Bekele's Back!

Anything is possible with this type of talent. A poor day for him is the best day for many. Remember he still holds 5k and 10k world records.

Jetagimath wrote:

Can Bekele heal and train enough to run the 5K or 10K in Rio?

In his current form, I think he is the best bet to challenge Farah. The other Ethiopian runners can't upend Farah.

He won´t have a chance against Farah no matter how fit he is. One of the reasons why Geb started to run marathons was that he, because of injuries, was unable to do the kind of training necessary for fast finishes in track races. He continued to run sub-27 several years after his marathon debut, but he wasn´t able to follow the last laps.

It´s probably the same with Bekele. That he is able to hold a strong pace in the marathon is not the same as being able to match Mo the last 600 meters in a track race.

Mo's big threat is from Geoffrey Kamworor, though, and he's training with Kipchoge apparently.

So has Bekele been training in Ethiopia? There's been a lot written recently about the Kenya camps but what is there out there about the Ethiopian scene?

Thedirty wrote:

Certainly not impossible for a great talent such as Bekele to come back into great shape quickly off limited training. He could sit on the couch for a year and still get up to break 30 for 10k based off his capabilities, which the naive and slow can't comprehend, obviously. I really don't understand why some running people think that you lose all your fitness after a few months off. Muscle memory works for running just the same as it does for any other sport. I guess that line of thinking is from the compulsively obsessed addicts who think they can't take a day off or else they'll lose all their fitness. Bekele is the man!

Muscle memory, LOL. What is muscle memory??

Ever ridden a bike?

............. wrote:

I am sorry to be a skeptic here.

But I doubt it did happen.

No way can a human being run a 2:06 with just 7 weeks of real training while having been sidelined for 11 months previously.

Either you exaggerated his injury, or he just had had a much longer training block leading to the marathon.

Who said he was a normal, regular, puny human being?

This is Kenenisa Bekele.

Bekele just ran a marathon in 2:06 at 90% of his top condition. This means that he would be able to run about 10% faster when he is at 100% of top condition, which indicates a marathon time around 1:54.

On another thread a poster "expect great things" has already given data on a recent marathon distance tempo run by Bekele in around 1:57, so I estimate at least another 3 minutes faster during the race makes sense, depending on if he gets all his bottles and a good night of sleep at his next marathon. And that depends on if that man that has been stalking Bekele... and now Jemima Sumgong as well...is arrested by the British authorities.

rjm33 wrote:

Who said he was a normal, regular, puny human being?

This is Kenenisa Bekele.

Bekele just ran a marathon in 2:06 at 90% of his top condition.

Not true. According to Canova, he was only at 50%.

He had only 7 weeks of training and had not trained for 11 months before that.

I think we can probably all agree, a healthy Bekele with a full marathon build-up vs a healthy Kipchoge could be the most hyped Olympic marathon matchup any of us have seen in decades. I know I'm rooting to see that!

nope., wrote:

He won´t have a chance against Farah no matter how fit he is. One of the reasons why Geb started to run marathons was that he, because of injuries, was unable to do the kind of training necessary for fast finishes in track races. He continued to run sub-27 several years after his marathon debut, but he wasn´t able to follow the last laps.

It´s probably the same with Bekele. That he is able to hold a strong pace in the marathon is not the same as being able to match Mo the last 600 meters in a track race.

Farah is a 1500 man who wins the 5 and 10 because all the field sit back and let him use his speed in the last 600. Bekele is the man who could outrun him across the actual 10,000-metre distance. As well as having the ability, as a past winner with nothing to lose Bekele is probably the only 10k runner out there with the balls to do it too.

Surely the Ethiopian selectors give him either marathon or 10k - and either is going to be a treat to watch.

Why not both 10K and marathon?

Double gold would be big time.

PS - Farah's 10k PB is 26.46 - set in time-trial conditions with pacers. Quite apart from his WR (also set in time-trial conditions of course) even Bekele's last world championship victory was in 26.45 - and that after many laps of sparring with Tadese and others, and he looked at the end like he could go around again (this is a great video of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9SrdbrDcdQ

).

Obviously we can't assume he's back to that form, but that's what we'd be finding out.

