Why did Deena pull out of Lisbon? At first I thought that the wind of Jacksonville beat her up too much but from the sound of her blog (www.deenakastor.com), she was already in Spain. No real explanation. Is she hurt?
On another note. How did Kate O'Neill run?
She felt there was little to be gained in running another race, esp. compared to the risk.
All she has to do is show up healthy on April 20 (stay away from the press conference food, Deena!) and she can make the team with a long run effort, and save the real racing for Beijing.
Why did she need to fly to Spain to figure that out? What did she tell the press? I imagine there must have been some explanation.
You are a member of the press. What if Webb wouldn't have showed up to the starting line? Would you have asked why?
Could be more to it - maybe she got sick after arriving there, maybe her back was tight after the flight. For whatever reason, she decided not to run. There probably was some explanation to the press - it just hasn't been seen here yet.
FWIW, training partner Kate O'Neil was supposed to run there too.
O'Neill was 15th in 1:13:48. This performance was about a minute and a half slower than she ran at Houston. Probably not the confidence builder she was looking for.
The women's marathon trials look weaker and weaker as it gets closer.
You can bet there is trouble in the Kastor camp if she flew there only to pull out. Athletes will avoid that sort of flight like the plague. Gotta be something rather large for this to occur. That's the bummer about having a blog. You look foolish when you don't explain the obvious. Now she'll be pestered by everyone to know why she bailed on the race.
I'm starting to think that Magdalena Lewy Boulet is going to sneak onto the Olympic team. Which is fine.
always a reason wrote:
You can bet there is trouble in the Kastor camp if she flew there only to pull out. Athletes will avoid that sort of flight like the plague. Gotta be something rather large for this to occur. That's the bummer about having a blog. You look foolish when you don't explain the obvious. Now she'll be pestered by everyone to know why she bailed on the race.
This reminds me of the "Spirit of the Marathon", where the "Kastor Camp" almost acted like their injury was part of the plan. I imagine you have to play it that way.
Phil,
Lisbon is in Portugal, not Spain. I do agree with your point though.
I talked with Deena right after she finished at Gate and she felt the wind took a little more out of her than she expected. So at that point she decided to go home and not to Portugal. She is not injured and proved that with her solo run at Gate . She looked invincible!!
She went to Portugal. She even says so in her blog. She just didn't run. So at the very best, you have half the story.
I think several athletes who are thinking about Beijing medals and not just showing up in Beijing - Flanagan who's not going to World Cross Country among them - have just decided that extra trips to Europe in a year when the Trials and the Olympics are what matter are just not worth the disruption and the drain that they present. And they're right.
Phil of the present wrote:
Why did Deena pull out of Lisbon?
Perhaps she was done?
All Kidding Aside wrote:
I think several athletes who are thinking about Beijing medals and not just showing up in Beijing - Flanagan who's not going to World Cross Country among them - have just decided that extra trips to Europe in a year when the Trials and the Olympics are what matter are just not worth the disruption and the drain that they present. And they're right.
I agree with you. So are you saying that Deena set up a stupid schedule? She obviously realized everything you said prior to putting Lisbon on the schedule. In the last week did she realize that she was stupid before? Keep in mind that I agree with you, BUT WHAT HAS CHANGED?
Deena's blog on her website is from Portland,OR not Portugal and it was dated March 13th stating that she was headed home. Whatever... she is fine and ready for her final few weeks of serious of training.
JimG wrote:
She felt there was little to be gained in running another race, esp. compared to the risk.
The only correct answer.
why get caught wrote:
JimG wrote:She felt there was little to be gained in running another race, esp. compared to the risk.
The only correct answer.
Wasn't this the right decision a month ago? Why was it ever on her schedule?
Has anybody here ever entered a race a month or so out, or even planned to run a race, but when race week arrived you realized you were fighting an injury/on the verge of getting sick/tired/overtrained/stressed out at work or home/simply had too much going on?
It happens to elites, too. "The best laid plans . . ."
Money talks. She is a professonal and they don´t pay her enough to be in the start line. The organisation have douzens of africans as good as Deena or best than Deena and less expensive.
That makes a lot of sense Jim. What did she give the race and press as a reason for pulling out? It is unlikely that she would pull out and then say NO COMMENT.