Solinsky Is DONE.

But if he came back to the track after Marathon training he is basically Dathan Ritzenheim at best.

You mean the Dathan Ritzenheim who ran a faster 5000 than doping rupp will ever run?

Solinsky is the fastest distance runner on the track in my books (born outside of Africa). Rupp will be if he runs under 12:55.

Solinsky has solid 10 years left in the half marathon/marathon. What I need as a fan of the sport, is someone like Chris, that has the talent, to start acting like Yuki Kawauchi. He should run about 3 half marathons and 5 marathons every year. Sometimes he will finish in 65 in half, but maybe once in 60:50-61:30, but he has so much talent that you never know if he would go under 60. For that reason, I will always be interested until he is 40 years old. Then finish the 5 marathons in 2:15, 2:10, 2:21, 2:07, 2:13. The most waste of talent would be putting it all on one or 2 marathons for 2-3 years, that would maybe not go so well, and then quit after the trials or the olympics.

Really, think about it, he's go nothing to lose. And you never know, maybe in one of those marathons, maybe in 2021, he would go 2:05, like Jaouad Gharib.

SMJO wrote:

Solinsky is not even close to being a sub 27 runner now so you might as well pretend that practically didn't happen when it comes to predicting his Marathon potential.

Did Ryan Hall ever run sub 27?

Meb?

You don't have to run sub 27 to be top American marathoner and have a career. I'm not even pretending Chris is going to strike fear into the top E Africans. I see no reason he can't be a :07 guy or possibly even :06.

joho wrote:

SMJO wrote:

Solinsky is not even close to being a sub 27 runner now so you might as well pretend that practically didn't happen when it comes to predicting his Marathon potential.

Did Ryan Hall ever run sub 27?

Meb?

You don't have to run sub 27 to be top American marathoner and have a career. I'm not even pretending Chris is going to strike fear into the top E Africans. I see no reason he can't be a :07 guy or possibly even :06.

Irrelevant because those guys moved to the Marathon in their prime.

Solinsky is going in mentally demoralized as to his ability. Just like Teg.

He's like Nate Jenkins Plus (tall, "burly," hamstring problems) except Nate has a 2:14 despite being slower in the 10k by 3 minutes. I'm thinking if he successfully finishes 2 marathons (and that's a big if), he'll be sub 2:10 easily.

New low for Letsrun wrote:

My call is that he will fail at the marathon. But, he will fail at anything running related by now. So why not chase the paychecks while he can? I'd move up to the marathon if I were him too! But I personally don't expect much. His 27 10k was awesome but also the end of everything. Unfortunate.

I think the 26:59 gets a little more play than it should. Great time and everything but it was at a low-key/dinky meet not a championship where he rose to the occasion and won or medaled out of nowhere. That would have been worthy of all the buzz his 10k gets on this board. Yeah, he beat Rupp during Rupp's record attempt and ran fast. NI think people love it because Rupp/Salazar were embarrassed

Perhaps not desperation but often I think that guys move up for the wrong reasons. Personally as a fan I would rather see Solinsky race a 28 minute 10k or a 13:30 5k than watch him run the marathon.

the top african marathoners can run sub 27.

Too many people forget that when they move to the 'thon.

If you don't have that sort of ability, you will get your doors blown off every time by the africans in races with rabbits.

what the hell is going on with Jerry's group.

I am always rooting for this group, and always excited about what they are going to do.

But really?? It seems like someone that's 30 like Teg and Sol and they think they are washed up is just horrible coaching and handling.

There is no physiological reason that they cannot attain peak levels and track times they did 3 or 4 years ago.

The fact that this sounds like an exact repeat of what Teg said 2 years ago, tells you that its coming from somewhere, and i'm guessing its the coaches.

If someone knows of a reason that Jerry's training to end peoples track careers by age 30, please fill me in.

Also, not to start an Alberto / Jerry thing, but has Jerry done anything to modify his groups approach to attaining speed, especially closing speed, as the last few years have shown that that is the one big common weakness. Lomong possibly the exception, but one could argue he should be even faster, noting all the raw 800 speed he brought to the group.

Just wondering as a fan of so many of the guys in the group. I don't want to see them all marathoners in the next 6 years, either because their training lacks some key ingredients or because coaches aren't guiding them properly for the long term.

