barringer fell apart the second susan passed her

It is called no heart. She needs to talk to someone like Billy Mills and get a clue.

Didn't see the race but was wondering about causes and consequences.

Was it Susan passing her that caused the (mental) collapse?

Or did Suan pass her as a consequence of the (mental) collapse?

She races too much.

some coked up Brit wrote:

Didn't see the race but was wondering about causes and consequences.

Was it Susan passing her that caused the (mental) collapse?

Or did Suan pass her as a consequence of the (mental) collapse?

to me it looked like she started to fade a little, but then when susan passed her she just completely broke.

analyst wrote:

to me it looked like she started to fade a little, but then when susan passed her she just completely broke.

In my opinion (which is, admittedly, no more informed than yours) it looked to me like what you described as a fade was already the start of a breakdown. Barringer was already slowing down substantially (and, if memory serves me right, her stride had begun to shorten) when Susan K passed her--and that was, in fact, the reason that Susan K passed her. I think the reason that Barringer went from looking like she was fading for the last few seconds she was leading to looking absolutely broken when she was passed is that Susan K had slowed down for a few seconds (either intentionally to give herself a few seconds to decide whether to take the lead or subconsciously as sometimes happens when you're trailing someone and they're setting the pace) before passing Barringer, and then put in a surge to pass her with authority.

Thus, the image went from Barringer and Susan K running the same pace right before the pass to Susan K blowing Jenny's doors off. This makes me think that there was something physical going on, as Barringer had begun to break before Susan K passed her. This is not to say that a physical ailment or failing could not have been brought on by emotional strain, though.

I noticed early in the race that barringer did not look good. Her stride was very choppy and she did not look comfortable at all. I also think that when Susan went by her it really broke her mentally. So I think that it was a combination of having a bad day and just getting broken. I don't understand why people are trashing her like they are. People have those days every once in a while, and unfortantly hers was on an important day. Here in a few months when she starts running some sick times in track people will be hyping her up again.

At the NCAA level, if Barringer isn't out front by 20+ meters from the beginning of the race on, she is having a bad day. Think about the prelims for the steeple last spring. She totally demolished her heat for no reason. I knew she was in trouble after about three minutes in the race.

Kyle and Tebo had horrible races on the men's side as well. WTF? Has anyone heard what happened to them yet?

She's a miler - or rather should be

I would have won that race wrote:

It is called no heart. She needs to talk to someone like Billy Mills and get a clue.

Yeah good call man...Jenny Barringer has no heart. You are the one who needs to get a clue judging the heart of college women that you've never met. I respect that.

Billy talked all weekend about the toughness of Jenny Barringer and how he loved watching her in the steeple and 5K. Obviously everything wasn't ok physically today. She will bounce back.

Unbelievable how little some people know about running. Barringer simply went out way too fast, tried to hang on as long as she could, and when Susan passed her, went too deep and had to stop and catch her breath. Kind of like running intervals. You can run till you drop, rest a little and run some more. She was basically running intervals the last part of the race trying to finish. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING MENTAL about this. That is just crazy. The only thing broken was her governor telling her how fast she could run to run her best race.

Based on her interview, she still didn't even realize this after the race. Nobody wants to admit they went out too fast in a race and bonked, but that is exactly what happened.

Mr Mountain wrote:

Unbelievable how little some people know about running. Barringer simply went out way too fast, tried to hang on as long as she could, and when Susan passed her, went too deep and had to stop and catch her breath.

Only thing is, if she really did go out too fast, she should have been way ahead of everyone else, including Kujiken.

And Kujiken said in her post race interview that she was expecting Barringer to go out faster than she did.

I had to work and missed the race. Is there any footage i can see of the race? Any link? Please! I am just shocked! Poor Jenny and poor Susan too. A disappointment for both great athletes.

I agree too that she probably went a bit too fast early on. I've always thought Wetmore's approach to XC was to go out a bit more conservative (especially coming down from altitude) and using more of their aerobic stength to push the middle and end.

That being said (Curb your Enthusiasm..if you watch), I do feel she quit on herself a bit today. We've all been there, but most of us have not had all eyes on us. She's been the favorite all year...the pressure had to be tremendous. She got pushed more than she wanted and didn't have it today. Those days are tough. I think she got out there not feeling great and started to really doubt herself.

Ricky Bobby mentality today..."If you're not first, you're last"

Excuse me, she had to "stop and catch her breath." That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard coming from a runner. Only on Letsrun do I find people who know so little about running. You NEVER need to "stop and catch your breath." If you can't catch your breath, you suffocate and bear it until you fall down. Now, I can see that she may have had a problem that no one here knows about that caused the events we saw today, but it had nothing to do with running intervals. You don't run intervals in a race. People just don't say "oh I'm feeling pretty tired I should rest now." That's not how it works. You run until you can't run anymore, and if you had a bad race, then you struggle across the line, but you don't try to rest up.

Perhaps she got an untimely menstrual cramp? I've heard those things can be deadly.

http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/crampsmenstrual/a/cramps.htm

I have a difficult time believing it was something mental. We're talking about someone who has experience competing in epic battles with the likes of Anna Willard and coming out on top.

http://www.usatf.org/events/2007/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/results/F49.asp

This is an experienced multiple NCAA and USA champion and record-holder who looked supremely confident in her pre-race interview. Therefore, the most logical explanation for her failure to win is a physical problem, hence my suspicion of menstrual cramps.

darkwave wrote:

Mr Mountain wrote:

Unbelievable how little some people know about running. Barringer simply went out way too fast, tried to hang on as long as she could, and when Susan passed her, went too deep and had to stop and catch her breath.

Only thing is, if she really did go out too fast, she should have been way ahead of everyone else, including Kujiken.

And Kujiken said in her post race interview that she was expecting Barringer to go out faster than she did.

Jenny did not go out too fast. She hit 1K at 3:04 and broke where? 3k maybe? She is a 15mintue 5k runner. Admittedly 15:20 on grass and hills is fast, but I think she must have been wiped out somehow. I don't think she was broken by kujiken. That's not what it looked like to me.

Can you say Suzy Favor. She needs to call and talk to Suzy. She needs to get some perspective as she moves forward with your career.

I agree she pulled a Suzy Favor. Look at the video over at NCAA.com - it was absolutely, hilariously phoney - As was the interview afterwards.