Looked up her picture, and was surprised by two things:
1) She's white (for some reason I didn't think that was the case based on her name).
2) She has boobs (i.e., not freakishly thin/anorexic)
Looked up her picture, and was surprised by two things:
1) She's white (for some reason I didn't think that was the case based on her name).
2) She has boobs (i.e., not freakishly thin/anorexic)
hmmmmmmmmmmm wrote:
Ummm no....
How is stating the obvious based on years and years of young ladies doing similar mileage. 9 out of 10 of those young ladies are not running in 10 years at a high level. You and I know it you just don't want to admit it.
So once again why is stating the obvious truth being an ahole as you put it.
You can't really explain it can you? Some people just don't like the truth.
But odds are you are her father who goes out of his way to attack anyone that disagrees with him, going as far as to respond 100's of times to posts he should just ignore.
Hahahaha. You are so full of yourself, and negativity. First of all - 9 out of 10? Those are some pretty official-sounding statistics you're making up on the fly.
Second, even if your made-up statistics were true (they're not), a 10% chance to be "running at a high level in 10 years" is actually pretty freakin' good odds.
Third, I ran the traditional low mileage / plenty of intervals & races in junior high & high school. Didn't run much the next 10 years. Mostly due to associating it with pain and hard efforts. Then I discovered the benefits of mileage and aerobic training paces (aka Lydiard method). I now love running and am blowing away my high school PRs. I look forward to my runs. I think you should not underestimate the benefits of enjoying one's training. It sounds like the girl is enjoying herself, so more power to her and I hope she enjoys it throughout her life at whatever level she chooses to pursue.
Just an observation - it also sounds like you have something against her dad.
google billionaire wrote:
Looked up her picture, and was surprised by two things:
1) She's white (for some reason I didn't think that was the case based on her name).
2) She has boobs (i.e., not freakishly thin/anorexic)
re: "She has boobs", "not freakishly thin/anorexic", would have been good enough to explain your point. Considering Alana's age, I think that is age inappropriate terminology, which I am sure most would agree.
I have trained some girls who were about Alana's age who were 5 minute milers and 18x in XC, some of the ones who were more long distance types probably could have run a fast half marathon if given the opportunity. I had a 15 year old (one month shy of 16) run a 1:01 10 miler, obviously that is way off of a 1:16 half marathon, but she was only running about 25 mpw at the point in the season. 1:16 is very fast, it would be fast for a 15 year old boy.
I do not believe for one second you had 15 year old girl run a 1:01 10 miler AND on 25 mpw????
I looked up her name, because I knew nothing about her. HaHa, she has her own website. What do parents think that is for? Will it help with recruiting? I think it would hinder it as coaches would think she is going to be another headcase.
I know women who download their Garmin data to their Facebook page every day, have their own website/blog, and post inspirational quotes and pictures of them in spandex clothes EVERY DAY to Facebook. They also post their meals and then dispense nutritional advice. They are all firmly in the 18:30-19:30 range for 5k and 1:28-1:32 for half-marathon, and NONE of them work. In other words, the only people they are impressing are hordes of 22:00-5k and 2-hour-half-marathon running housewives. To be fair, half of the ones I know are self-obsessed triathletes, and the other half are runners. For calling all this attention to themselves, the triathletes get some free socks, some free gels and drink mix, and maybe some free swim accessories. The runners generally get free compression socks. All of them treat this like it was their full-time job.
I am glad this young girl has gotten a headstart on selling herself out.
OK, scratch that. I looked at the website, she is all the way there already. There isn't much more room over the top for her to go. She already has a blog, website, links to youtube videos of her drills (narrated by her dad - 27 min long), maps of TT courses, etc.
The blog is titled "student, runner, teenager" but it only has entries that cover her races and there she discusses whether she set a national record or not, her splits, how she lines up for races and how she paces them in excruciating detail.
This is way beyond what is "fun" for a high schooler and is way beyond what is productive to develop a young runner. I wish her the best of luck and hope that injury, boredom, or worse don't derail her in the future. But doing a 25 minute drill workout TWICE a WEEK when you are in middle school is too much. It will be interesting to see how interested colleges are in her in two years, if she even wants to do college running.