How he ran 26:59 is irrelevant. It was still an American Record and first white person to do it. I mean, there's still only a handful of white guys who've broke 13.

Dieter the cheater

Kennedy

Motram

Ritz

Teg

Solinski

Rupp

How many under 27 in the 10?

Rupp

Solinski

I don't think that people hype that race more than they should, it's a breakthrough achievement given his genetics and culture.

Regardless, his 10k it's still a definitive resultthat can yield a reasonable prediction on his marathon abilities. I think looking at Teg's performance and his past, it's reasonable to expect to debut with something in the 2:10-11 range. I don't think Solinski is going to be a barn burning guy, but I could see him being similar to Meb, just an aerobic beast who's key ingredient is running smart and running strong.

Financially, being a consistent 2:09 guy is better than being a 13:15 or 27:30 performer. Those guys, even in the states, don't have realistic shots at winning big races or making Olympic teams. It also limits their leverage when it's contract time.

From a marathon standpoint, his debut will probably get him a decent 5 figure appearance fee. Based on his performance, he'll get a clearer picture on his value to major marathons, but running a 2:09 in New York can get you a win and top 5's in Boston, all more lucrative than being a second heat European track circuit runner.

I think they are hearing it from the coaches and Solinsky is in a similar situation to Teg, like you said. But you have the wrong reason.

The real reason is that they now have young guys like Chris Derrick and Evan Jager in their group who are killing them in practice. How can they think they can win at USAs when they are getting beat in practice buy younger guys? It makes more sense for them to move up--that way all of Jerry's guys aren't competing against each other.

Jerry isn't ending their careers, they are just seeing how they can't keep up with their teammates who will soon be sub 13 and sub 27

I'm sure if Teg and Solinski wanted to continue to run track times between 13:10 and 13:20, they could continue to do that, but whats the point?

Each achieved a level greatness that neither is going to hit again running 5,000 meters. You might be right that physiologically there is no reason why they couldn't, but the training and the amount of racing it requires to maintain that level will take it's toll on a 30+ athlete much more than it does for a 26 year old.

In fact, besides "greatest that ever lived" type guys, how many runners out there are 30+ banging out 12:55's and 26:59's... where all they're much younger peers are hovering with an upside, not a depreciating asset of a body.

They're move to the marathon isn't only smart for their careers financially, but smart for their careers athletically because it gives them a chance to continue to compete with a realistic expectation to win.

Taller guy with lots of strength and athleticism.

Why not steeple?

No speed, remember!

Solinsky knows he can't even break 2:12. I don't understand why Solinksy thinks adding another 20 miles to his usual distance is going to help him.

Yep. that's the one. The same person who never ran a lap faster than 60 seconds in that race and never had a chance to medal in a major competition.

slammin that oregon juice wrote:

But if he came back to the track after Marathon training he is basically Dathan Ritzenheim at best.

You mean the Dathan Ritzenheim who ran a faster 5000 than doping rupp will ever run?

I always thought the sky was the limit for Chris Solinsky, perhaps overly so and a bit too dreamy. That is, until that catastrophic injury where the hamstring, was it? detached from his femur. Doctors and experts can say otherwise, but that was real sad and I feel there are detriments that can never be overcome because of that. This includes marathoning, I think the ceiling would have been high... thus, the Solinsky bashing disturbs me, as what really seems to have "ended" him was a terrible misfortune which is not something any message board posters should revel in whatsoever. While I think there is a lot of talent elsewhere in Schumacher's group, and there will be rising stars in the future, Solinsky, along with Rupp, in my mind, **were** the two runners who seemed capable of "magic" and made distance running really exciting. Now, sadly, it's really just down to Rupp.

the marathon is the most competitive event in track right now by far.

you need a good 10k to be competitive.

so Sol will have to return to his best form to be competitive period.

Something worth noticing in the interview was that he was actually "faster" last year than he'd ever been before in his life - at least over 400m.

This gives the idea that he could do a tonne of aerobic work and come back to the track in reasonable shape more credence. The issue isn't that he has no speed but that he can't marry the speed and endurance. By all indications his speed came off of his huge volume of mileage at a fast pace.

No guarantee but I've still got hope.