At last our dreams will become reality: Jeremy Wariner may open 2015 up at 800m!!! How fast (slow) will he go?

Can we get Obea Moore in this race as well? He's the only guy with more perceived 800 potential.

rojo wrote: How fast do you think he'll go?

It really depends upon whether or not he relies upon antiquated "fly and die" race strategy. It never ceases to amaze me that 800 runners have yet to employ the art of negative splits. It is not physiologically impossible, after all.

Presuming he's fit, there's no reason to believe Wariner couldn't run 1:43 and change by going 53/50.

you know why they don't? because it's impossible to run you're absolute best 800 using that strategy!!! sounds great to "go out easy the first lap then bring it home the last 400!" but the physiology of the race doesn't allow it. it's not a 5K/10K! the mile/1500 will be like the 800 pretty soon in terms of race strategy (go out HARD, no negative splits for the best times). it already is in the fast races (ie Monaco). look at how Kiprop ran there last summer: suicidal 800m split then hang on for dear life. only way anyone can touch ElGs record. it ain't happening with a negative split race!!

Wise Strategy wrote:

rojo wrote: How fast do you think he'll go?

It never ceases to amaze me that 800 runners have yet to employ the art of negative splits.

Star wrote:

Now if we can only get Lee Evans to try the 800.

Or ryun

He's currently in 3-24 1500m shape

Who cares how fast he goes, the point is that he's trying something, and is to be applauded for that.

He was finished a long time ago in the 400, sprintgeezer called it on this board. It's great that he's recognized it, and is moving on to another challenge.

Good for him!

EPOPE wrote:

Who cares how fast he goes, the point is that he's trying something, and is to be applauded for that.

He was finished a long time ago in the 400, sprintgeezer called it on this board. It's great that he's recognized it, and is moving on to another challenge.

Good for him!

Exactly. Dude loves to compete and wants a new challenge. Good for him and I hope he foes well.

If his '14 SB best was 46, is there any reason not to think he can go out in 55 and then do the same to bring it home sub 1:50? Wouldnt 55 be almost a walk in the park for him? I was never a sprinter, so this seems logical to me.

Star wrote:

Now if we can only get Lee Evans to try the 800.

He did.

1:54

seriously - he will give up with 200 to go and jog it in

sprinters are not distance runners - they can't do it. Not sure if it is mental or psyhological or both - he won't be able to finish this thing strong.

Phidipidippides wrote:

Not a WASP apologist wrote:

The problem I hve with all this is that even a few years ago (especially several years ago, in fact) much noise was made about JW and 800. Not Merritt, not whoever was No. 3 in the world, not James (although much of this was pre KJ) but JUST Wariner.

Why? Because he's white. Euro-American, honky, insert favorite racial slur here. An RT article a couple years ago mentioned this. Question: "Why does everyone want Jeremy Wariner to move up to the 800?". Answer: "Because he's white.". Right there in the pages of RT.

Come on, racists! How about the chick with the flower in her hair moving down to 400. Same thing!

You really think if there was a skinny Kenyan who ran 43.x that people wouldn't be clamoring for him to try the 800?

If a skinny kenyan ran 43.x I sure as hell would be screaming for him to run an 800, who wouldnt?

I think some people think he is moving to the 800. He isn't. If you read the article he wants to make the 2015 and 2016 teams in the 400.

fast white guys with his build are usually put into the 800m and up from the very beginning, and wariner doesn't only have that build (400m runners at the world elite level are usually around 6'2" 170-80, which is a lot thinner than 100m specialists, and Wariner looked more like 160), but he had that tremendous long sprint endurance where he was low 20 at 200m but ran 43.45, as well as a half a dozen or more other times under 44.01, and he was strongest by far in the last 100m of those races, by relation to his opposition (like Michael Johnson, but he was much more muscular and a much better short sprinter). When he was running mid 43s, he could surely have outdone El Caballo at 800m with some specific training. Remember that Hart already has his 400m runners do 500s and other longer training than many 400m coaches. At his peak, Wariner would have run as fast as Everett or better at 800m. Now, who knows? He's not had the greatness since 2007 before leaving Hart (in 2008 under the disciple, he ran 43.62, I think, but lacked consistency and fell apart in the Olympic final against Merritt), but why not sub 1:48 if he races it a couple times? Didn't Rock also run a good 800m?

doesn't work for 800m wrote:

you know why they don't? because it's impossible to run you're absolute best 800 using that strategy!!! sounds great to "go out easy the first lap then bring it home the last 400!" but the physiology of the race doesn't allow it. it's not a 5K/10K!

the mile/1500 will be like the 800 pretty soon in terms of race strategy (go out HARD, no negative splits for the best times). it already is in the fast races (ie Monaco). look at how Kiprop ran there last summer: suicidal 800m split then hang on for dear life. only way anyone can touch ElGs record. it ain't happening with a negative split race!!

