Solinsky and Webb's comebacks are over

slow pace, solinsky is making progress but couldn't pick it up with the leaders, no worries there. webb's not making progress in results. hope his training is the reason right now, trying to keep up with guys in better shape giving him heavy legs.

I fear you are right.

I think Solinsky will come back eventually but I think Webb's time is coming to an end. Solinsky just wants to be competitive on a national level this year. Next year I think he will get close to where he used to be. Webb does not really have an excuse and has not shown any promise over the last two years.

The sad thing about Webb is that he will probably shut his season down now instead of getting out there and racing every week.

Ummm...Alan Webb is the person who holds the American record in the mile?!? He's not slow! HE'S NOT SLOW AT ALL!!! WAIT WHAT????????????????????????????????????????

But Alan Webb is NOT slow? WHAT????????????????????

This thread is so wackadoocrazy!!!

Alan Webb's time would have struggled to qualify him for the NCAA's. Yes he is the American Record holder but from how many years ago. His time is up.

Solinsky will do fine. He's got the drive and will to excel. As long as he stays healthy he will improve until he's back to the top level. Don't know if he'll ever medal with his tactics, but he's make everyone work for it.

He may ultimately retake the AR at 10,000, that would rock.

Webb was great, fantastic. Let's savor his achievements and celebrate his career. I'm not worrying his comeback.

I don't know if it is right to write off Webb just yet. His career reminds me a lot of Adam Goucher's, albeit they had different strenghts and weaknesses. You have to remember Goucher had injury troubles that set him back (similar to Webb)and struggled to get anywhere near what he was capable of for about 4 years. Then one season he came out of nowhere and was running under 13:20 and was top 10 at the world x short course distance. And the funny thing is Goucher was about the same age Webb is now. 30s isn't really that old for a runner anymore with advancements in training knowledge, facilities, etc. Webb if he can stay healthy could have up to 10 years of a pro career left. I wouldn't be surprised if Webb pulled off a great race sometimes towards the end of the season, or perhaps at the latest next season.

these 2 has beens aint gonna do squat,they are done ....they are embarresing to watch...........

Solinsky will be competitive again, but I don't think he'll ever be on Rupp's level.

Webb doesn't have anything left. One or two bad seasons can be attributed to injury, bad coaching, over training, etc. But Webb has been irrelevant for the past 5 years.

I don't blame him for continuing to compete, though. He's very talented, and I'm sure he still believes he can compete again. But he's just too fragile, mentally and physically. His time has come and gone.

How anyone can be so blinded to continue the ridiculous claims that we shouldn't write Webb off yet is beyond me. His progressions show nothing but declining performances. It has now been 6 years since his best 1500m/mile times and 8 years since he ran 13:10 for the 5000m. There is ZERO indication that Alan Webb will ever be at a point to challenge over any distance at a major championships, and odds are he will never again be a factor at the National level. He was an amazing athlete at one point, but those days are very far removed and at his age there is only going to be continued performance declines. We should all appreciate the amazing performances that Webb gave us but is time we all put aside this notion that Alan Webb will ever be great again.

Webb's progression since his best year in 2007:

1500m:

2012 3:37.26 Los Angeles (OC), CA 18 MAY

2011 3:37.82 Melbourne (OP) 03 MAR

2010 3:36.21 Milano 09 SEP

2009 3:42.58 New York City, NY 30 MAY

2008 3:35.86 Heusden-Zolder 20 JUL

MILE:

2012 3:59.47 Eugene, OR 01 JUN

2011 3:58.77 Des Moines, IA 30 APR

2009 3:55.99 Eugene, OR 07 JUN

2008 3:55.47 Eugene, OR 08 JUN

5000m:

2010 14:15.49

2011 13:49.70

2012 13:37.68

But he just beat Ruppy in a 5k turkey trot ~1.5 years ago!!

