Did Mo Farah ruin his career by running the London Marathon??

I love Mo but i'm afraid the Marathon have damaged him both physically and mentally , he should not have moved up as they say if it ain't broke dont fix it !

Until Mo runs a fast time in the 5,000 or 10,000 He is overrate who cares about his fast finishing kickes they don't mean sh*t

whytho wrote:

Still don't understand why he moved up to the marathon so soon having put all the effort in to dominate the 5/10k, and to also run 3:28(!) for 1500 on the track.

Doesn't it make more sense to concentrate on getting a Commonwealth title to go with the worlds and olympics and retire from the track after lowering his pr's?

The money he got was most likely the reason he ran, but I agree, running 3:28 was a big sign for him not to step up to the marathon and reach his full potential on the track. The marathon training will not help his speed and the Kenyans, Ethiopians, as well as Rupp may be on his level now.

Might as well challenge Anton and move up to the 100 milers. Show ‘em how it’s really done[quote]Walter White wrote:

walter white,

I think you are right the Ethiopians and the Kenyans as well as Rup are on the same level with Mo now

Forget titles. For me at this point if he wants to cement his legacy, he needs to set a world record.

And I think the record for him to go after is Daniel Komen's sub 8:00 2 mile. I think it's perfect for him.

He's not fast enough to go after El G's mile marks, and I don't think he's got the stamina to go after Bekele's 5K or 10K. But between his 3:28 1500, and his monster finishing kick in the 5 and the 10, I think he's got the perfect combination of speed and strength to set the 2 mile mark.

It's a rare distance. Set it up, get some rabbits to help, or have Galen Rupp pace him for six laps, and let him go.

I think he could do it. He needs a world mark in something. Because right now he's proven he's one of the best at winning races, but he has yet to lay claim to being one of the GOATs. A world record will change that.

more like the fans closed up the course to the point that mo didn't even have room to pass bekele and then they ran out of running room.

Mo will likely come back very strong in July or August (who cares about May?) and run times that you would expect for a 5/10 multiple champion who can run 3:28.81 for 1500m.

x-cuses, x-cuses. more like mo failed. mo passing nrgy = zero.

jjjjjjjjj wrote:

more like the fans closed up the course to the point that mo didn't even have room to pass bekele and then they ran out of running room.

Mo will likely come back very strong in July or August (who cares about May?) and run times that you would expect for a 5/10 multiple champion who can run 3:28.81 for 1500m.

You people (retarded Mo defenders/UK inhabitants) would blame the crowd of all things for the superior runner beating the inferior one. It's surreal.

oso wrote:

LOLZ LETSRUN wrote:

i love how a guy who ran 3:28 and was the best kicker in the world a year ago has "lost his kick" - so what workouts have you guys seen that make you think this? please indulge us with the details! was AlSal like "hey Mo, run a 26s 200!", and Mo was like "OK!", but he tied up at the end and ran 26.5?

Actually, if you bothered to keep up, you would know this actually is the case. Salazar stated that Mo was having a hard time running sub 30 200m sprints.

Are you retarded? Last year he closed a 5k with a 50 second 400 and managed to keep up 55 second 400 pace for a whole 1500, and now you think that he struggles to run 30 seconds for 200? The guy could take 10 years off running, gain 30 lbs and I bet he could still run sub 30 easily.

For the record, here's what you're referring to when you say that "Salazar stated that Mo was having a hard time running sub 30 200m sprints":

The article explains that Salazar was trying to change Mo's form to make it more efficient and relaxed for the marathon. He had Mo do 6x200 in 28 seconds using this form and Farah was having trouble hitting the times without reverting back to his normal form.

Who gives a shit. The dude ran a fast 1500m last year but hasn't run a fast 5000m/10000m for several years. He's not even broken 60 in the half. He will not medal in 2016 and has lost his last three races I think. The legend that was Mo Farah is all but dead. Thank god.

rikaj wrote:

The legend that was Mo Farah is all but dead. Thank god.

Is that what champions do?

oso wrote:

LOLZ LETSRUN wrote:

i love how a guy who ran 3:28 and was the best kicker in the world a year ago has "lost his kick" - so what workouts have you guys seen that make you think this? please indulge us with the details! was AlSal like "hey Mo, run a 26s 200!", and Mo was like "OK!", but he tied up at the end and ran 26.5?

Actually, if you bothered to keep up, you would know this actually is the case. Salazar stated that Mo was having a hard time running sub 30 200m sprints.

You should keep up.

Salazar said Mo was having trouble running them at that pace using a marathon shuffle. Not his normal stride.

Too bad those guys with faster PRs haven't found a way to beat him yet over 5000/10000.

learn to internet wrote:

Too bad those guys with faster PRs haven't found a way to beat him yet over 5000/10000.

Ummm, ru aware that Farah is not undefeated at 5k or 10k?

StephenL wrote:

… I mean, 2:08 isn't a bad initial effort, particularly since he seems to have made a bit of a tactical mistake in not going out with the lead group....

Are you serious? If Mo had gone out with the lead group, he'd still be still waddling down the street toward the finish line. Look at his splits; he dropped off significantly as the race progressed. Had he gone out faster, he'd have DNF next to his name.

Either that or been beaten by the ex-fat guy who ran 2:17.