Wise Strategy wrote:

It never ceases to amaze me that 800 runners have yet to employ the art of negative splits.

I don't agree with your assessment.

For a miler/5K guy, the start of the 800 is faster than their comfort zone, so to finish fast is harder.

For the strong 400 guy, like JW, the 52 first lap is easier, and he may be able to surge starting lap 2 when others die.

The 1:50+ talk on this thread is c.r.a.z.y t.o.w.n.

You are talking about a top-notch athlete who has been training at a world class level for a decade with a body-build that is in-line with the event - and you think he'll only run a fast hs'er/D1 800m???? Mad house.

Couple questions though:

What is Hart's experience with coaching half milers...? Is JW even still with Hart (I know he went back after MJ). How is he recovering from new(?) regiment (million dollar question).

What is he weighing in at? Was he 6'1 170lb as a quarter miler? As long as he has maintained that 1:50 will happen wearing a weight vest - if he's dropped a few due to some distance-ish running/tempos (?) while maintaining leg explosion, watch the f out.

In light of Bernie Kip pushing 40 - is 31 even an issue...?

World champion, gold medalist, 43.50(?) and people on here are saying 1:50???

JW does not strike me as a guy not to do everything right when it comes to training and will have put in the work to run a proper 800m.

On the line and 800-trim: 1:44.50

Not a WASP apologist wrote:

The problem I hve with all this is that even a few years ago (especially several years ago, in fact) much noise was made about JW and 800. Not Merritt, not whoever was No. 3 in the world, not James (although much of this was pre KJ) but JUST Wariner.

Why? Because he's white. Euro-American, honky, insert favorite racial slur here. An RT article a couple years ago mentioned this. Question: "Why does everyone want Jeremy Wariner to move up to the 800?". Answer: "Because he's white.". Right there in the pages of RT.

Come on, racists! How about the chick with the flower in her hair moving down to 400. Same thing!

False. The reason is that Wariner is skinny and was more of an endurance type at 400m, while the others you mentioned were/are much heavier and were/are speed based 400m runners. People always talked about Wariner at 800m because he had much more potential at the distance than any other 400m runner. Running 43.x with 20.x 200m, being skinny, and looking great the final 150m suggests the runner has tremendous potential at slightly longer distances. From watching MANY 400m races the last ten years (I watched on TV when Wariner won the NCAA 400m in 2004), I would argue his best distance was most likely something like 500m. In almost every 400m race I watched of him when he was in his prime, he was pulling ahead and looking great all the way through the tape when the rest of the field was tying up and falling behind. He did indeed look relaxed.

Saying 1:50+ is not crazytown. Rondell Bartholomew, 6th at the 2011 World Championships and a 44.65 guy in 2011, ran a 800 in May that year and only managed a 1:51.25.

http://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/2797075.html

He has never run the distance, at least not in a LONG time, and it's his season opener. He won't be sharp. I'll be happy to be proven wrong though.

so you think out of the box, never really raced the event, it's clearly NOT his event, and he is probably a top 3 American at the event? Not likely. I mean not even remotely likely.

And JW has done nothing but run poorly for years - sure he's been hurt, but why doesn;t he strike you as a guy who gets everything right? It's not 2007 anymore - he has been next to irrelevant for years and years

To be fair agip Wariner was the US Indoor Champ in 2013. He still has something there.

so a speedy 400m meter guy with LESS endurance than a 1500/5K guy will be able to SURGE LATER IN THE RACE when endurance is required and the event becomes more and more about aerobic capacity and less about raw speed? that makes zero sense. the idea that a guy with more speed but less endurance can magically call upon that speed during the second lap is laughable. not sure you understand the physiology of the 800 and how much more aerobic it is than the 400. best guys don't surge or speed up the second lap, they slow down less than the others. that requires endurance, not speed.

I have recently heard that there is a new dominant force in the running universe. His name is Brock and he is an ultra runner beyond compare. He has successfully FINISHED several ultra races. He is such an athletic fiend that he runs marathons as training 'fun-runs'. He is so dominant that he does not even dabble with the beginner races (i.e 5k or 10k). He has even COMPLETED a 100-miler.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it fellas!!