You see, that a few times to discuss such a vain and irrelevant detail as what the arithmetic average, or why the Europeans are in performance´s crises –that´s all quite irrelevant but that have one virtue - made us understand each other a little better.
I think that the problem here is that what a friend of mine said me: is that by the internet you don´t know if someone is emotional or don´t. That lack of emotions in the net discussion is what made some to say about me: don´t make him nervous, or that i´m offended (as you say) or that i´m upset or worried. I never take nothing as an offence why should i? If what someone says me what that´s true the harder that´s for me that true, that´s not an offence, that´s simply the true, and consequently of what he says isn´t true that can´t also be an offence either, because he is not commenting over me, but over some (wrong) imaginary image that he did about me. Anyhow no reason to be offended, as no reason to be nervous or upset, only I think that we need to fight for our convictions, rather be coaching or our opinions.
But I think that the question here is that we lost too much time about the details rather than go directly to the essentials. Of course that when I first read your post I think did understood what you want to say for that, that´s what you says now “The point I was trying to make is that I feel it is important for coaches not to impose limits on their athletes abilities”. And as you may know now I agree. In no matter what competition running context we need to have a winner mentality and positive one, a fight one attitude, and fight and love the challenges – despite east African domination. Those who have the defeatist attitude are the runners not me or you. But ne thing is to be positive and the other thing is to be unrealistic or fantasy dreams…Of course that we need dreams to live, the one that haven´t no projects goals or dreams what he is doing on earth ? When I say dreams is something that in the ultimate reality or perceptual world we can get. And you may agree with me that for a 14:40 or a 16:40 runner the Olympic dream that´s a fantasy, can would be a dream where and when he will do some progress in their performances first. But if that 14:40 are the average of the the 5000m olymoic standards or don´t is quite irrelevant. I simply used a concrete figure to express my own idea, eventually that´s not accurate, that´s the first figure that it came to my mind, I didn´t imagine that someone will comment that as a offensive as Sergey did.
Wanabekila, Think this if you please. When I reply a post to you or you to me, many other people read that. BY what you said i know that you know what´s an average. But the Sergey don´t know, he have a false understanding of what´s an average, thus I need to teach that in detail for him and for those who don´tt know what that means, and I guess that most of the worlds meaning, they have a false meaning what that means. The same with Abebe Bikila, eventually you know more about him than the “average” !
I guess that if you will repeat that post now you will clean my name from there, because that defeatism i´m not in that profile.
Rui Silva coach did decide to skip the Madrid indoor champs, but he thinks that Rui will be back for some summer competitions and outdoor WC in Helsinki in the next summer. He did start a very light training programme some weeks ago.