What does Alan Webb have to do to be good again?

By the way: End of thread.

To much , to early , to much pressure , a coach that has just been learning about international racing , greedy agent. To progress would require change. New coach , new agent , new focus. It will never happen.

To Late wrote:

To much , to early , to much pressure

too

too

too

Webb's real problem is that his hip alignment is off. He needs to fix that because it is causing all of these small injuries he talks about and makes his stride choppy, uneven and unexplosive. Look at his best races in '07-perfect alignment. Now, not so much. It's hard to see, but it's there. Something is wrong.

do you think maybe he is injured and he doesn't want to take time off to risk the "shape" that he is in now?

I think he's already doing the right thing. You can't go from 4:04-3:46 in one or two races.It's going to take time, and he's doing the right thing by making sure he gets out the door on race day and competes. The fitness will come back. He's just getting his mental state back to what it was in 2007.

This comment will likely be removed, but for those of you who read it first, I make the following points:

1. He ran 1.43 high and 3:46 for the mile in 2007.

2. He didn't make the Olympic team in 2008.

3. He is getting beaten by national class runners with ease in 2009.

If this guy was Spanish or Morrocan, they'd be "trolls", as posters here seem to put it, all over the drug accusations like a chicken pox rash.

Wake up USA!

SEXCguy wrote:

do you think maybe he is injured and he doesn't want to take time off to risk the "shape" that he is in now?

He might be injured slightly and not know it or won't tell his idiot coach. the weight gain probably did something too.

who let the chimp use the comp wrote:

Webb's real problem is that his hip alignment is off. He needs to fix that because it is causing all of these small injuries he talks about and makes his stride choppy, uneven and unexplosive. Look at his best races in '07-perfect alignment. Now, not so much. It's hard to see, but it's there. Something is wrong.

I think that this is partially true -- his hips seem to be pretty messed up.

Get Real USA wrote:

This comment will likely be removed, but for those of you who read it first, I make the following points:

1. He ran 1.43 high and 3:46 for the mile in 2007.

2. He didn't make the Olympic team in 2008.

3. He is getting beaten by national class runners with ease in 2009.

If this guy was Spanish or Morrocan, they'd be "trolls", as posters here seem to put it, all over the drug accusations like a chicken pox rash.

Wake up USA!

ding ding ding

how did you know it was me?

-Alan

i think it's hard to have accurate insight as to what a professionaly trained athlete needs unless you know a lot about body mechanics, his in particular, and i don't know much about that subject. alan webb did however say in an interview that he's realized one of the things he does need to do is get out a race because that's how his body will best adapt to getting into mid-distance shape, and i think that's partially true. i mean, i think that's also the point of training, but training should never match all the effort and intensity one puts into an all-out, competitive race unless an athlete wants to end his/her career early.

who really knows what his daily and weekly workout routines are like? i'd agree with those who say returning to a more aerobic base is a good idea, but how would i know unless i already knew what he has been doing?

one poster mentioned how he has run 3:57 indoors this year, and the year he ran the AR he ran 3:55 indoors but also peaked a little too early for worlds. i've said before in other threads about webb this year that maybe him and razcko are planning just right this time - not peaking too late and not peaking too early.

i don't think losing to myers indoors should be a big deal anyway. myers had a better indoor season last year than he did outdoors, so we could be looking at the best racing myers does all year, whereas alan webb is still just getting the ball rolling. hopefully that is the case.

getting back to the basics is always an option too. that is, the basics he used in high school.

Run faster.

Get Real USA wrote:

This comment will likely be removed, but for those of you who read it first, I make the following points:

1. He ran 1.43 high and 3:46 for the mile in 2007.

2. He didn't make the Olympic team in 2008.

3. He is getting beaten by national class runners with ease in 2009.

If this guy was Spanish or Morrocan, they'd be "trolls", as posters here seem to put it, all over the drug accusations like a chicken pox rash.

Wake up USA!

That could also be the career arc of someone who peaked in 2007 and is on his way down. Doesn't necessarily mean drugs.

Stop doing pushups and other arm/chest/shoulder strengthening work for a while.

Continue with leg and lower core workouts.

Lower protein diet with protein consumed after running or lower body workouts.

Look less like superman and more like Hicham El Geurrouj.

Alan has the talent to become the best 1500m runner in the world right now, but his physique is broken.

famished wrote:

quote]

That could also be the career arc of someone who peaked in 2007 and is on his way down. Doesn't necessarily mean drugs.

Not that I am supporting the drugs theory, but why would he be on the way down? At his age and stage he should be on his way up.

well, isn't this time of year abour the time when middle distance athletes start incorporating more interval workouts into their week? things like repeat 800's and VO2 max workouts?

and in all this talk of webb, lagat, fernandez and such, i'm surprised no one's been curious as to the whereabouts, training, and lack of racing of

leonel manzano?

and

lopez lomong?

these guys are definitely under the radar right now. what's the deal?