He has always been coached poorly as a result of having coaches who follow mainstream training philosophy.
He has always been coached poorly as a result of having coaches who follow mainstream training philosophy.
What I don't understand is how I, a former D3 runner now in grad school, can run faster than Alan Webb while training in my free time for fun.
Curtis Beach just ran 1:47.99/800 off maybe 20mi/WK.... ..... ...... Game over.......
Raptured wrote:
Someone make Alan Webb read this! We want to see you succeed, but clearly what you're doing isn't working at all. I am a big fan, but I gave up on you ever again succeeding in the 800/1500 today. You must feel the same way. Time to move up in distance. You could be our greatest 5k/10k runner with a bit of training under a better coach. Don't let your career flame out on the path it's going lately.
Greatest....have you forgot about a guy called Lagat who Webb hasn't ever touched in 1500 prs or even close in 5k?
Raptured wrote:
Someone make Alan Webb read this! We want to see you succeed, but clearly what you're doing isn't working at all. I am a big fan, but I gave up on you ever again succeeding in the 800/1500 today. You must feel the same way. Time to move up in distance. You could be our greatest 5k/10k runner with a bit of training under a better coach. Don't let your career flame out on the path it's going lately.
Nobody running 1:54/3:56 needs to move up in distance. Webb needs to get himself straight. Moving up doesn't solve things. It's not that he isn't able to compete in the 800/1500, right now he can't even run a respectable time let alone talk about competing. Webb has it in him, he was looking better and better indoors until his drop out, and this type of talent doesn't go away.
But seriously, if he was runnign a 3:52 in the mile right now, that'd be more reason to move up than running a 1:54 800. This has nothing to do with losing the speed, he's just not fit, period.
Whether or not Webb is done is up to him. He has the ability to still come back and run world class times before he retires. I hope he does and won't ever count him out until he chooses to be done.
I agree. A 1:54 800 equivalent in the marathon would be something like a 2:20+ marathon. If Hall ever ran that, the message boards would be lit up like a Christmas tree screaming RETIRE!!! I am not going to lie, being a 31 year old myself and slower than ever due to joint wear and tear, this guy is toast. Very rarely do runners last as long as Haile and Lagat. He should go back to swimming if he wants to keep competing at a high level with minimal pounding.
THANKS BUDDY wrote:
Very apt comparisons. 1500 guy vs long distance road racers. Thank you.
Link wrote: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.
Ace in the Troll wrote:
Very rarely do runners last as long as Haile and Lagat. He should go back to swimming if he wants to keep competing at a high level with minimal pounding.
I think his priority is probably success, not the avoidance of pounding.
Swimming would be impossible for him to return to. Swimming is all technique and feel, and MUCH harder to get back to after a long time away than running is, where if you have a chance at all form comes naturally.
First of all, I've always been a big webb fan. I realize he can be a big baby with his tantrums and whatnot, but I still respect him for what he has done for american middle distance running. That being said, the very idea of him moving up to the 5k terrifies me. It is ridiculous. Alan has not lost his speed. I have no idea what's wrong, but it surely has something to do with a fitness problem and something psychological. It has to be both. 65 pace- jogging? No, not in his current shape (if he really is capable of a mere 3:54 1500 at this point in time). His 3:54 is what 62s? Probably closer to 63s. 65s for an in shape Alan Webb would be jogging. But, then again, an in shape Alan Webb is capable of sub 3:35 easy (being conservative here).Then again, it was a workout. He just stopped caring. Who knows why he went all the way to Florida to do it.I'm crossing my fingers that Webb gets things in gear. It will take a minor miracle by the looks of things.
agip wrote:
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.
i hope you know that Alan Webb can only read at the 3rd Grade level.
Great interview with Steve Cram - says Jakob has no chance of WRs this year
I’m a D2 female runner. Our coach explicitly told us not to visit LetsRun forums.
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