Where does Centro go from here?

For me the most interesting thing he could do would be 3K SC.

Bail Bond Leon wrote:

Church of the Long Run wrote:

Every serious runner should race a marathon before retiring.

Why?

Racing for 2+ hours puts you in a different physical/mental zone. It’s a new challenge, low pressure, high reward, guaranteed pr.

He’s a 13 min 5k runner. He could be a low 2:0X guy. If Centro feels he’s reached his limits on the track and the 10k isn’t calling him a marathon could be a great farewell, or rebirth.

There were also plenty of successful elites on the track who made the jump to marathon and had even greater success.

After.season.pizza.party wrote:

Bail Bond Leon wrote:

Why?

Racing for 2+ hours puts you in a different physical/mental zone. It’s a new challenge, low pressure, high reward, guaranteed pr.

He’s a 13 min 5k runner. He could be a low 2:0X guy. If Centro feels he’s reached his limits on the track and the 10k isn’t calling him a marathon could be a great farewell, or rebirth.

There were also plenty of successful elites on the track who made the jump to marathon and had even greater success.

He absolutely could not run a fast marathon. If he had that kind of ability, he would have finished in the top 5 at NCAA XC without having to try very hard. His best distance right now is probably around 3000m and that's unlikely to change.

Stop with the marathon nonsense. If you knew anything about Centro you’d know that’s never happening. A serious attempt at the 10k is probably too far.

I agree it looks pretty grim for him all of a sudden, but that 3:49 with poor pacing is quite good. I don’t think the 5k offers any better solutions for him. If he’s in ~3:31 shape he will continue to make US teams at 1500, and once you’re in the final, you never know.

I just don’t see why people think we’ll never having championship races over 3:30 again. We’ve had two title races in a row like that, and 3 of the best guys prefer running that way, but there will come a time when Stewy and Tim don’t want to be Jakobs pacers, and vice versa — then what?

Dude has to be trolling if he expects us to believe Centro can pull off a sub 2:10 marathon.

Championship 5000 and 3000 races probably suit him. He's good enough to run a fast 3000, and he can close fast off of reasonable championship paces in a 5000m.

frail martini wrote:

I agree it looks pretty grim for him all of a sudden, but that 3:49 with poor pacing is quite good. I don’t think the 5k offers any better solutions for him. If he’s in ~3:31 shape he will continue to make US teams at 1500, and once you’re in the final, you never know.

Making the final is the main issue ...

AIIez wrote:

Championship 5000 and 3000 races probably suit him. He's good enough to run a fast 3000, and he can close fast off of reasonable championship paces in a 5000m.

In an Olympic 5000, Centro would have strength disadvantage where it would take about a 9:00 first the first 2 miles for him to have a chance. Some of the top 5000 runners can run 3:32 or faster anyway.

Centro is fine. I think he leaned out a bit too much this year. He may be a bit under his perfect weight and that can hinder performance a lot. Especially when you’re a miler looking for that extra bit of power on the last lap.

He may also just need a coaching change.

He can hang with the very best. Just needs to put his ego aside and figure out what he needs to do to get there.

Kenaneeser Beckelay wrote:

Centro is fine. I think he leaned out a bit too much this year. He may be a bit under his perfect weight and that can hinder performance a lot. Especially when you’re a miler looking for that extra bit of power on the last lap.

He may also just need a coaching change.

He can hang with the very best. Just needs to put his ego aside and figure out what he needs to do to get there.

That last paragraph is nonsense. Are you saying after his Rio win his ego was inflated to the point where he believed minimal training was required to defend his title in Tokyo? He did win a gold medal in Rio so he knows what's required to get it done.

Why would he need to change coaches? He can probably run any workouts he wants.

Prediction: Sham 69 takes Centro under his wing, and next year he ends up running 3:29 to win the World Champs. You heard it here first.

He’s got a giant ego. He gets rattled by comments on the internet. He tries not to grimace in races. It doesn’t look like he ever really wants to hurt himself to see what he can do. He’s all about his appearance. Yes he won an Olympic gold medal in 2016. Is he going to hang his hat on that achievement?

Kenaneeser Beckelay wrote:

SDSU Aztec wrote:

That last paragraph is nonsense. Are you saying after his Rio win his ego was inflated to the point where he believed minimal training was required to defend his title in Tokyo? He did win a gold medal in Rio so he knows what's required to get it done.

Why would he need to change coaches? He can probably run any workouts he wants.

He’s got a giant ego. He gets rattled by comments on the internet. He tries not to grimace in races. It doesn’t look like he ever really wants to hurt himself to see what he can do. He’s all about his appearance. Yes he won an Olympic gold medal in 2016. Is he going to hang his hat on that achievement?

I believe he prepared for Tokyo as well as he possibly could. Do you have any proof that he didn’t?

He needs to start training with Ari and give the TRI a try.

Eamonn Coghlan?

But to the point of this thread, Centro was a one-trick pony and other medal threats will never again let the pace get slow enough to use that trick (this presumes he can still outkick the 1,500 medal contenders off a slow pace),

However, I guess it hypothetically possible that he could develop his strength and stay with the 5,000 guys in an honest race and beat them in a sprint.

^This! It's a good time to see an American with Centro's flat speed run a few steeples. He's tall enough and his hurdle form couldn't be worse than some of the fast Kenyans.

Film Rep wrote:

Straight up retire.

He can’t hang with the big boys in the 5k or 10k. He would be wasting his time trying to run a Thon.

Sure he could probably consistently run 13:00-13:10. But that not that good when the winners running 12:35-12:40.

What about when the winner is running 12:55-13:05 in a tactical race like almost every championship 5k ever run? Or is it more likely that they will run in that 12:35-12:40 range that has only been accomplished 4 times ever in perfectly paced time trials?

My guess is that unless the money is too much to walk away from, he retires soon. He has no "need" to accomplish anything else to be regarded as among the best US athletes ever.

Marathons are pointless and he might do ok, but thats it, ok. Do not proceed, Matt.

dope buyer wrote:

Film Rep wrote:

Straight up retire.

He can’t hang with the big boys in the 5k or 10k. He would be wasting his time trying to run a Thon.

Sure he could probably consistently run 13:00-13:10. But that not that good when the winners running 12:35-12:40.

What about when the winner is running 12:55-13:05 in a tactical race like almost every championship 5k ever run? Or is it more likely that they will run in that 12:35-12:40 range that has only been accomplished 4 times ever in perfectly paced time trials?

Sure. Just like his 1500 Olympic gold race. Maybe they will jog the first two miles in 10:00. 🤣🤣🤣 Centro just raced a mile in 3:53 😳 In a tactical race, the last mile of the 5k is gonna be almost that fast.