Just interviews mainly. Also the fact that he's still with Gjert is a bit of red flag (even remaining agnostic on what actually happened there).
He ran 740 in an unimportant meet, not sure it really warrants raising an arm to the crowd. It's just classless, and yes, it's classless when Jakob does it too – but at least he's usually doing it en route to a big win or a near-WR performance.
It looked pretty within himself, but to be fair Neils Laros' training partner and teenager Ermias Girma was his biggest competition. Girma is a 1:44 guy at 800 with solid 1500m credentials, but certainly this was a longer race than he usually goes. So, can't really knock a victory and 57pt last lap, but if Girma hadn't let a gap form it could've been pretty interesting at the end.
Telahun Haile Bekele either was out-of-shape or if we're being charitable...jetlagged. It was funny when Nordas had the lead after the pacer dropped he was immediately looking for someone to go by him so he could sit on them. Jakob, he is not. This is certainly better than 3:37, but doesn't indicate too much more than he is probably in at least 3:34/7:35 shape in a faster race. World Indoors we'll really see if he's in 3:29-3:32 shape. Or if this was more of a function of a soft field, and a slow/tactical race that suited him.
Congrats to Narve on a new pb. But this is the third 3000m I have watched him eased some laps to a really slow pace before the final 2 or 3 -would love to see a nearby all out 3 k by him sometime… In the 1500m he already seems to know what to do, but the longer events are quite another ballgame when it comes to exhaustion and mental strain - Jakob f.ex has told how much he struggles with the pain in a 5000m; but has apparently gotten some help from the front running he has chosen to do -1500m’s and also quite a few 3000m’s in indoor champs. Maybe something to pick up here for Narve..?
Nordas is such a clown based on the few things I've seen and read about him.
He won in 741, didn't look particularly easy. Did some stupid wave to the crowd on the home stretch.
Nordås is a «big mouth”. Apart from the conflict he is in I think that is a good thing -we get to know how he thinks and trains, and we also get some insight in his problems as a runner (struggling with low self confidence, hot weather conditions in the distance events, his lack of 400m speed, his former lack of training and resting discipline / lifestyle) but also his enormous potential (based on his high mileage training) and his joyful training attitude (natural training / training in the woods, training without a watch++) and ability to stay uninjured… His kicking ability is also extremely interesting, as is his disability to put together a decent distance race. (Despite maybe being more talented in the 5000m than the 1500).
I liked Nordås’ greeting the spectators on the home straight. -Runners aren’t robots, but allowed to be themselves (as long as not being condescending against their fellow athletes). I don’t think “showing the joy” is a problem in the sport at all -can hardly remember even a single problematic episode…
The main problem when it comes to Nordås’ «big mouth» seems to be, IMO, the same that Kerr all of a sudden found himself in: The mouth is bigger than the achievements! For Kerr this sort of found it’s own solution by his stellar indoors WR (and his intelligent and humble interviews afterwards). And I’m also quite sure Nordås may be “saved” by something similar. But before that he will look somewhat ridiculous after repeatedly speaking of being as good as Jakob (or even maybe better), and then running 20 seconds slower than his countryman has done from the front…
Narve wasn’t going for an all out time trial. I think he went for the win. He did what it took. Best thing to do in winter season. He walks out of this with a good feeling, knowing he has a lot more in the tank, and not risking som bad signals which an all out effort can give. He is not in peak shape, this is just a small bump in the road to a big summer.
The 1500 in the indoor WC is also just a bump in the road to Olympics. For Narve 1500 indoor is a hard distance. I don’t think he is a medal contender. The track is too tight.
Narve wasn’t going for an all out time trial. I think he went for the win. He did what it took. Best thing to do in winter season. He walks out of this with a good feeling, knowing he has a lot more in the tank, and not risking som bad signals which an all out effort can give. He is not in peak shape, this is just a small bump in the road to a big summer.
The 1500 in the indoor WC is also just a bump in the road to Olympics. For Narve 1500 indoor is a hard distance. I don’t think he is a medal contender. The track is too tight.
Any distance above 2000m, Nordas has no shot against Jakob. I really don't understand how Nordas and even kipsang got so close to Jakob in Budapest. Jakob went on to run 4:43.13 and 3:43 while the other two couldn't keep up. Was Jakob truly sick or just a bad peaking from Jakobs part?
