German Fernandez looks ready to roll!

With Nikes performance based reduction clause this guy must be living on pennies right now.

if someone has the time and inclination, i would be interesting in a recap of his college & pro career, when the injuries started, how they mixed with some of his successes (like the 3:34 he ran a couple years ago in europe).

That many bikers means he is really rolling... for those dudes to go out in full force, he must really be in great shape.. check the video camera, they are documenting his comeback. I guess his recent workout stories weren't a joke.

What were the recent workout stories?

....lacking hip extension....

To run consistently and stay healthy at his level, you have to have near perfect mechanics. This is especially true of hip mechanics. I think this is his "achilles heel." The problem is that it appears to be more structural than inflexibility. Sucks for him, but not everybody can be Mo Farah, Kenny B, or Galen Rupp.

Overstriding. If they don't fix that, he'll be hurt again as soon as the quality ramps up.

I don't think Bumbalough is hurt. I think Bumbalough paced him on foot through some or all of the workout. There's 2 bikers: Alistair Cragg and Jerry Schumacher. Bumbalough was working out with the rest of the group in a few other photos/vids put out by the BTC.

kjc wrote:

I guess his recent workout stories weren't a joke.

Catch me up--what are the workout stories?

So much analysis and speculation about performance in this thread based on one photo when the only thing that matters is how he runs on race day (which probably won't be till Pre in May). Y'all need to find something better to do with your time; there isn't anything worth interpreting from this single picture.

Let It Go wrote:

Rid yourself of this self-inflicted misery. It was over years ago.

100% correct. Just like people getting on the Luke V train any time he runs a race. Drew Hunter is the future.

How smooth does he look?

Gym Guy wrote:

Overstriding. If they don't fix that, he'll be hurt again as soon as the quality ramps up.

Yup. Foot way out in front, not good. Should be landing on the forefoot with your foot under your center of gravity while sweeping the ground to reduce impact forces and use energy transfer toyour advantage. He's got his foot way out in front and everytime he hits the ground its sending impact energy forces straight up his leg back towards him. Good way to not only fail to take advantage of energy transfer that will actually propel you forward rather than backwards, but as you mention is also a good way to get injured.

Yeah his foot is out in front, but he hasn't landed yet. It'll be close to right under his center of gravity by the time he lands. I guess all of these scrubs are "overstriding" too:http://dt9guucc6nuua.cloudfront.net/media/LargeP/056e6947-267f-4011-a885-28aa57279672.jpg?v=64353483http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/article/media_slots/photos/002/105/577/hi-res-32382fdec4ac44aca5bfe23be7e8bf21_crop_exact.jpg?w=650&h=433&q=85

poor form wrote:

Gym Guy wrote:

Overstriding. If they don't fix that, he'll be hurt again as soon as the quality ramps up.

Yup. Foot way out in front, not good. Should be landing on the forefoot with your foot under your center of gravity while sweeping the ground to reduce impact forces and use energy transfer toyour advantage. He's got his foot way out in front and everytime he hits the ground its sending impact energy forces straight up his leg back towards him. Good way to not only fail to take advantage of energy transfer that will actually propel you forward rather than backwards, but as you mention is also a good way to get injured.

yeah, gym guy. what are you talking about?! lolkittenz (nice name, btw) is saying that your legs do in fact need to go further out front (to move forward !) and then they lands. seems like common sense, especially when you are running fastlike the photos he showed.do a google images search of "kenenisa bekele stride" and you'll see the great ones in all stages of their stride. if you still don't get it, Google "usain bolt stride" and you'll see your leg needs to go far forward when running fast. where it lands is obviously important, and it's usually under you if you are elite, but you'r argument is based on the wrong photo

I am SO happy to see him still running. German, you have all of my support and respect. Keep it up!

Roelants wrote:

I just want to see him run healthy for a full year. I would give it a chance. He is one of the most talented guys to come along in the last 10 years.

Puskedra came back.

Jager was injured for a long time before the last few years.

Infield got healthy and medaled.

Ritz got hurt a lot and managed a good career.

An another pointed out, your examples are not analogous to German at all, none of them had as many poor showings or simply non-seasons (no participation at all) or false starts (one good race, next race injured or not very good) as German has had. I would like nothing better than to see him rising to the top again, I am just not counting on it (unless someone can provide a detailed analysis from Jerry that explains his past issues, and why this time it looks very different. Without that, all we've got is another "German MIGHT be back......baby" thread. There have been literally dozens of these the last several years that ended up with no big comebacks for him).

Running on grass is not always the best option for someone who is injury prone. A harder, smooth surface might be better for him compared to a softer but uneven one.

Ugh, GERMAN wrote:

WTF, hes out in the country, but running on a PAVED road. This guy should be on grass or something soft as injury prone as he is.

5:30 miler wrote:

Running on grass is not always the best option for someone who is injury prone. A harder, smooth surface might be better for him compared to a softer but uneven one.

Ugh, GERMAN wrote:

WTF, hes out in the country, but running on a PAVED road. This guy should be on grass or something soft as injury prone as he is.

Yes agreed

Running on hard surfaces trains you to run on hard surfaces. Since hes racing on the track his body needs to do specific training. All grass running would make his body less used to the stresses and demands on the achilles and would reduce his efficiency when running on the track.

Also there is no evidence that running on softer surfaces reduces injuries.

Keep it on the crete.

rvcoasting wrote:

I think he looks relaxed. Is a sub-3:32 in the offering this season?

It's "in the offing"