World Champions update

[Sasha Pachev]

So we had Usain Bolt run 9.58. Hope nobody missed that. There was a middle 20 meters in 1.61. That is on pace for 16.1 200 off a running start if he could hold the pace for that long. Or 27.7 mph. On foot! Hopefully without drugs. Unfortunately you have to say "hopefully" nowadays when honesty is not valued as it should be. I do wish, however, that they kept the CEOs of big corporation to the same standards that they keep the athletes. Have them each pass a lie detector test when they file their tax reports and other documents.

There was some drama in the women's 10000. Meselech Melkamu thought she had the race won and began celebrating too early which allowed Linet Masai to pass her at the end. A lesson to learn from that - run scared, always sprint to the finish, and do not celebrate until you've crossed the line. An interesting detail. Moses Masai who took third in the men's 10000 is Linet's brother. Interestingly enough, they both took 4th in the Beijing Olympics. I also hope Amy Yoder Begley's 6th place with a PR of 31:13 did not fall through the cracks.

On the Utah side, we did not do so well. Lindsay Anderson did not make the final in the steeple, but at least ran close to her abilities (9:46). She did need to go 20 seconds faster to make it. Josh McAdams apparently had some issues with injury and could only run 9:02, well off his capabilities.

In the Men's 10000 we saw something cool. Bekele closed with a 13:05 5 K to win in 26:46. I do not believe we've ever seen a sub-27:00 in a major championship. We must not forget that Zersenay Tadese pulled him for a good portion of the second half up until the last lap as he was trying to break the pack, do not forget the runner-up that did the grunt work. Top 3 were all under 27:00, never seen that before in a championship. Dathan Ritzenhein ran a great race - 6th with a PR of 27:22. Amazingly well paced for this type of race, very disciplined pacing, and it paid off. To appreciate it - he beat Rupp by 15 seconds who finished 8th, all of it in the second 5 K. Too bad that the public understands only the Gold-Silver-Bronze language. I suppose we learn to count to three in the kindergarten, and are not up for a more serious intellectual challenge unless we are graded or our job depends on it. That sixth place in that type of company and with this kind of time is worth something special.

Same for Jenny Barringer 5th place with a 10 second PR and a new North America record (9:12) in the steeple. A very high quality performance that unfortunately will be noticed only by the nerds. Because it is 5th! If it were 1st, you have a story. If it were 3rd you might have story. But anything below most people see as also-ran.

[Dustin Ence]

All I saw was the 100m final, which was impressive.  Sorry to hear Josh McAdams didn't run better.  I talked to him at the Provo River Half just two weeks ago and he seemed real excited about the trip.  I hope everything is ok, I think he is a real nice guy.  Like, Sasha said it is unfortunate we don't hear more about some of these other great performances.  When I was coaching high school cross county I used to get so upset with newspapers for not covering our sport better.  My father one time gave me this quote by Mark Twain "it is better to deserve recognition and not receive it than receive recognition and not deserve it."  Though it is a nice quote and my father was trying to help me feel better.  I still get upset when I read the sports section and there is no mention of our local races and local high school runners.  Sorry I kind of got off of topic, I do think if some of these American elites got more American press it might help get the interest of these younger runners.  However, it will always been a challenge to compete with football, baseball, and basketball.

[Eric Day]

challenge to compete with football, baseball, and basketball.

You should feel lucky, all we get here is Soccer. Unless some other mexican wins something somewhere, then he/she becomes an instantaneous hero for a short while, unless there is an important soccer game, of course.

[Sasha Pachev]

Well, we do not have a whole lot on TV here either. I do not even bother to get cable. I have been following the World Championships on the internet at http://iaaf.org.

I love that Mark Twain quote! I do have to say, though, that it is important to understand that when we are giving recognition to a performance we are not honoring the individual so much as we are honoring the standard of excellence that was achieved. We do say thanks to the individual for discovering and taking good care of the talent he's been blessed with, we do want him to have the best possible opportunity to continue to develop that gift, but he is only a conduit of the gift while all of us have the chance to enjoy it. We must recognize that when somebody runs great, it is a gift to all of us, not just him. When we are thankful for such gifts being sent to us we are sending the message that we want other to reach out for that standard as well. When we ignore it, we send the opposite message.

[Paul Petersen]

Seems like Ritz is due for a sub-2:08 marathon. Perhaps sub-2:07.

[Bonnie]

Ritz has been due for a sub 2:08 for a while!!  He looked great last night, I was really excited it was like the old days watching him in cross or NCAAs.

By the way -- 3 Americans in the 1500!!!  Leo Manzano looked stronger than he has ever looked.

[Sasha Pachev]

Once he learns to run the marathon, he will be running 2:05. In fact, that is what Salazar is telling him.
Truth of the matter - 27:20 + learn to run the marathon = 2:05. If you really learned to run the marathon, it could even be faster - see the note on Paula Radcliffe below. 2:05:00/27:20 = 4.57. Applying this ratio we get:

28:00 + learn to run the marathon = 2:08:02
29:00 + learn to run the marathon =  2:12:37
30:00 + learn to run the marathon = 2:17:11
31:00 + learn to run the marathon = 2:21:46
32:00 + learn to run the marathon = 2:26:20
33:00 + LTRTM = 2:30:54
35:00 + LTRTM = 2:40:03
40:00 + LTRTM = 3:02:55
45:00 + LTRTM = 3:25:47
50:00 + LTRTM = 3:48:39
55:00 + LTRTM = 4:11:31

If the 10 K is slower than 55:00, strong emphasis on LTR10K is recommended before working on LTRTM.

Note that Paula Radcliffle really has her LTRTM down. With the 10 K PR of only 30:01 she has been able to run 2:15:25 in the marathon. And her 10 K PR is maxed out, she has spent a lot of time developing her 10 K speed. The above chart would put her at 2:17:16. So that means if Ritz managed the same level of success in this dark art he'd be running in the 2:03 range.

Now here is what's unfortunate. To use a Russian metaphor, each year we see as many 29:00 and faster collegiate runners as there are unbutchered dogs. But you can count sub-2:13 marathoners from all years of college graduation and every other source cumulatively on your fingers. We really do not do that hot in the LTRTM department, and this is not an accident because we have a mess of a system and a running culture. The natural inclination to a certain distance accounts for only 30% of it. You can squeeze a heck of a marathon out of a natural 10 K runner if you do everything right. If you could get those 29:00 guys to eat right, sleep right, and train right for 5 years, 70% of them would run under 2:13. The remainder would still run under 2:17. But that is a big if, the size of the IF is the problem.

[Bonnie]

Great post Sasha ...

[Paul Petersen]

There were several great events on TV yesterday. The 5000m was a thriller. I seriously thought with 70m to go that Lagat would pull it out. Thought for a second that Tegencamp would finish higher too, but still great efforts by both of them. The women's marathon was certainly a disappointment for Goucher and Goucher fans, but Desireé Davila snuck in 11th with an amazing races and big PR. Looks to be the next Olympic hopeful for the Hansons, given the decline of Sell lately. The 800m was pretty good as well. Again, I though Symmonds had a shot going into the last straightaway, but faded badly. Still, it was cool to see a former D-III runner be in contention for a world championship at least. Women's 1500m was pretty crazy. I missed the actual race, but Rowbury ended up taking bronze due to a DQ. Certainly not the way you want to win a bronze, but on the other hand, the other runners need to follow the rules.

[Dustin Ence]

Yeah, I was upstairs yelling at Lagat and woke my wife up from her Sunday nap.  She usually understands my coaching from the couch during basketball and football games, she just couldn't figure out the extra excitement during the 1500m meter