If you disagree with me, watch the Part II video of her drills on youtube and listen to her old man, before you flame me. She is training at about the level a top male senior MIGHT BE if he was running under 9:00, and I think that is too much for what was a 14-year-iold girl in the video.
hmmmmmmmmmmm wrote:
How is stating the obvious based on years and years of young ladies doing similar mileage. 9 out of 10 of those young ladies are not running in 10 years at a high level. You and I know it you just don't want to admit it.
Because that's not the case, a similar thing happens with guys (losing interest, moving on to other things etc), and you're being a jerk.
I looked up that website. She just seems like a teeny-bopper who loves running and has a good time in life. And it's not like having a webpage is that out of the ordinary. You people seriously need to stop hating on that poor little girl.
no way wrote:
I do not believe for one second you had 15 year old girl run a 1:01 10 miler AND on 25 mpw????
The performance was in the '97 or '98 Broadsteet Run; she finished in the top-10 against a couple of world class athletes. You will have to take my word on the milege, she got up to about 40 over the summer and early XC season, but in May when the BSR takes place she was only running about 25 mpw. Most H.S. athletes milege dips in May, if you are on good team, you are running 2 meets a week, relays, mutiple events, preping for conf and states.
hmmmmmmmmm wrote:
How many people think she will still be running in 5 or 10 years at an elite level...
3...2....1 Here father will now appear and attack everyone who disagrees with his methods.....
well interestingly ejegayehu dibaba ran a 1:16 half marathon at age 15 and she has been at an elite level for over 10 years.
lydia cheromei won the world junior xc in 1991 at age 13, and she just ran the 2012 dubai marathon in 2:21.30 so 21 years later she is still at an elite level.
and tirunesh dibaba and meseret defar both ran a 3000 in about 8:40 at age 15-16 and they are still extremely elite.
no reason alana hadley cant keep getting better.
the burnout excuse is just a way for a coach that does not know how to develop talent to save face for the coaches incompetency.
+1, +2, +3
Let's hope she toes the line at the 2016 marathon trials and keeps at it for a few years after that.
Along the lines of other comments, she doesn't appear to be a skeleton and seems to have a fairly normal life outside of running. I'm not crazy about parent-coaches for individual sports, but don't disagree with her father's approach. Her investment in miles and strength now will pay dividends later as long as she maintains her health (physical and psychological). Perhaps she'll inherit the American Women's marathon torch after the Davila/Hastings/Flanagan/Goucher group hang up their flats and provide a bit of a paradigm shift in developing youth runners. I'd certainly hope for that above some supper talent claiming success based off of youth involvement in CrossFit.
How many people think she will still be running in 5 or 10 years at an elite level...
3...2....1 Here father will now appear and attack everyone who disagrees with his methods.....
Hard to say... I hope she continues, but the odds are against her.
She ran a 1.20 in Birmingham a few weeks ago. Could just be a bad day... But after running a string of 1.16s last year that's quite a drop off. Still very impressive for a 16-year-old though.
If she is planning on running the 16 marathon trials why would a college recruit her?
LOL -your post made me laugh. I can so relate to the women that post quotes and their daily workout and their food on face book. they so need to get lives. LOL And yes they also post spandex pics of themselves too. LOL i thought i was the only one that thought there obsession was stupid.
Ahh, the immortal Lauren Smith record... The Hadleys are good at one thing: publicity. They're too scared to race real competition.
lol - i dont think any woman running a 1:16 needs to be worried about competition.
Small Pond wrote:
Ahh, the immortal Lauren Smith record... The Hadleys are good at one thing: publicity. They're too scared to race real competition.
Alana has entered and won D1 college open XC races. They enter Footlocker, and she runs half marathons agains thousands of people. Who the hell is she ducking? She is racing sporadically, yet strategically. Maybe she would benefit from a coach with your credentials instead of her dads. LOL, LOL, LOL.
Damn, that's fast by any standard, let alone a 15 year old girl.
She's ducking all the girls that are her age who are running normal high school events. She's ducking them because she isn't that good.
And girls I coach are better than her, thanks.
how is a 15-16 yr old girl who races unattached vs. college women from FSU & other top schools (and beats them) "too scared to race real competition"?
My guess is you're some loser who has their panties wadded that the girl runs unattached in college meets instead of wasting her time & talent vs. NC HS competition..
My only concern would be that she doesn't appear to be running any faster now than she was in MS. Seems like this happens a lot with prodigies like Hadley, but I wish her the best.