Desi Davila and Ryan Hall - will they ever learn?

Oh, so you're one of those.

She'll be back in February to do the "marathon specific" training. She's there to build up a base at altitude. She'll be fine.

Let's drug-test you.

Blatant confirmation bias. Mo Farah goes there to train every year too. When will he learn?

Running Insider wrote:

This brings up the question why she wants to travel 30h+ to an unsafe place (for white women at least) with virtually no reputable doctors/PT/hospitals around and a high risk of contracting Malaria.

When she could just have a 3h flight and train in Flagstaff with fellow Americans. Just FYI, the weather this week over there is between 50 and 60 degrees, mostly sunny.

Or is it because of the lack of out of comp testing over there in remote areas? Hmmmm.

Why? Maybe if you thought a little about it you might come up with something like - the idea is motivating for her; she wants to compete with the best, so maybe she should try to train in the same environment that the best are training in.

Who are the best marathoners training in Flagstaff again?

Lornah Kiplagat's training center is filled with westerners. They just built a new track. They have world class facilities. Desi will undoubtedly travel with her physio, as she would to Flagstaff. Compared to Detroit, Iten, Kenya is like Mayberry.

Sure, it would be easier to train in Flagstaff. No jet lag. Familiar surroundings. But, this is definitely a "you only live once" experience for Desi.

There's plenty of OOC testing for those athletes from nations that take OOC testing seriously.

Farah and Devila will be under scrutiny from their own federation, it makes no difference where they might be in the world.

First Yolo reference I've seen on letsrun.

Today is a historic day.

Iten and Eldoret are too high in elevation to have Malaria. Thanks for just saying things.

Didn't Bob Kennedy do just that and trained with Komen? If the right planning and precautions are taken it should be a great training opportunity.

But also I recall the time Alberto Salazar did that same thing when he was in college. Can anyone verify this? My coach told me he went to Kenya to train and lived in squalid conditions and ended up getting too sick to run the whole time he was there.

whatthewhatthewhat wrote:

Running Insider wrote:

This brings up the question why she wants to travel 30h+ to an unsafe place (for white women at least) with virtually no reputable doctors/PT/hospitals around and a high risk of contracting Malaria.

She's not white.

I think OP is one of those who sees race in binaries. Much like how the fbi compiles their statistics - black and other.

Billy goat gruff sauce wrote:

Iten and Eldoret are too high in elevation to have Malaria.

Live high train low. Risk is real therefore.

They have drugs that prevent Malaria now. Welcome to modern times.

Maybe she knows where her main competition in Boston will come from. Seems smart to me to train with the best. I don't know how much training at Iten contributes but I think Paula Radcliffe and Mo Farah are other individuals who frequented these places.

Nutella1 wrote:

Billy goat gruff sauce wrote:

Iten and Eldoret are too high in elevation to have Malaria.

Live high train low. Risk is real therefore.

Huh???? Athletes in Iten (Westerners and Africans) live high, train high.

SMJO wrote:

They have drugs that prevent Malaria now. Welcome to modern times.

Yes, smarty pants, but are they drugs that a professional athlete would want to take? (assuming that malaria is, in fact, a threat in the location[s] she'll visit)

Salazar lived in a hotel and felt bad about drinking bottled Coke as the Kenyans could not afford bottled Coke...............................this was during the phase when he and Chapa both were sponsored by Converse and received monthly checks to wear those crappy shoes.................

George Atlas wrote:

Didn't Bob Kennedy do just that and trained with Komen? If the right planning and precautions are taken it should be a great training opportunity.

But also I recall the time Alberto Salazar did that same thing when he was in college. Can anyone verify this? My coach told me he went to Kenya to train and lived in squalid conditions and ended up getting too sick to run the whole time he was there.

No they don't. If you had been there you would know that the routes they run occasionally descend a couple thousand metres.

LowLowLow wrote:

No they don't. If you had been there you would know that the routes they run occasionally descend a couple thousand metres.

Been there. Your statement just isn't true. There is really just a minimal risk to pick up malaria at Iten and the surrounding area.

LowLowLow wrote:

No they don't. If you had been there you would know that the routes they run occasionally descend a couple thousand metres.

That's not remotely "live high, train low."

Billy goat gruff sauce wrote:

Iten and Eldoret are too high in elevation to have Malaria. Thanks for just saying things.

You are wrong.