So Ritz can run USATF XC a month after marathon trials, but Rupp can't run 10K 8 months after?

Man, you guys are idiots. There's no conspiracy. This is running. Ritz wants to run XC and Salazar agrees that he is recovered enough to do it. End of story. Rupp's priority is the 10k, Ritz was the marathon. Ritz has obviously had a shift with priorities after not qualifying. One XC race should have just about 0 impact on his 10k trials race. It's only 12k, on grass, against a bunch of nobodies (save one).

Ritz will get an easy win in his favorite discipline and then move on to the trials.

Why would Rupp randomly decide to race the OT trials marathon for no reason?

I think Ritz pulls into 2nd some time in the last lap and actually gets outkicked himself. Ritz is doing no outkicking in this race, that's for sure. Not sure what coach douche is talking about.

There seem to be two points to this thread: Rupp is soft and Alberto is stupid.

Let's look at the results. Here are the top 15 10000 meter races run by US males. (taken from T&F News all time list

http://www.alltime-athletics.com/m_10kok.htm

)

26:48.00 Galen Rupp

26:59.60 Chris Solinsky

27:10.74 Galen Rupp

27:13.98 Mebrahtom Keflezighi

27:16.99 Abdihakem Abdirahman

27:20.15 Mebrahtom Keflezighi

27:20.56 Mark Nenow

27:22.28 Dathan Ritzenhein

27:22.81 Abdihakem Abdirahman

27:24.10 Mebrahtom Keflezighi

27:24.67 Robert Curtis

27:25.61 Alberto Salazar

27:26.84 Galen Rupp

27:28.19 Tim Nelson

27:28.22 Matt Tegenkamp

This really says enough. It says Salazar knows his business and that we'd all like to be soft like Rupp or stupid like Salazar if that would get our names on this list.

Looking at that list, it's going to be crazy seeing the top times getting wiped out in the next couple years.

Where did I saw Rupp was soft? I called him a poon. There is a biiiiiig difference.

I never called AlSal stupid, either. I didn't even mention him. You did. I think he is very smart, and actually is probably the best coach at getting his athletes to believe in what they are doing for training. And that was exactly my initial point....

If Rupp wasn't a poon, AlSal could have convinced him that he was tough enough, with a solid 2+ years of uninterrupted training in his back pocket to go out and dominate the American marathon right away. If Rupp wasn't a poon AlSal would have been able to get him to buy into the fact that a marathon 10k double over 2 months while the best american distance runner ever (in his prime, no less) was not worthwhile, but it gives him the best chance to win a medal- but yet doesn't sacrifice anything if it doesn't work out.

Rupp is not meddling in the 10k, folks. You're retard if you think he is. But in the marathon, where he could actually compete for over 90 percent of the race, anything could happen. Look at 2004, for Christ sakes.

That was my point. Ritz believes he can do anything. Rupp doesn't. Rupp has a smart psychologist for a coach, but proves time and time again that he is a poon.

And before some Rupp fanboy starts telling me only elites are allowed to have opinions, my 5k PR is 14:34, with a 10k PR of 29:44. Yes those are my real times, and yes I am aware that Rupp is way better than me. I am nowhere near elitie, but screw you- I'm still entitled to my opinion you fanboy fascists.

Bobbzy wrote:

Rupp is not meddling (interesting oneself in what is not one's concern : interfering without right or propriety

) in the 10k, folks.

Bobbzy wrote:

I called him a poon.

If Rupp wasn't a poon

If Rupp wasn't a poon.

proves time and time again that he is a poon.

Stop saying "poon."

Bobbzy wrote:

Rupp is not meddling in the 10k, folks. You're retard if you think he is.

Yikes. Are you even looking at the computer screen when you're typing?

Bobbzy wrote:

And before some Rupp fanboy starts telling me only elites are allowed to have opinions, my 5k PR is 14:34, with a 10k PR of 29:44. Yes those are my real times, and yes I am aware that Rupp is way better than me. I am nowhere near elitie, but screw you- I'm still entitled to my opinion you fanboy fascists.

Yes, of course you're entitled to your opinion, but so what? Why would you want to be entitled to a stupid and poorly-expressed opinion?

I am a victim of iphone autocorrect. I never said I wasn't a poon, too. I am totally a poon Mac user.

But I'm not on trial here.

My misfortune with technology has nothing to do with Rupp's poon-ness.

Bobbzy wrote:

If Rupp wasn't a poon, AlSal could have convinced him that he was tough enough, with a solid 2+ years of uninterrupted training in his back pocket to go out and dominate the American marathon right away. If Rupp wasn't a poon AlSal would have been able to get him to buy into the fact that a marathon 10k double over 2 months while the best american distance runner ever (in his prime, no less) was not worthwhile, but it gives him the best chance to win a medal- but yet doesn't sacrifice anything if it doesn't work out.

That was my point. Ritz believes he can do anything. Rupp doesn't. Rupp has a smart psychologist for a coach, but proves time and time again that he is a poon.

Al could have convinced him?

Galen believes in Alberto. If Alberto wants to "convince" Galen of something, he doesn't have any problem doing it. They work together, but there's no question that Alberto calls the shots. If Alberto thought it was in Galen's best interests to run the OT Marathon, then Galen certainly would have run it.

Is it that difficult to accept that Alberto has a REALLY good handle on both the physical and mental preparation that Galen needs to be at his best - and that he makes decisions with this in mind?

I probably don't know the exact definition of "poon" (although I recall that one of Fletch's alter egos was named Poon) - which likely makes me one in your nimble mind - but I simply find it ludicrous that you believe Galen's withdrawal from the marathon was anything other than a coach's decision to do what's best for his athlete.

You stated, "but yet doesn't sacrifice anything if it doesn't work out." That's the rub in this decision; you believe that it doesn't sacrifice anything despite the fact that Alberto (whom you stated earlier was smart) said that was his major concern. Al said that running the OT Marathon would compromise their preparation for the 10000m in London. He, nor Galen, said anything about running the marathon in London, only that the OT Marathon would take away from Galen's training this winter.

You can certainly disagree with Al's line of thinking, but, again, he seems to have done a pretty good job over the last 10 years preparing Galen for his most important races.