What the Hell is happening to German Fernandez?

He can kiss his contract goodbye if he doesn't produce soon. They've been very patient with him.

GF needs to stop running, gain 60 lbs, and come back as a masters runner

5k results

1 Lomong, Lopez Nike BTC 13:27.60

2 Hill, Ryan Nike BTC 13:27.80

3 Osako, Suguru Nissin Foods 13:28.00

4 Cabral, Donn Nike 13:28.64

5 Bumbalough, Andrew Nike BTC 13:28.64

6 Levins, Cam Nike OP 13:33.35

7 Tegenkamp, Matt Nike BTC 13:41.90

8 Farrell, Tom Nike OTC 13:42.17

Fernandez, German Nike BTC DNF

Huling, Dan Nike BTC DNF

Dunbar, Trevor Nike DNF

Chelanga, Sam Nike DQ

why was SAMMY DQ?????, he dumbed out dude

Threads like this make me sick. You think he's purposefully sucking? He has a contract and trying his best to get back on his A game. Injuries, inconsistency, trying different training, whatever. It happens that runners don't all continue to PR year after year. Get a life and explain why you were not racing there tonight (despite your obvious passion for the sport of running). When a pro is not doing well there are so many factors and the worst thing for fans to do is come on these boards and put together a "he's done" "why does he suck" thread. Tonight before bed ask God what's happening to German and if he responds please enlighten us.

Runnnn wrote:

Threads like this make me sick. You think he's purposefully sucking? He has a contract and trying his best to get back on his A game. Injuries, inconsistency, trying different training, whatever. It happens that runners don't all continue to PR year after year. Get a life and explain why you were not racing there tonight (despite your obvious passion for the sport of running). When a pro is not doing well there are so many factors and the worst thing for fans to do is come on these boards and put together a "he's done" "why does he suck" thread. Tonight before bed ask God what's happening to German and if he responds please enlighten us.

This. 1000 times this.

He peaked in High School...Should have gone to a college where he could develop and get stronger so he wouldn't be so injury prone in his pro career. I really believe OSU made him brittle and wasted his potential. He went to OSU with all the promise in the world and became just another runner in their squad. Not the superstar he was destined to be. Sad, sad story.

DQquestionmark wrote:

why was SAMMY DQ?????, he dumbed out dude

Was at the race, and saw him shove another runner in the back. Very dumb move

The thing is he hasn't been injured in a while and has had a consistent training block for a while now. His 3:55 mile in college was when coming back from an XC injury. He seems to have lost the ability to bounce back to faster times after setbacks. If you watch his interviews when he was a freshman in College/Senior in HS and compare it to now you can clearly see he's lost a lot of that fire. He seems almost resigned. Really sad. I hope I'm wrong.

He's not the only guy though - what's happening with Andy Bayer? Guy was a stud in college. I would say Andy and German were similar runners coming out of college. Strong mile background and could hold their own in the mid-distances (mile to 5k). I wonder if this type of runner doesn't respond well to Jerrry Schumacher's training.

German has been struggling big time since 2009 when he ran 3:39, 3:55, 7:47, 13:25 and won the NCAA 1500 as a freaking freshman. That was awesome. But that was almost 6 years ago!

The glimmers of hope since then were his top 10 XC finish in 2010 and his 3:34 1500 in 2012.

Done blame Jerry. He was struggling well before Jerry took over.

Today's result does not surprise me.

He was a close second behind Diego Estrada in the U.S. 5K Road Championships. He beat Matt Centrowitz, Maverick Darling, Trevor Dunbar, Girma Mecheso and other good runners.

What I wondered is why didn't he run any cross country, since that supposedly was his favorite sport. Until someone actually interviews him, we won't know. Perhaps he isn't getting quite the mileage he needs because he has to keep cutting back to avoid all his chronic injuries. Who knows.

It's hard to keep blaming coahces and training programs.

Once you start giving in or DNF'ing, it gets easier and easier.

I don't see how many could have thought this would go much differently, he barely broke 8 mins and this pace was asked to be that. And no one even followed that, so at 8:05 he was already out of the race?

I keep wondering how coaches ship their athletes to big events, when clearly they are not prepared to be in that level of comp. They were "only" out on 4;14 for 1600 and most behind that number.

This is not going well and even as young as he is, with a couple of gilmpses at what used to be, there is something wrong, and it is not the "uninterrupted training" thing anymore. A guy of his innate talent, with decent block of training should be able to finish a moderately paced , 13:27 "in the hunt" type race.

