How does Manzano do it?

It appears he rests and doesn't overtrain, then trains very hard for a few weeks off a huge base, and then just goes for it.

This is why he can't time trial worth anything and his PR sucks, but he's always a factor in the big races.

Why are you such a sucker? He is a talented runner who does awful in other races. Then he has a good enough performance to qualify for a WC team and you glorify him for his toughness to come back from an awful performance.

So what? Centro ISN'T a mental stud because he was about 80M ahead of Manzano at Prefontaine?

RBC do not equal deadly closing speed my friend.

Manzano is the man!!!

Mr. Blackwell wrote:

RBC do not equal deadly closing speed my friend.

Sure they do. And he probably sucked at Pre because he was short a couple of units after putting them in storage.

Athlete A being a mental stud doesn't preclude Athlete B from being a mental stud.

Manzano is a freaking Olympic silver medalist. Take your hate elsewhere and your Centro crush to the Centro thread, where I will also be congratulating him.

smack dat wrote:

It appears he rests and doesn't overtrain, then trains very hard for a few weeks off a huge base, and then just goes for it.

This is why he can't time trial worth anything and his PR sucks, but he's always a factor in the big races.

There is some truth to the "not overtraining" comment. Leo works his butt off making sure he can survive a season without sustaining a nagging injury. Leo has some very big goals down the road and is very systematic in achieving these goals. Those of us who live in Austin, see Leo's good and bad training days. It's the nature of the game and expected when you are in this sport. Hopefully Leo doesn't read these forum posts because there is some unnecessary negative stuff being written that should be pulled. Some of the comments written after running the Carlsbad 5K and road mile were completely out of line.

That also goes for the posting on the other runners, if one can't write something nice or constructive, please don't post it. Most of these athletes work so hard (6 - 8 hrs of workouts / daily). Sometimes it works out in the big meet and a lot of times the results aren't there. That's a very tough business to be in. They don't need some blogger from Letsrun making some hurtful comments...........

I'll take my hate elsewhere. But I'll leave my "you post is stupid" statements right here.

If nothing else, please don't gripe about Manzano not having a contract when he is woefully inconsistent from race to race. He deserves everything he gets (and doesn't get).

I didn't gripe about him not having a contract. He thought he was worth more money and Nike didn't. Sometimes that happens in sports.

By that logic Wheating and untold others should not have contracts either.

ryan foreman wrote:

If nothing else, please don't gripe about Manzano not having a contract when he is woefully inconsistent from race to race. He deserves everything he gets (and doesn't get).

Isn't the objective to run well in championship meets? Since 2007 he has made every national team and is the Olympic silver medalist. Plus he won 4 NCAA titles. I wish I was this inconsistent.

Did you look at the time? It was only a 3:45. That doesn't make him a stud or mentally strong.

george oscar bluth wrote:

I didn't gripe about him not having a contract. He thought he was worth more money and Nike didn't. Sometimes that happens in sports.

Anyone else think Leo should stop wearing Nike kits at the meets if he's trying to pick up a sponsor? Why would Nike pay him to wear Nike gear when he's already doing it for free?

closing quickness kills

He has bad races for sure, but come on. He consistently kicks the crap out of everyone when it matters. The man has made the last 6 teams in the 1500 and he won a silver medal last year. It's a travesty that he's unsponsored. Hopefully he's just been waiting to qualify so that maybe he can get some more money or Nike has just been waiting to see if he makes the team or something.

he probably trains through the other races and only tapers for nationals and world/olympics, which would explain why he so often does poorly at other meets and always very well at the key competitions. it may also be about periodization. but I would bet that the only times he does easy weeks in competition season are before nationals and world's this year.

Dr. TC wrote:

I agree with Freeman. Manzano gets what he deserves.

Consistency is part of being sponsored.

Manzano has medaled in the 1,500 at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships eight years in a row. Since we are talking about or comparing sponsorships of different American athletes, that is the meet that matters most. That is awesome consistency. You will be hard pressed to find anyone more consistent at USAs. Add to that the silver at the biggest meet of all, and he certainly deserves a great sponsorship deal

Fjallraven wrote:

Leo on drugs?!?! Hahahaha! Post of the day. You obviously don't know him. Someone said his pb sucks? 3.50 for the mile sucks now?

This is spot on. If any of you have ever had the pleasure of hanging around Leo you know what a classy guy he is.

Don't forget, the guy ran 4:07 for 1600m in high school off almost no base at all. He would run a couple times a week after XC season and then worked at a restaurant almost full time to help support his family while going to high school. The guy has the heart of a 6'6" 220 pound man (or something along those lines....from a study done when he was at UT) an has an incredible work ethic.

Leo is one of the most talented athletes I have ever seen. A monkey could train him and he would still be great. His coach knows what works. He creates a large base in the off season and peaks just right, which isn't hard for him. He's been largely injury free which goes a long way as well. He's just a freak of nature, and one heck of a nice guy.

engineer8 wrote:

Anyone else think Leo should stop wearing Nike kits at the meets if he's trying to pick up a sponsor? Why would Nike pay him to wear Nike gear when he's already doing it for free?

This. I absolutely think he deserves a contract (though he might be asking for too much, I really don't know), but why he wouldn't wear a brand-less singlet is beyond me. He is currently racing in Nike from head to toe. From that point of view, Nike must feel like they don't even need to sponsor him. On top of that, since the national uniform is Nike as well, they wouldn't even need to sponsor him for that as long as he keeps wearing Nike spikes for free like he has been. Maybe he's just trying to show his brand allegiance? Not the strategy I'd go with though...