On our weekly conference call this morning, Weldon started reading from an article I wrote in May of 2017 after Monza saying we weren't that close to sub-2:00.
It reminded me of what we thought was possible after Breaking2. And the best prediction has to go to Ross Tucker. Here is what he wrote after Breaking 2.
"The end result is that comparing Monza to say, Berlin, is probably worth 1:20 to 1:30, and would suggest that Kipchoge’s time is worth around 2:01:40. The rest would be made up of all the other tactics."
That's what I call a great prediction.
In the aftermath of Kipchoge's 2:01:39, Tucker has been making some interesting observations on twitter wondering if the jump basically from 2:03 flat to 2:01:40 really isn't a breakthrough in human performance but rather just a result of the 1% gain the NYTimes found that the 4% shoe is worth.
https://twitter.com/Scienceofsport/status/1041686730552868865
https://twitter.com/Scienceofsport/status/1041687173433569285
https://twitter.com/Scienceofsport/status/1041687468989394946
https://twitter.com/Scienceofsport/status/1041687979071299584
Here is Tucker's article from last year.
https://sportsscientists.com/2017/05/pursuit-sub-2-marathon-next/
And mine as well.