Alan Webb is my new favorite person in track and field

jerunner wrote:

Thank you Disagree and Captain Fantastic.

I like Alan Webb. I have nothing against the guy. But do you people really think that the fastest born American miler EVER can just be a normal 25 year old??

You know we're talking about running right?

It's not like he's got swarms of paparazzi outside of his house he has to shake every morning. He has every opportunity to be normal in most regards.

Disagree is a huge flaming troll, as seen by his reference to OAR like it was a non-fictional book. Come on, you didn't pick up on that or his millions of posts that just repeat different versions of things he's said a million times over.

Did I say Webb hasn't made sacrifices? NO.

Did I say he's a run of the mill average 25 year old? NO.

I said this guy graduated to my awesome ranking level for doing normal things on the side while running blazing fast. Of course he's probably made sacrifices. However, as Disagree tries to twist his way out of being made fun of for being the troll he is.... he switched from this hardcore stance of requiring you to make every sacrifice possible to a softer stance of well everyone's acting like he doesn't love sport but he's the only one that thinks he does. Go read the original posts.

All I'm saying is this guy is pretty freaking sweet for being a kick butt runner, sucking at a big meet, shrugging it off and double fisting some miller's. I like the fact that he can find his normal niche and not care about all these flamers on here that ride on him every second of his life like he's an A-list celebrity. It's cool that he can relax and not take himself so seriously. In fact I hope he's on Halo-3 someday and I destroy him, just so he can know what real competition is like....nothing like that Bernard Lagat character.

ahh so i see, you did christian missionary work and can't believe that someone disagrees with the idea of missionaries operating in africa... are you really that insecure about you beliefs that can't take that criticism...are you really that close minded to not see people's problems with missionary work...whatever you can go on doing what you do and believe what you do... i can nearly guarantee you that i have given more to charity than you ever have if you want to use some moral thermometer, but in your self-rightousness you can't see beyond your own little close minded unthinking world

Captain Fantastic wrote:

What's up anEconomist, did you find out he is a Christian that has been secretly supplying food to starving people in Africa? I know that usually bothers you.

I have made many sacrifices in my own life, but the rewards far outweigh those sacrifices i.e. traveling around Africa, learning dedication and discipline, pushing myself to the best of my own ability, meeting and training with dedicated and disciplined athletes, meeting pretty ladies that have more to their personality than getting drunk, etc.

[quote]anEconomist wrote:

ahh so i see, you did christian missionary work and can't believe that someone disagrees with the idea of missionaries operating in africa... are you really that insecure about you beliefs that can't take that criticism...

are you really that close minded to not see people's problems with missionary work...

whatever you can go on doing what you do and believe what you do... i can nearly guarantee you that i have given more to charity than you ever have if you want to use some moral thermometer, but in your self-rightousness you can't see beyond your own little close minded unthinking world

[quote]Captain Fantastic wrote:

Either that or I have enough experience with real life that I know a packet of food for a hungry person is good no matter what it says on the packet...

I dont know what you guys find worse, the fact that Alan Webb, the man who didnt make the team is out drinking

or the fact that Nick Symmonds, our olympian is out partying instead of recovering.

In all honesty Webb has every reason to go out and get hammered, he doesnt have that major commitment of running in the Olympics to worry about. That constant pressure to get Gold.

What I think is everyone should just chill out a bit and let this man do what he wants. Its his life and he chooses to live it as he pleases. He definatly hasn't been doing the wrong things, you dont run 3:46 without doing something right, but he just had a bad, poorly planned year. If the problem persists, then maybe we all have a reason to worry, but everyone has bad seasons.

First of all, anEconomist, it is how much you give in terms of quality, not quantity. The rich man who gives a tenth of his earnings is not worth as much as the poor man who gives every last cent he's ever owned.

First of all what in the 2e5@#%$#@R^#$DSAFCZXT$@ is a goddamn flaming troll? I have absolutely zero clue what that means. If it's an insult it makes no sense, none whatsoever.

Never said OAR was non-fiction. Are you trying to say that Once a Runner is not incredibly true to what elite running really is? Also, maybe I wouldn't have to repeat what I said so many times if you didn't deliberately misinterpret it and pretend like what I was saying was somehow offensive. The reaction to my posts was beyond ridiculous. Nothing warranted that anger.

Are 3:55 and 1:47 blazing fast? Absolutely yes.

Are they the peak of Webb's ability? Absolutely no.

You don't have to sacrifice just for the sake of sacrifice. I never, ever said that. I can see why you think I've changed my stances. That was not my intention. Here it is:

You vastly overestimate just how 'normal' of a guy Alan Webb really is. I'm sure he enjoys some of those things but he is not just one of the guys hanging out all the time. At least I don't think he is. If he is, then it's probably going to show in his performances. But I don't think he is.

In turn, you underestimate what it takes to be a real runner, as do many of the overreacting morons on this thread who somehow become offended when told that becoming your absolute best doesn't involve nightly binge drinking and intercourse with hoodrats. IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN'T BE A COOL GUY - there are plenty of runners who are cool guys who are able to enjoy their life outside of running. But it is by no means a completely normal life. If you took that as what I was trying to say I apologize for confusing you.

It's cool that you think those things about him are cool...I don't really find that cool at all, but whatever. Especially the halo 3 bit. I'd be devastated if I didn't make the Olympic team and had run 3:30 the year before. I read this on another thread I think, what did MJ do when he was cut from his varsity basketball team? He sat in his room and cried for hours. Then he went back out on his court and practiced and made sure something like that NEVER HAPPENED AGAIN. I think Webb is a great runner...I don't think it's cool that he's able to shrug off a loss like that so easily, though.