Bekele is not going to be a force at 10000m ever again

larkimm wrote:

HOWEVER, if he did wake up today fit and now has 17 weeks to Rio you'd expect someone with this ability to respond to training to demolish the opposition on his way to Olympic gold.

There's no way he can recover from London and improve 4 minutes to beat Kipchoge in 17 weeks.

come on!no one is going to run a super fast marathon in Rio. The conditions will likely be terrible for fast running.it'll be a 2:08-2:10 winning time, maybe. If he hasn't been doing lots of training, he may actually be able to get into hard training faster than Kipchoge who just did a massive build up and needs down time.plus, why do you think kipchoge will be able to run another perfect race? if the past is any indication, (kimetto, mutai etc) his legs might be shotit seems unlikely, because Kipchoge has been so consistent the last 7 races, but, it's a brutal race and the body only gets so many tickets to ride. nothing is certain

a dose of reality wrote:

larkimm wrote:

HOWEVER, if he did wake up today fit and now has 17 weeks to Rio you'd expect someone with this ability to respond to training to demolish the opposition on his way to Olympic gold.

There's no way he can recover from London and improve 4 minutes to beat Kipchoge in 17 weeks.

Have you tried to run a marathon without a long build-up? The recovery time is much longer than when you've built up slowly over a long period. Bekele's legs are shot now. Doesn't matter if he's an aerobic monster. His legs are dead and they will not recover in time for a build-up that can match Kipchoge's.

Dathan Ritzenhein will win the 10k in world record time in Rioduring his victory lap he will then pull pages of undeniable proof out of his singlet linking Salazar to banned PED's with Galen Rupp and Farah. In a panic, Rupp will rip dathan's head off and throw it into heaven and knock god unconscious, and silently slip away, grow a huge Pre mustache, and become a successful girls high school coach in northern Finland and write best-seller erotic novelsRitz's gold medal will be surgically attached to Alan Webb's dead legs, and webb will lower the american record in wither the 1500 or mile, i haven't seen enough clues to determine which yet..Farah will complain about his reputation being dragged through the mud until his dying days, but will turn his attention to answering Letsrun forum questions about how fast he could actually run an 800m in ideal conditions. He'll run 1:44.8 with perfect splits, but ventolin, on hand to assist with timing and meet preparations, will over-ride the time and give him a 1:39.4at that point, ritzenhein's head will dislodge itself from celestial orbit and plummet to earth on a fatal trajectory towards Ventolin.

youth.in.revolt wrote:

Mo's big threat is from Geoffrey Kamworor, though, and he's training with Kipchoge apparently.

So has Bekele been training in Ethiopia? There's been a lot written recently about the Kenya camps but what is there out there about the Ethiopian scene?

sortof wrote:

He's sort of back but I think he'll get left off the Olympic team which is a shame. Rio would be way more interesting with him in the race.

Then he could run Berlin or Chicago.

Nutella1 wrote:

Metric Miler wrote:

almost certainly will break the marathon WR

Doubt it.

He is not getting any younger.

He will run Rio, that leaves no room for Berlin or Chicago. Maybe New York or Tokyo, both of which are not fast courses.

Dubai doesn't really invite Kenyans, so he won't get a shot there.

Spring 2017 will be London again - they will pay big $$$ to have him.

So fall 2017 would be his earliest chance (and only if he doesn't run Worlds). I doubt that he will still be at his very best then...

Next year at London he will go for it and probably break it with a large bonus lined up.

If he does go Berlin this or next year he could potentially break the WR by 30+ seconds.

Random Shmo wrote:

Thedirty wrote:

Certainly not impossible for a great talent such as Bekele to come back into great shape quickly off limited training. He could sit on the couch for a year and still get up to break 30 for 10k based off his capabilities, which the naive and slow can't comprehend, obviously. I really don't understand why some running people think that you lose all your fitness after a few months off. Muscle memory works for running just the same as it does for any other sport. I guess that line of thinking is from the compulsively obsessed addicts who think they can't take a day off or else they'll lose all their fitness. Bekele is the man!

Muscle memory, LOL. What is muscle memory??