FOR ALAN WEBB TO READ!

Before you count him Webb out, keep in mind that a year ago he ran a road 5k beating Rupp and his time would have put him among the top non-Africans in the highly competitive Carlsbad 5000. He also ran a 3:36 1500m and was improving with each race.

Based on what Alan did less than a year ago, I would in no way say he is done. And, I am pretty sure Alan is running on tired legs and today was just workout. Over the years, we have all seen Alan run slow, one week and come back in the next week or 2 with a major improvement. With all that said, even if Alan can get down to 1:50 and/or 3:45 in coulpe of weeks, things will still look doubtful for for being in the type of shape he needs to be in with only 2.5 months to go before the U.S. trials.

The American record holder in the mile should always get the benefit of the doubt...hopefully you agree.

The problem with your assessment is that a year ago Webb was with Salazar and training as a 5k runner.

1:55 a few months ago, now a 1:54. Not good.

Webb sucks a 1:54 is terrible and he has been training for a while now. I think it is time for him to call it quits and to stop embarrassing himself.

Webb will be back and ready to go in a couple months. Just wait

1:54 + 1:54 = 3:48

1:54 is terible... can you do a 1:54?

Just off the top of my sleepy head:

Both Ryan Hall and Cosmas Ndeti ran really really slow half marathons right before their Boston PRs. There are lots of examples of runners running really slow before busting big ones. If this was the best Webb could do, don't you think he would have a sense that it was and, thus, not be racing?

Hopefully Webb doesn't come to this site, or, if he does, he's motivated by the posts on here.

Thirty years ago the top marathoners raced a lot of relatively minor road races, sometimes pretty darn slowly, for lots of reasons: They were part of their training - or, just to make some money, or, they just liked to race. At the height of his powers, Bill Rodgers ran 52:45 for 10 miles finishing third at Bobby Crim in 1977. Sure it was hot that day, but, 52:45?! Luckily, back then, there weren't a bunch of kids on the internet busily posting about how Rodgers was washed up. There were lots posting about Ryan before Boston last year. Ryan ran great at Boston (whatever you think about the wind, he beat a lot of top guys that day).

Webb may yet toe the line in the Olympic finals this year. Patience.

Link wrote:

Webb may yet toe the line in the Olympic finals this year. Patience.

it will be the greatest comeback since Lazarus

Maybe Webb should move down to the 400/200... he can't do any worse

You don't know what you're talking about. Webb will be slinging dick in the 1500 this summer.

either webb is training for the 800m and everything he is doing is over distance training or

what?

i mean how many races would you do where it is all "training through?" i am by far not a pro runner but this type of plan doesn't make sense. it doesn't make much sense that he keeps lining up to get banged up on by competition he should beat with his own interval training paces. the 800m indoors he looked like he was really trying in most of those races but these two florida races don't look right. and just because it worked in high school why would he be doing the racing through crap at his age with a history of injuries?

Alan, we all want to see you run and run well. It doesn't have to be world caliber everytime but the last 6 races have left us all scratching our heads. either you're going to turn out to be the greatest sand-bagger there is in the history of t and f or nike is really abusing one of their employees in the hopes of selling a few extra pairs of spikes. or his agent is in need of cash or the coach? you don't do this to a world class miler - you just don't

Very apt comparisons. 1500 guy vs long distance road racers. Thank you.

Brynhildr is singing the finale just for Webb!!

seems to me Webb is racing his way into shape. He wants to get out there and race a lot, probably because he feels that is how he gets into the best shape.

And maybe he knows his head isn't always in the right spot - maybe he gets nerves and suffers from it. So a cure to that is to race, race, race. So he figures out a race is just a game.

And he gets work on strategy - remember how Jenny B Simpson would run in race simulations last year to learn tactics?

So Webb is clearly not a 1500 meter guy anymore. Is a 1:54 half really bad for a 5k/10k guy? What would Bumbalough run for 800? For that matter, what would Rupp run for 800?

Probably just a few seconds faster.

So I agree with the guys saying he just do the 5/10 and I expect that is his plan. At this point I would be very surprised if he ran the 15 at the trials.

last year Rupp closed the USA Championships 10k in 1:52 for the last 800... and that wasn't because he was peaked since he did that in June and didn't run 26:48 until September...

Well, considering rup closed his 10k last year with a 1:52 last 800... I'd say yea, much faster.

1:49. how about you?

MVAL wrote:

1:54 is terible... can you do a 1:54?

re; Rupp's 800 PR - IAAF has it at 1:50. So maybe he can go 1:49?

Those 'last 800' meter splits are misleading- they have a running start - worth a second or so, and the reason these guys are world class distance runners is that they can run close to PRs for the last 2 laps of a long race. I don't think Rupp can go much faster at all, fresh.

I gotta believe Webb can run 1:50 - he ran the equivalent of a 3:55 mile (337 1500) just last year. So again, I don't think Webb is that far behind a top tier US 5k/10k runner in the 800.

I know I am making excuses for Webb, and I hate myself for it, but I'm just trying to figure out what he and vig are doing, and the only thing that makes sense to me is trying to race him into shape, mentally and physically. You can recover from 800s pretty quickly, and they can be mentally easier than a 1500 - harder to freak on in.

Finally, how slow will 5k pace feel when he finally does one? running 65 second laps at the trials 5k? It will feel like jogging.

Each year thing get a little worse. Was it really 5 years ago that Webb ran a 3:51 mile in the early spring and then went onto a 3:46 mile. Who is coaching Webb right now - Dan Rather? Maybe lady gaga would be a better choice. Better yet Big Foot would be a superior choice, since he has been clocked at 30mph while carrying a deer!

Who cares now..............