On top of that, Bernard Lagat is ten times cooler than Webb...HE is a good example of a great guy who is a great distance runner. He has a life, but running is a major part of it. That's it, end of story. That man knows exactly what it means to be a champion.

I don't mean to get off track... I think Webb knows too, aside from whatever antics you think are 'cool' about him. Maybe you are not disagreeing with this, but I just feel that all of those cool things are evidence of what is most important in ANYONE's life, they aren't going to be hitting the ceiling of their distance running potential anytime soon.

If you find that extreme then fine. And go ahead and wish cancer on me for all I care. But it's true and I'm sorry you have trouble dealing with the truth.

This thread is hilarious.

What's up anEconomist, did you find out he is a Christian that has been secretly supplying food to starving people in Africa? I know that usually bothers you.

I have made many sacrifices in my own life, but the rewards far outweigh those sacrifices i.e. traveling around Africa, learning dedication and discipline, pushing myself to the best of my own ability, meeting and training with dedicated and disciplined athletes, meeting pretty ladies that have more to their personality than getting drunk, etc.

What? Supplying food to Africa? How are we supposed to beat them if we are feeding them?

what, did you not realize before that being a good runner wasn't about being "one of the bros"? you can't be frat leader and star runner, if that's what your after.

Actually I was a star runner (in my state) and a partier at once, in high school - 4:12/1:55 on 45 miles a week.

I am in college now and struggling with running - but that post made me realize that running IS a sacrifice, and there is no point in my doing it half assed because I don't love it that much. So I will just quit and put my time elsewhere.

well.... wrote:

Actually I was a star runner (in my state) and a partier at once, in high school - 4:12/1:55 on 45 miles a week.

I am in college now and struggling with running - but that post made me realize that running IS a sacrifice, and there is no point in my doing it half assed because I don't love it that much. So I will just quit and put my time elsewhere.

If you are serious then I don't think anyone could criticize you for cutting back on your running. From a RUNNING perspective it is a waste of talent, but if running doesn't give you satisfaction then it is a waste of time.

disagree wrote:

First of all what in the 2e5@#%$#@R^#$DSAFCZXT$@ is a goddamn flaming troll? I have absolutely zero clue what that means. If it's an insult it makes no sense, none whatsoever.

That's cool, cause I have no idea what 2e5@#%$#@R^#$DSAFCZXT$@ means.

Yet I'm the angry one. lol, flame on bro, flame on.

flamingo wrote:

I dont know what you guys find worse, the fact that Alan Webb, the man who didnt make the team is out drinking

or the fact that Nick Symmonds, our olympian is out partying instead of recovering.

In all honesty Webb has every reason to go out and get hammered, he doesnt have that major commitment of running in the Olympics to worry about. That constant pressure to get Gold.

What I think is everyone should just chill out a bit and let this man do what he wants. Its his life and he chooses to live it as he pleases. He definatly hasn't been doing the wrong things, you dont run 3:46 without doing something right, but he just had a bad, poorly planned year. If the problem persists, then maybe we all have a reason to worry, but everyone has bad seasons.

Agreed. Webb was not the only one at that party, at the bars, etc. I won't name names because I don't judge people unless I spend a lot of time with them (close friends, family). I certainly do not judge people based on a few pictures plastered on the internet or some newspaper article (it's in the newspaper, so it must be true). It's ridiculous how everyone suddenly comes to the conclusion that Webb drinks beer and eats junk food all day even though they don't know him personally. It's more ridiculous to blame his season on his lifestyle which you know nothing about.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

Agreed. Webb was not the only one at that party, at the bars, etc. I won't name names because I don't judge people unless I spend a lot of time with them (close friends, family). I certainly do not judge people based on a few pictures plastered on the internet or some newspaper article (it's in the newspaper, so it must be true). It's ridiculous how everyone suddenly comes to the conclusion that Webb drinks beer and eats junk food all day even though they don't know him personally. It's more ridiculous to blame his season on his lifestyle which you know nothing about.

hmmm. i seem to remember a washington post article a few weeks before the trials. eating junk food on a regular basis. that is, after all, what started this whole thing.

eating unheathly may not hurt you. but it sure as hell doesn't help you.

thanks TXrunnerGirl ! :) hows merwyn?

Think about how many people would love to have alan webb's talent and he's just wasting it. its hard to watch

ju le a wrote:

thanks TXrunnerGirl ! :) hows merwyn?

He's wearing pants now.

You are not actually watching it. You just have seen a few races where he has not run near his personal bests. But then again every poster on letsrun knows that its entirely possible and extremely easy to always be in the best shape, especially disagree who spends so much time sacrificing he actually donated half his brain. Unfortunately he didn't donate the stupid half, he kept that part.

wilfredo wrote:

Think about how many people would love to have alan webb's talent and he's just wasting it. its hard to watch

that's called jealousy...it will get you far in life and in the end you'll feel very satisfied.

Actual Runner wrote:

You are not actually watching it. You just have seen a few races where he has not run near his personal bests. But then again every poster on letsrun knows that its entirely possible and extremely easy to always be in the best shape, especially disagree who spends so much time sacrificing he actually donated half his brain. Unfortunately he didn't donate the stupid half, he kept that part.

horrendus put-downs aside, the whole point is that it is NOT easy to be at your very best all the time, ESPECIALLY when you are at webb's level. you seem to have completely misunderstood the entire thread.

I think he has made some sacrifices recently to get that new head of hair. That hurts gettin those implants. Looks like he has been working on getting some muscles to show off for the cameras and photos also. I think you guys are right he should not sacrifice for running at this time. I can then make my big bets against him and win big money.

Diagree...you can't reason with these cowards.