Narve wasn’t going for an all out time trial. I think he went for the win. He did what it took. Best thing to do in winter season. He walks out of this with a good feeling, knowing he has a lot more in the tank, and not risking som bad signals which an all out effort can give. He is not in peak shape, this is just a small bump in the road to a big summer.
The 1500 in the indoor WC is also just a bump in the road to Olympics. For Narve 1500 indoor is a hard distance. I don’t think he is a medal contender. The track is too tight.
He is still a bit rusty. And you are right about indoor WC, but he himself thinks that he can get a medal at a good day, due to the state of the competitors.
Any distance above 2000m, Nordas has no shot against Jakob. I really don't understand how Nordas and even kipsang got so close to Jakob in Budapest. Jakob went on to run 4:43.13 and 3:43 while the other two couldn't keep up. Was Jakob truly sick or just a bad peaking from Jakobs part?
could be a combination of both. If I'm Jakob, I try to repeat what I did going into Tokyo. He probably ran very close to this potential in that race, of course the pacing having helped tremendously. And while Jakob was never going to run a solo 3:27 flat in Budapest, I believe he could have run a 3:28 low to mid under the right circumstances, even with similar strategy.
it's a good result. even jakob has never looked really peaked during indoor, which is an indication of gjerts training methods.
Narve’s 3:37 was pretty alarming, even he admitted that. The Norwegian method doesn’t have huge periodization. It seems Narve for better or for worse is a bit all over the place mentally. So in that first race he expected to run off the back and kick a 53-54 to contend for the win. Not exactly a sensible race strategy in your first race. For the second race, he properly corrected by running sensibly and then kicking at 400 to go. World Indoors will be a fun test because if he tries his late positioning stuff he could be in some trouble.
7:41 for the win with a good Bekele in the field is solid. The summer season is looking to be quite fun in the 1500m with Nordas on the rise and Kerr and Wightman in play, as well as Nuguse, Hocker, and Kessler.
It looked pretty within himself, but to be fair Neils Laros' training partner and teenager Ermias Girma was his biggest competition. Girma is a 1:44 guy at 800 with solid 1500m credentials, but certainly this was a longer race than he usually goes. So, can't really knock a victory and 57pt last lap, but if Girma hadn't let a gap form it could've been pretty interesting at the end.
Telahun Haile Bekele either was out-of-shape or if we're being charitable...jetlagged. It was funny when Nordas had the lead after the pacer dropped he was immediately looking for someone to go by him so he could sit on them. Jakob, he is not. This is certainly better than 3:37, but doesn't indicate too much more than he is probably in at least 3:34/7:35 shape in a faster race. World Indoors we'll really see if he's in 3:29-3:32 shape. Or if this was more of a function of a soft field, and a slow/tactical race that suited him.
Agreed, I know he won but 7:41 is kind of lackluster for a 3:29 1500m and 13:05 5000m man. I don’t like doing comparisons like these, but Jakob ran 7:40.32 at Euro Indoors last year after having three days of racing (including a hard-fought 3:33 against a prime Neil Gourley) in his legs while leading basically the whole thing, and missing all of training in January due to illness. Again, I know it’s only February and the racing doesn’t get super hot until the summer, but Narve looks like he needs to step up a bit if he wants to beat guys like Hocker, Kessler, Tefera, Reynold, and even Adam Fogg to be honest.
Any distance above 2000m, Nordas has no shot against Jakob. I really don't understand how Nordas and even kipsang got so close to Jakob in Budapest. Jakob went on to run 4:43.13 and 3:43 while the other two couldn't keep up. Was Jakob truly sick or just a bad peaking from Jakobs part?
How are people still unsure if Jakob was sick? A million things pointed to him being sick.
Also, as you pointed out... Nordås would never normally be 3/100ths away from Jakob. Just like Garcia Romo would never normally be 1/100th away from Nuguse. Both were sick at Worlds.
Nuguse kept quiet but his coach later spilled the beans. Jakob, being Jakob, just said it straight. And the Norwegian team doctor reported it. Some sort of throat infection which resulted in him developing a fever the day after the 1500m (start of the 5000m heats)