Says it all:

http://www.letsrun.com/photos/2013/oxy-high-performance/imagepages/image38.php

Chris Solinsky is very, very strong mentally. In fact, this is both a blessing and a curse. However, if he can restrain himself, he should be challenging Rupp and friends by this time next year, if not sooner.

Webb is the question mark. Physically, I suspect the talent is still there...

David Brent wrote:

Says it all:

http://www.letsrun.com/photos/2013/oxy-high-performance/imagepages/image38.php

As in he's lookin' Boss?

RunnerfromtheNorthCountry wrote:

Webb if he can stay healthy could have up to 10 years of a pro career left.

While it'd be nice if you were right, I find this pretty hard to imagine.

What advancements in training knowledge have been made in the last 30 yrs that the world was not aware of in 1983 do we have now?

What kind of facilities does the world have that we have not had forever that would make a 35 year old run as well as they did at 25?

This is a sincere question and not trying to be a d ick.

The only thing I can think of is AlterG treadmills and Altitude tents, which have both been around for quite some time. I also don't know how these things would help a 30+ runner slow the decline due to aging.

FWIW, I don't think 30 is even old, or even in decline. It depends on the person and their whole history and physiology in my opinion. And for Webb specifically, I don't think it is age that has him "at" 13:46 ... because he has been in the same neighborhood for yrs and was lackluster for some periods before his great yr running 1:43/3:31/3:46.

But I don't think anyone runs as well at 40 as they do at 30, and even if someone could I don't think "advancements in training knowledge, facilities, etc." would be the trick.

He may run 3:32 at age 32 or even faster (that would be great - I'm rooting for him) but it won't be because of "advancements in training knowledge, facilities, etc." The world has had all it has right now for the last 30 years.

The reason all the 3:30-32 guys ran that fast 30 yrs ago in their 20s and now you have some 30-somethings running that fast is because the WR is now 5 seconds faster than what it was in 1981 and those "old guys" are taking advantage of what the WR holder did to run 5-7 seconds slower than 3:26.00.

newname wrote:

The reason all the 3:30-32 guys ran that fast 30 yrs ago in their 20s and now you have some 30-somethings running that fast is because the WR is now 5 seconds faster than what it was in 1981 and those "old guys" are taking advantage of what the WR holder did to run 5-7 seconds slower than 3:26.00.

EPO?

lol lol lol lol wrote:

Chris Solinsky is very, very strong mentally. In fact, this is both a blessing and a curse. However, if he can restrain himself, he should be challenging Rupp and friends by this time next year, if not sooner.

Webb is the question mark. Physically, I suspect the talent is still there...

I've never seen evidence that Solinsky is "strong mentally". He's a hard worker, sure. But so is Webb. In fact, Solinsky and Webb are both notorious for over-training. And Solinsky actually kinda reminds me of Webb, in the sense that you can't really question his talent or work ethic, but how many times has he really showed up in a race that means something?

He seems kinda high-strung to me. And when he loses he seems really butt-hurt about it. Not in a fiery competitive sort of way, but in a whiny insecure sort of way. And that bullcrap race in Monaco a couple years ago was a joke. He gets nudged off the track, and instead of getting back in the race like a man he just stops and whines about it. He didn't fall. He may have eventually been DQ'd, but he should have at least attempted to finish and see what happens. If he was shoved, he may have been able to appeal the DQ. If he wasn't deliberately shoved, then he's a puss for letting some 100 lb distance runners knock him off the track.

Rupp, on the other hand, is a class act competitor. Rupp is an example of mental toughness. Consistently improving and becoming more competitive with each passing year. 5 time US 10,000m champion. 10,000m AR holder. Olympic Trials 5k champ. Olympic silver medalist. I know, know.....Rupp fell during that race in Monaco and didn't finish. But taking a nasty fall is different than stepping off the track. I would have liked to see Rupp get up and keep going for it, but he pretty much owns Solinsky in every other conceivable way anyways.