Coach D wrote:
If this was a Kenyan kid who had been running 3:38/1:46, hadn't seen a PR in either since 2008....and SUDDENLY drops from 3:38 to 3:30, what would everybody be saying?
It's not that unusual.
And you are exxagerating. Wheating ran 3:37 twice this season, both with huge kicks looking easy during the race. His mile at PRE split well under 3:37 at 1500 and was the equivalent of 3:33-3:34 and again he had way too much left.
And he was a 1:45.0 runner from 2 YEARS ago, and should have been into 1:44 that race. NOT a 1:46 guy.
Get your facts first.
And yes, go thru the IAAF bios of 50 top east africans and you will see large pops in PBs all over the place. You will also see years of times slower than a PB followed by a big pop back to form. Most of this is all legit and has to do with things like injury, olympic years etc. If you understand the concept of CONTEXT you may begin to grasp it.
This was from Wheatings 2nd or 3rd weekend of racing his regular NCAA season this spring - 3:37:
http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&video_id=25393From two years ago - 3:38
http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&video_id=3833You can go thru the Wheating videos on Runnerspace and you are basically going to see about 20 - 30 videos where he just sits, sits, and kicks to various 1:45/1:46 races and 3:37/3:38/3:58 races. In nearly every race out in lane to around most of the corners and in nearly every race looking VERY comfortable until that final stretch.