Ryan Hall, 27, and not getting any younger...NOT the great white american hope

fitness wrote:

In my book he is done.

Thanks for this completely meaningless dismissal.

fitness wrote:

...He might put out another 2:05.high/2:06 within a year or two (at most)...In my book he is done.

sounds like it would be close to an american record within a year or two. yeah, he must be done.

i'll make sure not to read your book

agree. but I think sub 1 hour half and 2'06 marathoner is pretty good. Don't you think?? If he quit running today...he is the fastest white american ever lived.

He has a rather durable body- no major injuries since college. We'll have to see what happens in Chicago, but anything over the AR and I say he needs to get the hell away from Mahon or Mahon needs to realise that speed gave a 24-year-old supertalent a 59:43 solo debut and erratically paced 2:06:17.

Python wrote:

He has a rather durable body- no major injuries since college. We'll have to see what happens in Chicago, but anything over the AR and I say he needs to get the hell away from Mahon or Mahon needs to realise that speed gave a 24-year-old supertalent a 59:43 solo debut and erratically paced 2:06:17.

I said he was done in my book to leave the option open to troll this thread, however that aside, I think he needs to switch coaches. The last year or two he hasn't been up to his potential by a long shot. He just ran a 63:55 with an all-time PR in the event at 59 minutes. 4 minutes off a half marathon is borderline ridiculas even if you factor in that such and such race was flatter or w/e.

Ryan Hall isn't coaching himself, is he?

god has a great plan that has Hall coming 4 or 5 all the time

cause he's got nothing better to do

You guys better realize that you don't want anything close to a PR in the half marathon, when you're a month out of the marathon you are peaking for. If you run fast in the half, that means one of two things. You either backed off way too much leading up to the half and your near your peak, or you're not training near hard enough to carry that fitness through the entire marathon distance. There has been some great examples of this. KK is the best one, as he always ran a half in the 63-65 range leading up to the marathon. Wanjiru, back in '09 ran something like 59 and change, then wasn't able to run the marathon in London (I think) anywhere near his capabilities.

Former ASCer wrote:

You guys better realize that you don't want anything close to a PR in the half marathon, when you're a month out of the marathon you are peaking for. If you run fast in the half, that means one of two things. You either backed off way too much leading up to the half and your near your peak, or you're not training near hard enough to carry that fitness through the entire marathon distance. There has been some great examples of this. KK is the best one, as he always ran a half in the 63-65 range leading up to the marathon. Wanjiru, back in '09 ran something like 59 and change, then wasn't able to run the marathon in London (I think) anywhere near his capabilities.

I made a thread about this a few months ago, but I really don't understand that, if that's true, why was Geb able to run a 27:06 10000m a month before running 2:03:59? Plus it was 27:06 in a kickers race so undoubtedly he could've run faster, and surely a 27:06 is equivalent to a sub 60 half marathon

Haile also said it was a blessing that he ran the 10,000 in Beijing because that speed allowed him to run the WR.

The point is that 27:06/60half for Gebresallaise is not 26:20/58. 60:xx x2 + 3 = the half marathon record that he ran. So 63:high might be a little slower than expected, but it's certainly reasonable for Hall to be a lot slower than 60.

"I am fed up with Ryan Hall and that is why he is running poorly -- all that BS about God and all makes me sick."

I guess I meant more in response to the Wanjiru comment. Why shouldn't Wanjiru be able to run up to his capability in the marathon after a 59 and change half, if again, Haile ran a 10000m so fast prior to his record?

nope. not so much. he was training through this PDR to get ready for chicago in 3 weeks. he hasnt run on a fast course since before the olympics in 08 for crying out loud. he improved at boston from last year to this year. but i do think there is a lot of pressure on him to perform in chi town. i give him 50/50 on setting an AR on 10/10/10. but thats just my prediction

hall needs more speed. he may be a "rhythm runner" but even rhythm runners need it. 27 is NOT aging... tell that to Haile

Willy K wrote:

... 27 is NOT aging... tell that to Haile

Is Haile the norm?

Next time please do a quick brain check first.

The Waterboy wrote:

I made a thread about this a few months ago, but I really don't understand that, if that's true, why was Geb able to run a 27:06 10000m a month before running 2:03:59? Plus it was 27:06 in a kickers race so undoubtedly he could've run faster, and surely a 27:06 is equivalent to a sub 60 half marathon

My guess it's because Geb is the or one of the greatest distance runners of all time.

Let's use an example that limits the sample to maybe a population of 3 as a standard.

That's just brilliant.

I agree with the posters, he needs to race more. He barely ever races. He should have a chat with steve jones.

1 h 4 is not that great at all for a pro.

His coach was talking of making him run a fast 5000 this summer and then prepare for the marathon. Where was that 5000??? He should have been the first american of his generation under 13' if you look at his HM pr.

I am not doubting his talent either, just his coach and his take on this whole running thing. Does he even enjoy the thing deeply in himself???

I mean if you like running a lot you race every week, and one bad race isn't going to make your day, if you race bad for a while you adjust training up the aerobic miles decrease quality,....

Heck if you really like running you race yourself to fitness.

What is he doing now????

He prepares a whole year for a marathon and a few weeks before the marathon runs a half marathon now to conclude something was wrong in training and he is in trouble for his marathon. 1 h 4 maybe barely good for 2 h 15.

Even if his fitness is better then what we've seen in this race i am pretty sure after such a race his attitude won't bring him one inch under 2 h 10.

Such a WASTE OF TALENT

Python wrote:

anything over the AR and I say he needs to get the hell away from Mahon or Mahon needs to realise that speed gave a 24-year-old supertalent a 59:43 solo debut and erratically paced 2:06:17.

I would bet a change of coaches wouldn't change anything. Hall comes across as doing what he wants to do, including in races, regardless of what might seem correct to others. My sense is that Mahon does the best he can to point Hall in the direction Mahon thinks he should go, but that he has to work within the constraints set by an athlete who has his own priorities. A change of coaches would probably mean the new coach needing to spend time learning how to guide Hall's personality.

Ryan ran a crap 1/2 marathon in his run-up to Boston and then posted the fastest time ever for an american at the Boston Marathon. Maybe he's tired? Maybe he didn't rest at all for the race? I don't know. But from his past, a lousy half-marathon doesn't guarantee a poor marathon.