Official 2018 Brussels DL Discussion Thread

Coburn got destroyed. Not even close!!!!!

Too much time between races?? How long has it been for Houlihan??

WatchedIt wrote:

Coburn got destroyed. Not even close!!!!!

Nothing better than watching the Colorado princesses get blown off the track.

In every form of cycling, in-season, there are races every few days, or every day, and everyone races.

In running, apparently, you can only race two, three times a year.

Harrier46 wrote:

Too much time between races?? How long has it been for Houlihan??

Her last race was nearly 8 weeks ago, 5 July in Lausanne.

All the Bowerman athletes -- Jager, Frerichs, even Houlihan were sharper before the break.

runnerchx33 wrote:

In the 1500, what happened to Jenny Simpson? She came in last...

Not quite last, but not good.

On the other hand, just six weeks ago in London, both Simpson and Hassan took care of Muir handily. Simpson beat her by 2 seconds, and Hassan demolished her.

It looks like Houlihan has a lock on the 1500 in Ostrava. Hassan and Klosterhalfen are running the 3000, so she just has to beat Chebet and Arafi. Since they were 6th & 8th today, they should give Houlihan her check now.

I wonder how much Muir's getting paid to run at the Great North CityGames?

Les wrote:

Harrier46 wrote:

Too much time between races?? How long has it been for Houlihan??

Her last race was nearly 8 weeks ago, 5 July in Lausanne.

No, her last races was 6 weeks ago, on July 21. It was at some fairly low key meet in Belgium, so it's not surprising you missed it. As I recall, she did ok.

FFF wrote:

In every form of cycling, in-season, there are races every few days, or every day, and everyone races.

In running, apparently, you can only race two, three times a year.

I'll just leave this comment here so everyone can see how dumb it is, rather than try to respond to it.

How did you forget that? wrote:

Les wrote:

Her last race was nearly 8 weeks ago, 5 July in Lausanne.

No, her last races was 6 weeks ago, on July 21. It was at some fairly low key meet in Belgium, so it's not surprising you missed it. As I recall, she did ok.

Oh right. How could I forget? Her AR 5k.

Les wrote:

Oh right. How could I forget? Her AR 5k.

Even so, your basic point still stands. It's been a while, and she hasn't raced all that much this summer. In the past four months, she's run 7 races. 3 of those were at the USAs. Take those out, and she's run 4 races in four months, one of those was a time trial that involved no strategy. Given this schedule, I'd be shocked if she wasn't rusty.

You were right, though wrote:

Les wrote:

Oh right. How could I forget? Her AR 5k.

Even so, your basic point still stands. It's been a while, and she hasn't raced all that much this summer. In the past four months, she's run 7 races. 3 of those were at the USAs. Take those out, and she's run 4 races in four months, one of those was a time trial that involved no strategy. Given this schedule, I'd be shocked if she wasn't rusty.

But that's the thing about the off-year: you peak when you peak and try to run as fast as you can. Turns out Houlihan peaked earlier in the summer, and so did Simpson, Jager, etc. Nothing wrong with that. Hard to fault Houlihan for the way she ran this season...

I have to disagree. If you're a coach you want your athlete to be at their best in the most important competition of the year. This year with no championships, it was the Diamond League Final with $50k on the line. All the Bowerman athletes in the final ran sub-par, even Houlihan. It's a coaching mistake, in my opinion. Since Lausanne, Muir ran an 800, a 1k and two 1500s to Houlihan's lone 5k. Muir was sharper for the Diamond League final than Houlihan, whose kick wasn't as devastating as earlier in the season.

everyone witness the stupidity wrote:

FFF wrote:

In every form of cycling, in-season, there are races every few days, or every day, and everyone races.

In running, apparently, you can only race two, three times a year.

I'll just leave this comment here so everyone can see how dumb it is, rather than try to respond to it.

Okay.

WatchedItToo wrote:

WatchedIt wrote:

Coburn got destroyed. Not even close!!!!!

Nothing better than watching the Colorado princesses get blown off the track.

Especially after that baseless, snide, deleted tweet about Beatrice.

rojo wrote:

Man, as a US distance fan, it's hard to watch these races. The big stars for the US - Jager, