slow twitch rocks wrote:
Didn't Steve Cram supposedly top out at like 48.low for the 400? And he has 1:42.8, and 3:46 to his name, both out of Bekele's reach. Even if Bekele CAN run 1:44, of which I am a bit skeptical, I can't see him being faster than Cram, who was better in the shorter distance events, while Bekele is better in the longer. I would be surprised if he can run under 49 seconds for the 400. Under 48.5 would stun me.
seriously, these people are fools.
I've heard this mentioned a few times, Bekele would be strapped to run much faster than 48.9. He just doesn't have the build, or FT% to go faster. In the 800, his endurance could take him to 1:46 flat, but again his build and FT% are going to make going that much faster difficult.
The shortest event Bekele could rock in would be the 1k, maybe. Going through in 1:47, he could probably give a 28 flat. His strength would be in his ability to catch a lot of people in the final 100 of a k. But he wouldn't be anywhere near a WR and probably couldn't even challenge the top 3 guys in any given year.
This same situation applies pretty much to the 15 and mile, and even though he could put down a sub 3:30 under amazing conditions, and a 3:45, and even with his ability to catch people the last 100, he still wouldn't challenge the very best in the event during any given year.
Only at 3k and above does his endurance come to bear. That is why he can close 5k's and 10k's in 52. Even with his speed, which is incredible for someone so small and likely with high ST%, he could not break 49 very easily at all. If he focused on it for a year, 48.9 is the best he could achieve. 16 year old Boys in Mississippi and Texas could dust him, and Sanya Richards would be on his tail the whole way.
If anything Bekele should be an example of what good training can for anyone of any Muscle type %. Pretty much anyone who hopes to be anything in distance running needs to have the ability to break 50, unless they plan on focusing on the marathon. Even then, they have to be able to hit 52-53.