Fastnbulbous wrote:

He was a close second behind Diego Estrada in the U.S. 5K Road Championships. He beat Matt Centrowitz, Maverick Darling, Trevor Dunbar, Girma Mecheso and other good runners.

What I wondered is why didn't he run any cross country, since that supposedly was his favorite sport. Until someone actually interviews him, we won't know. Perhaps he isn't getting quite the mileage he needs because he has to keep cutting back to avoid all his chronic injuries. Who knows.

GF did run at least one XC race - he ran well at the club champs race:

1 1383 Hill, Ryan 24 Bowerman Track Club 29:07.03 1

2 1049 Riley, Jacob 26 Hanson Brooks Distance Pr 29:09.08

3 1380 Fernandez, German 24 Bowerman Track Club 29:09.96 2

4 2131 Forys, Craig 25 New York Athletic Club (N 29:13.98 3

5 1039 Colley, Andrew 23 Zap Fitness Reebok 29:14.49 4

6 2055 Connor, Reed 24 Movin' Shoes Race Team 29:17.45 5

7 1057 Grey, Jonathan 26 Team Usa Minnestora 29:18.99

8 1042 Pennel, Tyler 26 Zap Fitness Reebok 29:20.69 6

9 1388 Tegenkamp, Matt 32 Bowerman Track Club 29:22.81 7

10 1044 Stilin, Joe 25 Zap Fitness Reebok 29:36.90 8

This is not too bad! I totally spaced on that race. So 2nd as U.S. Champs and 3rd at USATF Club XC Champs in December would seem to indicate promising signs of a comeback. The fact that he was not entered into the US XC Champs or other events might indicate he was not healthy enough recently. I'm sure he had a good reason for the DNF yesterday, and just hope it's not enough to set him back the rest of the season. I still think there's hope for him.

what a shame... wrote:

He peaked in High School...Should have gone to a college where he could develop and get stronger so he wouldn't be so injury prone in his pro career. I really believe OSU made him brittle and wasted his potential. He went to OSU with all the promise in the world and became just another runner in their squad. Not the superstar he was destined to be. Sad, sad story.

Peaked in HS? I forgot GF broke Webbs indoor mile record in 3:55 and crushed the indoor HS 3k record in 7:47, then went on to demolish Rupps 13:37 HSR outdoors in the 5K with a 13:25.

You are clearly an F'tard.

His best clearly was in HS which carried into Freshman year of college. He should go back home to his roots and old coach for one last hurrah. It seems that guy was the only one who had him figured out.

He was a great junior who is not a great senior

Runnnn wrote:

Threads like this make me sick. You think he's purposefully sucking? He has a contract and trying his best to get back on his A game. Injuries, inconsistency, trying different training, whatever. It happens that runners don't all continue to PR year after year. Get a life and explain why you were not racing there tonight (despite your obvious passion for the sport of running). When a pro is not doing well there are so many factors and the worst thing for fans to do is come on these boards and put together a "he's done" "why does he suck" thread. Tonight before bed ask God what's happening to German and if he responds please enlighten us.

He's not racing there because he does not have the talent to run 13:25 at 18 years old, nothing wrong with that. Nobody in history (except Fernandez and Derrick and Ritz) could do this.

He didn't say he was "purposefully sucking" he just wonders what the difficulty it THIS TIME. Everybody does.

You want to know what it is? Being a pro athlete in an individual sport just isn't as simple as you think. Same with all these college studs who "mysteriously" can't get it together as pros - just ask Robbie Andrews,

Life at college and as a college athlete is relatively straight forward. In fact running isn't even really your focus. You have a structured life, your teammates always around you and plenty to take your mind off the fact that track and field is the most difficult sport globally to succeed in.

These guys come out of college with everyone kissing their ass, telling them how great they are and if they are lucky they come out with six figures from a big sportswear company that is going to sure as hell come knocking if it starts going south. Problem is in the pro world no one gives a f--- if you are the great German Fernandez - adored by the Letsrun.com message board community and only a few with their sh$t together mentally make it.

Life is different when you are sitting round twiddling your thumbs in between training sessions. Spent either jacking off or reading someone proverbially jack you off on message boards like these. Start reading about how Coe trained - oh wait how Aouita trained - no the way Steve Scott trained - maybe a little Ryun and Pre and then wonder if you are really doing enough. Start overthinking and the slide starts. Very hard to stop

I would guess German Fernandez is facing/has faced this exact situation. Trouble is, in the lonely world of track there is no team mate to bail you out - no chance for a bad day that gets covered by your team.

Bottom line, I feel sorry for German and he was a great college athlete. Obviously not suited to be a pro. Hope he got good marks at college.