Some call it super dedicated, I call it crazy - Alan Webb counts his steps!!!

If he really counts his steps, then yes, that is totally OCD. And there would be no advantage for his running to limiting the amount of walking he does. I always found that the more time I spent on my feet, either walking or working, the fitter I got. And he certainly does need to work on his fitness.

The fact that so many of you took Robby's wording literal is astounding.

Nuff said

I still don't understand the problem with wearing a pedometer. It's not like HE counts all of his steps individually. I don't walk to class in school, I bike instead because it would several miles per day of walking that I don't need to do.

He is absolutely crazy at the start of a race. It's like he did a line of coke after putting his spikes on.

Pedometers count steps. Lots of people do this.

A summer camp got my daughter, when she was 7, to do this a couple of summers ago. They added up all the steps the kids took that week and showed them that together they had walked across the state.

My mother, 79, also uses a pedometer to keep up her activity level. It just so happens the pedometers report results in steps and not miles.

7687654 wrote:

It is this type of behavior which leads to American records and also complete under performance. Its the classic case of feeling good, running good. This kind of thing is actually both his greatest strength and greatest weakness. Anyone ever read about Bobby Fisher? Guy literally could not do anything except think about chess. It made him on top of his game for long, but the price was basically his sanity. I see Webb in much the same way. He knows what its like to be at that level. He knows what kind of insanity it takes to get there. Unfortunately this vision is also damaging. Life of excellence is tough.

Gary Kasparov seems like he has it together.

really?^^

And he (or both of them) can continue counting steps while he/they pace(s) in front of the television watching those in London who simply trained and got out of their heads - this is pathetic and actually quite funny. Obviously the joke is on me as I, along with a few others, just got punked by LetsRun.

Everyone else responding to this thread is insane. Robbie Andrews is not a mature thinker who carefully weighs his words, for heaven's sake. He was hyperbolically, but clearly, indicating, as Boom! states, the importance of conserving energy between workouts.

Boom! wrote:

OK, He doesn't literally count his steps! Just a way of saying he makes an effort to stay off his feet in between runs. That is basically what Robby meant. For the record he doesn't have a pedometer or keep record of steps.

-friend of the wife

Oh, come on!

It is kind of nuts, but a lot of great athletes like Seb Coe and Edwin Moses concerned themselves with minute details. I think Roger Bannister was like that as well.

every wants to fun fast

Us office workers can relate to this - but the other way around. We need to make sure to walk MORE and sit LESS.

I don't think it would hurt AW to walk a bit more.

I always feel better after an AM long run if I walk around the rest of the day.

True. Marty Liquori wrote about how concerned he was with going to movies and cramping his legs just prior to his sub-4.

TrackCoach wrote:

It is kind of nuts, but a lot of great athletes like Seb Coe and Edwin Moses concerned themselves with minute details. I think Roger Bannister was like that as well.

this needs to b in everawthrea wrote:

http://i38.tinypic.com/2vlaebq.jpg

Lol yes the greatest picture in letsrun history. I have this stored on my computer for the epicness it contains. When Webb wins the olympic trials the BROJOS better have a black frontpage with this baby front and center.

Namkakssm wrote:

NASA just came out with these brand new high tech devices that cost a

Crap-ton of money and I suspect that Alan may use one.

It actually counts your steps for you!!!!!!!!

I believe the scientific name for it is a pedometer.

All joking aside, did you really not think of this and go straight to a stopwatch???!!

I did think of a pedometer but my suggestion to use a stopwatch still stands since pedometers do not count time just standing around. If he is worried about the stress of walking around then he should also be worried about the stress of standing around.

Anyone consider that when Webb counts his steps, he actually does use a pedometer instead of keeping a running tally in his head? Andrews' quote doesn't exactly elaborate.

Donald Rumsfeld used a pedometer to make sure he took 10,000 steps each day. No one could say that the American Secretary of Defense was crazy! President Bush would never have appointed him if he was.

Some of the things I do seem OCD from the view point of some 18min 5k'ers I know. I guess things are relative. "I think as an athlete you're inclined to conserve energy in a way that other people don't. You know, why climb that flight of stairs if you've got 10 miles on the road this evening? Be lazy. We're inclined to move around during our normal days like snails" - Seb CoeLet's all make fun of Seb too! He does odd things too, no?Robbie losses a little respect in my book for dropping this bit to a media outlet. I would guess that Robbie does a few quirky things that people could joke about that he'd rather not have in the public domain. Either he's young and little naive about these things (probably) or a jerk knowing that people would pick up on it... Alan Webb - FTW - 2012 Trials 1500m - reigning American Miler Record holder

Marco Polo in China wrote:

True. Marty Liquori wrote about how concerned he was with going to movies and cramping his legs just prior to his sub-4.

TrackCoach wrote:

It is kind of nuts, but a lot of great athletes like Seb Coe and Edwin Moses concerned themselves with minute details. I think Roger Bannister was like that as well.

*loses