mouth like what we've witnessed, you'd sure as hell better come through with better than a 2:18.

2:18 is only the beginning.

I ran conservatively in order to achieve my MINIMUM goal of 2;19;59.

Keep in mind that I ran 2 hours the day after the race, at 4am. Legs are fine.

This result gives me confidence to move forward to faster paces. My next goal is 2;14 at either Biwa-ko or Hamburg, and then 2;11;59 next year in Berlin.

I feel that with continued hard training in Highaltitude, I can do this.

My training in China was only 5 weeks at an average of about 110 miles per week. Starting in November, I will be there for 10 weeks and i will increase the mileage to a steady 250km/week.

jason

It may be only the beginning but its still only 2:18. In other words, why not have a low profile and impress everybody instead of having people slam you for shooting your mouth off. 2:18 is good but a long way to go to 2:14, why not just shut your mouth and do it!

The most that can be expected from anyone is that they give their best. If Jason ran 125 miles a week and ran 2:18, then he worked hard and ran 2:18. He earned it. I wish him all the success in the world.

And by the way, will you please let us know when you run only 2:18?

I ran 3:43 and 1:49.0 as an 18 year old and ranked number 17 in the World as a Junior. If you want to compare pr's I will gladly do so. As for the marathon, you will never catch me doing one, that doesn't mean that I can't have an opinion.

this is exactly the type of response they were looking for-- now you'll have to hit these times (2:14/2:11) or be endlessly criticized on this board... by the way, the posts you were making during the summer made it seem that you were running much more than the 110 you said you averaged in china...

I too am not interested in Jason's adolescent posts about

his alleged sexual exploits in Asia and wish he would just

grow up. However when it comes to his running, I have not

noticed him being boastful or arrogant. He seems honest

and forthcoming, and is also willing to offer reasonable

and useful advice - more than can be said for many on this

board.

As far as being unimpressed, if all it takes to run 2:18

is some high mileage, why is it that I can probably count

on one hand the number of folks on this board who have run

better than 2:18 in the last 12 months? There are

certainly no shortage of high mileage devotees here with

track PRs that suggest they ought to be able to run

under 2:18.

800 meter track times are completely irrelevant in predicting marathon performance - in fact I would wager

that if you did a statistical study of top atheletes you

would find that the two are negatively correlated.

Relative to Jason's previous performance in the marathon,

this is a great step forward for him and shouldn't be

belittled.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion, however unless

you have (a) real experience upon which it is based,

or (b) logic and data to support your opinion, no one is

interested in hearing yours.

I love hearing opinions.

What are your opinions on Lautenberg replacing Torricelli in New Jersey? Law says he can't be replaced. Isn't this like replacing a runner near the end of a marathon when it looks like he can't win?

How much have you improved since then?

ACtually, given an athlete with proper training and background, 800m times can be used in predicting marathon times. According to his 800m PR, Gebrsellassie should be able to run low 2:06's. Go figure.

Max Power wrote:

Easy for you to say

As a Jason fan, I find it kind of fascinating that some people are virtually obsessed with him. He actually has not made any posts regarding sexual exploits or regarding drug-cheating middle eastern runners in quite some time. There was a barrage of them and I recall he apologized for them in a very contrite post last month. His recent posting has bascially been about his training and racing in Asia.

If youre tired of reading about it, dont read the posts or just ignore them.

He ran a 2:18, was the first American in Berlin and is going to the Trials. So if going to dis him, why not post your name and your marathon PR or resume or better yet, find something real to worry about.