Yeah, Mo is done because he did a really hard 2 hour run! Give me a break. Dude hardly weighs 9 stone, he probably felt fine 3-5 days after.

He cashed in, got in a ton of good middle distance training (you all read about his "marathon" training, which sounded like high volume 10k training) and now is spending some time with the family during an off year. He has to put time in with the wife and kids because they know 2015 and 2016 are going to be very very busy for him. If he took 2014 completely serious it would be liable to completely ruin his marriage, which actually COULD ruin his career, unlike that hard 2 hour run he did in London.

Good point. This is an off year for Mo. The story about sub 30 200s is weak. All sal. Is playing games with the press. Mo is a great world class an world cup runner. Isn't this year a world cup year? It going to be hard for him. Kenny the lion is awake and Mo lost a couple. Do the Math

He didn't finish well, that's true. But having run more than 70 marathons myself, I have found that just about everybody drops off towards the end. It's usually the guy who drops off the least who wins. Unless that guy is Wilson Kipsang, I guess. What a phenomenal runner.

Anyway, I went back to the London results, and while Mo didn't exactly pick it up at the end, he wasn't exactly puking on the sidewalk either. To compare his 5k splits with Ayele Abshero, who finished a respectable 4th, in 2:06:31

Ab: 14:21 14:51 14:55 15:09 3:15 11:29 15:02 15:01 15:34 6:54

Mo: 14:48 15:08 14:54 15:05 3:13 11:39 15:18 15:36 15:52 6:48

I didn't watch the race, but from what I read, at some point around 10k Mo decided that the group he was running with was moving too slowly. And from the splits, it would appear at 10k he was 36 seconds behind and losing ground. So he tried to go after the leaders, but could find nobody to go with him. And for about 10k he was running alone, which can really take it out of you, physically and psychologically. The splits suggest that around the halfway mark, this effort caught up with him a bit, particularly in that awful stretch between 35 and 40k (which as I remember, is a nice flat run along the Thames leading to Parliament, and not particularly taxing). Still, he does seem to have pulled it together a bit for the last 2.2 km, in fact running it faster than Abshero.

This is what I meant by poor tactics. Of course it is possible that had he gone out with the lead group he would have really hit the wall. Geoffrey Mutai did, and he is certainly a proven world-class runner who came into London in terrific shape. But had Mo gone out with them, he would have had the advantage of being able to run a steady pace, rather than play catchup for 10+ km, not to mention being able to hide from whatever wind was present, and to turn it off a bit mentally and just relax and follow the group. Instead his strategy was ragged, and in that situation, 2:08 isn't bad at all. I mean, he ended up nearly catching most of that lead group in the end. Even though at least one of them (Emmanuel Mutai) admitted to picking it up in the stretch to avoid being beaten by Mo, still he was only 2 secs behind Emmanuel Mutai, and 3 behind Geoffrey Mutai; hell, he was only 15 secs out of a 5th place finish. IMO not terrible, certainly not on your first attempt.

I would also argue that Mo didn't do himself any favors by running the NYC half only 4 weeks out from London. I'm nowhere near the class of these guys, not to mention much older, and take much longer to recover. But my experience is that we underestimate how much a hard run half marathon takes out of you. For me, it's two weeks before I'm back to where I was before the run. It's not just the run itself, it's the disruption to the schedule of tapering a bit for the half, recovering, not to mention the traveling before and after the race, days when you can't always get good training sessions in. And in Mo's case, there was the additional baggage of falling at 6 km, then running himself into the ground trying to catch up, to the point where he fainted after crossing the finish line. I doubt the actual fall hurt him much, although it may have, and may have at least added to the loss of good training. But I would bet that running 1:01:07 even after the fall really took it out of him. And I would bet that even if the fainting episode really was no big deal physically, it weighed on his mind a bit in London, when he found himself really starting to hurt.

To be honest, I suspect NYC half winner Geoffrey Mutai would pass on that race if he had it to do over again. It seems to have taken a bit out of him for London, too. He's running the 10k in my home town this weekend, and is doing an autograph signing session tomorrow. I'm kinda intrigued by this question, since running halfs to test fitness before a full seems to be becoming a standard practice, so I'm going to do my best to ask him his thoughts.

In my opinion, Meb did the right thing in the NYC half, running it hard but not at maximum pace, finishing in 1:02:53. You don't want to leave your best race in the training bin. Plus his marathon was 5 weeks out, in Boston. Now there's a guy who seems to be able to get himself to the big race fit and healthy. Well, barring having to hurdle dogs, which as I remember caused the injury that hobbled his NYC marathon last fall. I hope he turns to coaching when he finally quits running. I suspect he'd be exceptional one.

Anyhow, I know Mo is an easy target for those who mistake sarcasm for humor. He didn't run a great initial marathon, and to make things worse, Bekele did. It can take some time to learn the marathon, and under the circumstances, I don't think Mo ran a terrible debut.

So I hope he sticks with it. Additionally, if he does decide to go back to the 5 and 10 km, I would be worried that Bekele would follow him. And frankly, if Bekele can get anywhere near the shape he was when he set those world records, Mo will have a heck of a time winning any more medals. Will Bekele drop down? He didn't sound very committal after beating Wilson Kipsang in that 10k recently, and I read on Letsrun that he found a lot of the training for Paris 'boring'. Maybe he still considers the 5 and 10 k 'his' races.