Rojo's Feature With Ryan Hall Is Now Up - Discuss Here

He again confirms that he OUGHT to be doing much more sub MP training (more speedwork, more intervals) and again confesses he hasn't done much but at least he's doing some now. Always pretty much the same story and a gradual decline, but he can still get back to 2008 shape.

ghghg wrote:

How does a guy who runs in the 90s think he can beat guys who run in the 110-130s.

Plus, he voluntarily takes 52 days off per year at a minimum.

How does he expect to win?

2:04:58.

You people who are implying/saying that Hall isn't working hard are crazy!

Did Hall give a solid number in answer to his weekly miles? No! He said he wasn't sure. And from looking at some of his workouts, I bet he is underestimating his mileage. Maybe, maybe not. But, if you can read that interview and come away thinking that Hall doesn't work hard you are just being hyper-biased. He said here, and in the NYT article, that he wasn't doing as much mileage (in his estimation . . .), but working harder on a daily basis.

And clearly, he is assessing where he is at fitness wise constantly and trying to address weak areas.

Most of you are blinded by hate for his faith/Coach.

And you come across like rabid dogs.

I'd love to see Hall rock the OLY games, but sadly I think his mental decline is really evident in this and other recent media pieces.

Coincidentally God just loves having him do what he likes to do (not strain, not much real quality on the track, convenient rest-day for his church going). Hmmm....

After reading these interviews, I've come to the conclusion that Hall is a BOSS! He is living his dream, following his passion without any distractions and putting his success or failure completely on his shoulders (and the almighty's). So much of running is intangible and largely faith based, we in some degree judge our training and performances with the belief that we will get better, continue to improve and potentially reach some pie-in-the-sky PR. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Hall's faith-based approach, you have admire his courage and would be stupid to suggest that he doesn't know what's best. The man is the greatest american marathoner in history, and our only hope for the distance in this olympics. Put aside the HATE, let in the LOVE and cheer for this guy! [quote]LetsRun.com wrote:

the competitor supreme wrote:

I'd love to see Hall rock the OLY games, but sadly I think his mental decline is really evident in this and other recent media pieces.

Oh, don't worry about Hall. Once god fixes it so the British fans "adopt his white face as someone to cheer for" (give me a break) he'll zoom past all the Africans and hit the gold jackpot.

Reg wrote:

the competitor supreme wrote:

I'd love to see Hall rock the OLY games, but sadly I think his mental decline is really evident in this and other recent media pieces.

Oh, don't worry about Hall. Once god fixes it so the British fans "adopt his white face as someone to cheer for" (give me a break) he'll zoom past all the Africans and hit the gold jackpot.

Do you think the British commentators will cheer on Hall more than Farah?

It pissed me off that someone (ROJO) would even think to ask something like that. Total BS. For one thing, he's assuming that all Brits are white, forgetting, that, nope they're not. For another, just sad to that he thinks it's so natural to link who one roots for to race. Shame on LetsRun!

dfsdf wrote:

Do you think the British commentators will cheer on Hall more than Farah?

I'm not sure how it matters since they run different races...

my biggest hope for the Oly Marathon is that the top canadian beats the top american

the competitor supreme wrote:

I'd love to see Hall rock the OLY games, but sadly I think his mental decline is really evident in this and other recent media pieces.

Coincidentally God just loves having him do what he likes to do (not strain, not much real quality on the track, convenient rest-day for his church going). Hmmm....

1. I don't understand the animosity non-religious people have for people who are religious. For the record, I talked to Hall for 35 minutes and I don't think the word God came up a single time. If some reporter on the NY Times wants to really shock there readers with the eccentric Hall, well then they can go that route if they like.

I think people get too caught up in these other media pieces. I hadn't talked to Hall in a while and really enjoyed talking to him and found him to be like he always has been - a great interview.

By the way, we interviewed him way back at the start of letsrun when he was in HS:

2. To clarify, when I asked Hall if the London fans would adopt him as one of their own, I doubt I actually used the term 'white face' with Hall, but so what if I did?

His skin color is likely somewhat relevant to the average Londoner watching the race on the curb whether you like to admit it or not.

A world-wide phenomenon in sports is that people like the under-dog. An easy way to determine who is an under-dog in the marathon is to find people not born in Africa.

Isn't deciding to cheer someone on based on simply where they were born just as arbitrary as the color of their skin? You certainly can't control where you were born or what color your skin is.

Hall is not a coachable runner so he is doing everyone a favor and coaching himself. He left the team at Stanford for a yr bc he was unhappy. He left Mahon bc he was unhappy(too bad for Sarah she misses making the team.) That's his choice and he is taking responsibility for his choices. Let him be. His brother is a lot like him. He couldn't work with Vin and left for a coaching situation that was more flexible and worked for him.

In the end Ryan makes a lot of $ doing what he loves, much more than any sociology major I know can dream of making. How can anyone hate him for it? Maybe you or I would do it differently but again it's his ride so just cheer him on!

I would rather read about Shalane, Dalvia, Denna, Rupp or Meb's workouts/miles bc I am more orientated and motivated by what works for me and I need structure.

thanks for getting my questions answered, rojo!

even more awesome that it lead to a poll for the shoes he'll wear in London. sweet.

good luck in London, Ryan!

ps, i'm sure Matt "the GOATRabbit" Scherer wouldn't mind taking time out of his busy schedule to help Hall get that sub 4'00....

Ok, here is what I wonder. How does Hall know if his training is improving if he does not wear a watch to track his improvement? Also, how does he expect compete with the best in the world if he has no clue what time he might be running?

rojo wrote:

1. I don't understand the animosity non-religious people have for people who are religious. For the record, I talked to Hall for 35 minutes and I don't think the word God came up a single time. If some reporter on the NY Times wants to really shock there readers with the eccentric Hall, well then they can go that route if they like.

Best part of the interview. He didn't spew (or you didn't print) any of that fairy tale faith nonsense.

I enjoyed the interview.

Great interview from a "nuts and bolts" POV.

Hall's already put in the miles, his base is fine. His main issue has been his inability to cover surges and "race" (as opposed to time trial). Speed work should help him out, as should the extra rest. He had trouble hitting his paces before Beijing, not sure about now (he doesn't seem to have paces in his workouts anymore), so maybe rest is needed there. Isn't the point of mileage to build enough base to handle the workouts?

Thus, we have no idea how he'll do - probably top 10, but beyond that? Meb could certainly beat him - or not.

I think the animosity stems from people evangelical antiabortion athletes like Tebow.

Oh, and London is England's most diverse city, lots of Jamaican and South Asian people there.

But I guess you're right. Like how people here would cheer more for Verzbicas over German, despite one being native born.

rojo wrote:

Isn't deciding to cheer someone on based on simply where they were born just as arbitrary as the color of their skin? You certainly can't control where you were born or what color your skin is.

To be fair, I think it's more based on citizenship than where you're born, which you can change, unlike your skin color. Americans will cheer on Lagat, even though he wasn't born in America.

There's no value in asking athletes whether being white will help them with fan support in London. a) Being nationalistic is relevant to the Olympics, since athletes are identified in their uniform and in their qualification by nation, and b) nations are constructed products of democratic (in most cases) decisions and ways of life. Race is constructed as well in most respects, understood differently in different places (just the other day, you identified a Saudi Arabian athlete as nonwhite when the Federal gov't and most states would explicitly define her as white), but athletes in London are not representing their race, but their country.