Tadese and the Marathon - I don't get it!

stop jose

Nutella1 wrote:

I don't get it. How can a runner who is arguably the best Half Marathoner in history, 4 times World Champion and WR holder over that distance, blow up so badly every single times he tries tackling a full Marathon.

2:10 today is just awful for a guy like him. He should be running 2:04's.

What gives?

See also Dathan Ritzenhein. It just appears some folks are built to run fast for one hour, not two. This is ZTs third try if I recall.

Tadesse has a great coach as well, Jeronimo Bravo. I really believe it is a matter of balancing fueling and intensity. That, or he needs to stop getting into a situation like London where it's WR or bust. Perhaps he needs to run a lower-tier marathon, low-stress, much like Nerurkar did to start his career. Get into a race where he is the top dog and negative split a 2:06.

It's not "arguably", it is "simply" the best half-marathoner ever.

Geb crushed the 5/10K on the track but couldn't handle the Kenyans in cross. This is Tadesse's version of that. Ritz is a milder version.

Tadese should run medium class marathons, where top runners are aiming at a pace of 2:07-2:08. I think he can run this times. His training seems to be specific for between 10k and half marathon(maybe 25k). I see him giving up on the marathons and concentrate on the half marathon and 10,000m, road. Right now, he is unchallenged in the half marathon. This year saw the new Ethiopian guy run 58:47. It looks like Tadese's days are numbered.10k-15k world record holde Patrick Komon's expected entry into the half marathon mix further complicates things. I don't know what Tadese will do. Maybe go back to cycling.

Oh please wrote:

See also Dathan Ritzenhein. It just appears some folks are built to run fast for one hour, not two. This is ZTs third try if I recall.

Dathan Ritzenhein is a 60/2:10 sharp guy. Tadese has run 1:37min faster on the half. Multiply by two and you got 3:14min. In other words, in order to run a Marathon "as badly" for him as Dathan, he'd have to run 2:06:46.

But he runs 2:10 and 2:12's...

I reckon he just doesnt have the patience for the marathon.He loves to run fast and hard which works for distances under 30K but not the marathon.

Yeah, I'm also 'staggered' by his marathon performances. I thought he would be the guy to run 2:02:59.

To that Prag perfomarmance by the Ethiopian, I don't know his name, wtf it is getting unreal these days...Runs 58:xx in windy conditions without having done much before. Will he be a fluke. On another note, in the marathon, 2:04 has become so incredible normal!!! If someone runs 2:06 now, I dont care really. 2:07 are second tier athletes (not really of course!)...

52.43 wrote:

2:07 are second tier athletes (not really of course!)...

Yes they are - three minutes slower than Ryan Hall

The only explanation is that he is not training correctly. You cannot train for the marathon like you train for the half marathon. He is probably taking his half training and just extending the miles a little bit and adding a long run or two and this will not work

Jeronimo Bravo...dang I wish I had that name. I'd be a 2:03 marathon guy easy.

Marathon can take a while to get right. Look at Geb. He ultimately got it spectacularly right. ZT will probably figure it out soon and deliver a 2:04. 62/62 is like a training run (or two back to back) for him.

It is all about fueling and pacing. Surging like today is not for everyone. They started way too fast for ideal pacing. It allowed Lel to sneak up at the end because he is such a consumate marathoner. Experience also counts for a lot.

MarathonMind wrote:

Marathon can take a while to get right. Look at Geb. He ultimately got it spectacularly right. ZT will probably figure it out soon and deliver a 2:04. 62/62 is like a training run (or two back to back) for him.

It is all about fueling and pacing. Surging like today is not for everyone. They started way too fast for ideal pacing. It allowed Lel to sneak up at the end because he is such a consumate marathoner. Experience also counts for a lot.

ZT had dropped off before 10km! His problem today was not a fast first half, because he wasn't there.

z-man

i believe, in osaka, was in 10k wr shape

that 26'37pb of his is nonsense

he got almost a 10m lead over kennster late on & that crucial 20 - 30s was needed between "breaking him" & letting him back

latter happened, but i reckon that day he was ~

54.0 / 1'51.9 -> 3'36.5 , 4'52.7 , 7'27.6 , 12'43.9 , 26'16.4

not implying z-man ran to his best - heat affected them all & maybe him more than kennster, who wasn't in wr shape ( maybe close 26'20, but got energy advantage from drafting )

80sking wrote:

Jeronimo Bravo...dang I wish I had that name. I'd be a 2:03 marathon guy easy.

ventolin^3 wrote:

z-man

i believe, in osaka, was in 10k wr shape

that 26'37pb of his is nonsense

he got almost a 10m lead over kennster late on & that crucial 20 - 30s was needed between "breaking him" & letting him back

latter happened, but i reckon that day he was ~

54.0 / 1'51.9 -> 3'36.5 , 4'52.7 , 7'27.6 , 12'43.9 , 26'16.4

not implying z-man ran to his best - heat affected them all & maybe him more than kennster, who wasn't in wr shape ( maybe close 26'20, but got energy advantage from drafting )

Really? Bekele absolutely looked effortless that day. And then destroyed Tadesse on the last lap. Totally obliterated him. Surely, Bekele was in better shape than Tadese that day. Why do you disagree? Could drafting have really made that much of a difference?

obviously tadese doesn't get it either.

Nah nah wrote:Really?

yes

Bekele absolutely looked effortless that day

err...

not when z-man got almost 10m lead

And then destroyed Tadesse on the last lap. Totally obliterated him. Surely, Bekele was in better shape than Tadese that day. Why do you disagree? Could drafting have really made that much of a difference?

try ~ 1s/lap energy saving from drafting

which more pertintly applying to z-man, meant he "gave away" ~ 1s for every lap he "paced" kennster by ~ 2m in the race with no one ahead of them

try a work out why hicham with 3'26wr has never run a faster solo 1500 than bayi's 3'32.2 from '74

Ah ok. What kind of shape do you think Bekele was in at the 2008 Olympics? Considering his last 2k of the 5k was run in 4:55 (4:50 if you give him 1s/lap credit for leading). Was he in world record shape?