barringer fell apart the second susan passed her

Percevial wrote:

She races too much.

Not during cross country season.

In fact, absolutely NO ONE races too much during a college cross country season. Heck, high school teams race more often than college teams.

I don't know whether it's driven by budget or what, but if teams start racing any less than they do now (about six races per season on average), then they may as well axe cross country programs across the board.

For me, one of the most surprising things about what happened to Barringer yesterday is how early in the race the wheels came off. The initial wobble that allowed Susan K to take the lead was only like 11 minutes into the race. Then she collapses with 1500 to go. We're talking about an elite athlete who has been training for this race distance since June. How fast do you have to go out to completely exhaust yourself by 4k? I think the answer is much faster than what she did.

Something was physically wrong with Barringer. Exactly what was wrong, I doubt she herself knows. She may have an underlying condition (for example, a blood clot in the lung) that she's unaware of. I'm NOT saying that she has a blood clot, but I am saying something of a physical nature was at play. Sure, there was a reaction to that - as there normally will be - which shut her down for a little bit, until she could recoup a bit.

One thing I'd bet the house on is that this was not just a mental episode. No way - ain't her mode of operation.

She hyped herself up physically and emotionally leading up to the race. Then, she started to doubt herself when Susan was not 50 meters back and mistakenly panicked.

Susan is a great downhill runner so, I think that the combination of Jenny B panicking and not being able control her emotions caused her to melt down with 1500m to go!

No. Nothing was physically wrong with Jenny. If that were the case, she wouldn't have been able to pass nearly 100 runners down the final 800 meters.

So, Yes. Barringer fell apart before and after Susan passed her. She didn't give her competition enough respect and paid the price. (That being said, Susan didn't race enough to give Jenny a better idea of her competitors fitness)

Maybe next time...

could have undiagnosed mono, anemia, virus...hard to tell, champions don't just collapse for no reason.

or she may have cancer and her career is over. either/or.

Was the Susan K fade mental. She seemed to slink off to the right so that she wouldn't be seen. Her collapse was not as total, obviously, but comparable.

More like the usual young female response to failure in team sports -- extreme weeping. Can't handle defeat so act crazy and the collapse was intentional.

everything is mental and physical. so, even if there was a mental slip up the flip side should be that winning all those races was a result of her being mentally tougher than her competitors.

I guess is annoys me when people think athletes win because they are physically more talented, but when they lose it's because they are mentally weak. You can't have it one way, but not the other.

I'm no mind reader and I doubt anyone else on here is, so any explanation based on emotions or state of mind is just wild speculation.

I'm just skeptical of any mental explanation given her extensive experience in racing at a championship level. She's raced many times in NCAA championships and at a top international level with no apparent difficulty in dealing with the stress, so absent some actual evidence, the first thing to look to is some physical explanation, which could be something fairly subtle (anemia, virus, etc.) but still enough to keep her from being able to run at the level required yesterday.

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. 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.

You have no idea what you are talking about...

24 minute interview with Jenny B.

there's no doubt the pressure got to her. from her pre-race comments/interviews she basically claimed the title before the race. bad move! it seemed to me that when Kujiken was still with her after the halfway point she was broke. Jenny has ran away from everyone at the NCAA level over the past 12 months and when she wasn't able to due to so with Kujiken she mentally fell apart. she had a plan to take it out hard (which she probably thought would leave the field in the dust) and when someone came with her and stuck with her...she lost that mental edge. nice to hear her honesty.

Exercise induced asthma.

Happened to me once in my life while running intervals - it brought me to a standstill. Hasn't happened since.

Meh. Whatever the reason for her breakdown, it doesn't reveal some deep-seated mental weakness or lack of heart. She's a tough girl, and everybody has bad days for whatever reason.

Remember when Shalane Flanagan had the lead at NCAA XCs at Furman and started walking up the hill with 1k to go? At the time, it was bizarre and everyone was talking about her being mentally weak, unable to handle pressure, etc.

Well look at Shalane now. That race is just a bad memory for her, and soon this one will be the same for Barringer. She's going to be fine, and she's still just as good as she was before NCAAs.

Does she have exercise induced asthma?? I do and if you noticed when she first started having problems her head goes back and mouth opens as if she is gasping. I have had this happen. You think you are going into oxygen debt and just the normal pain that goes with racing. Then bam...it is something more. It scares the hell out of you and can put an athlete in jeopardy. I have finished runs dizzy with ashen skin and black lips. It is a strange and unpredictable condition with every episode different in severity. Sometimes you can pause and get on with it. Sometimes you can passout. Jen, get to a Doctor. Get checked for asthma. Be careful and don't listen to the distractors. You showed a ton of heart!! Congrats!!

Just another running guy wrote:

I'm just skeptical of any mental explanation given her extensive experience in racing at a championship level.

this argument has come up a few times, but it is flawed. never before in jenny B's career has she gone into a race as the overwhelming favorite and yet had someone running stride for stride with her, let alone (and this is something I think a lot of people are forgetting/underestimating) the fact that she put a pro career on hold just for this one title.

Barringer certainly competed as a champion, despite a physical problem apparent to all but the terminally clueless. I would agree with you that a thorough medical check is in order.

overtraining is best possible answer....she had a very long year....overtraining not only ruins you physiologically it also plays with your mind since it depresses your mood and motivation.....it can come on very quickly in a matter of weeks...if you don't recognize symptoms and back off...

she should see get blood work to checked for overtraining or other problems like low iron stores/anemia.....

she should be fine with 3 months of rest/easy running...

Jenny is an amazing athlete and young woman. I've been a fan of hers since high school.

I watched the race and before she actually folded I told my daughter she wasn't going to win the race. I saw it in her eyes and face.

1. Susan was primed to beat her Monday, and that's scary for an athlete who is expected to never lose in a collegiate race.

2. Jenny has been on for so long it's humanly impossible to be up all the time, and it okay not to be.

3. She put too much emphasis on this race for herself.

4. For the first time in a while in a collegiate race she felt threaten, and with the combined pressure of the above it became too much for her and she caved. She is human and she can't expect to be more.

Jenny will get over this and become a better competitor for it, but more importantly I pray she becomes a better and more humble person for it. God speed Jenny on your pro career.

Jenny keep faith and be humble.