TrackCoach wrote:
well actually wrote:
Ever heard of Jordan Hasay?
Jordan:
1. Didn't run nearly as much mileage.
2. In addition to running played soccer and swam.
3. Would never run a half marathon.
4. Jordan was significantly faster at the distances that matter like the 1500 and 3000m,
Track Coach:
There are a lot of teenagers on the Boards who are against running other than for a school team, coached by a school-paid coach. Funny enough, there are middle-aged opposes to this too, none more adamant and vocal then you. Your opinion is fine, and of course your livelihood depends on at least a few kids thinking the school program is worthwhile. Combine the actual need for these programs to exist and be funded with the notion that you genuinely feel you're doing something good for these kids, and it's hard to blame you for that stance. By the way, it comes through on a lot of threads: either they are on your team being coached by you, or they are wrong.
About Hasay, though.
1. That's right, never ran enough to capitalize on whatever genetic talents she does have. Runs that much now, but didn't come close through early 20s.
2. Increased risk of injury by piling on more lower-body stress with sudden starts, stops, and lateral movements by playing soccer.
3. Indeed, did not run events at which she could be competitive at the highest level. This does not include 10km in her case. Not only is her 5km PR slower than the notoriously slow-twitch Desi Linden, she was lapped in the last one I saw her run.
4. "The distances that matter" are only half and full marathon in her case. (See #3). Can she qualify for a national team in anything else? Maybe XC. Certainly not the distances you suggest "matter". By the way, the fact that her PRs for mid-D track events at age 18 are faster than a 14yo who may not have access to races held over those distances (I ran 10km at 14 and races open to the public at 1500 didn't seem to exist then or now) is unremarkable. I certainly would hope Hasay, who ran tons of those events, could beat someone 4 years younger at an event unfamiliar to her competitor.