rupp-certified saladbar wrote:
Critical Thinking wrote:We'll find out if it's a good idea when he runs a marathon.
Wrong.
Bekele could run 160 mpw and do 2:05.
He could also run 80 mpw and do 2:05.
With talent like that, you can't just say fast time = optimal training.
We are talking about a 26:17 guy. If he ends up with a lifetime PR over 2:03:00 his training was wrong.
The only coach on earth who could make Bekele slower than 2:05 is Salazar. The planet's most overrated marathon coach would no doubt have Bekele (or any other marathoner) stagnating alongside Ritz, the least-tapped talent in US running history.
As Canova would say, Bekele in the marathon isn't the 26:17 guy, but his older brother. And you seriously think 10k times are the most important factor in determining marathon potential? His years of 5k/10k training will make it hard for his body to learn how to burn fats for fuel as well as the other marathon specialists. Bekele was the world's top 10k guy. To be the best in the world, you have to be an extreme specialist and outlier at that distance. To think he can do it in the 10k and marathon is absurd.
Yeah, Geb and Tergat pulled it off but the marathoning game has drastically changed since then.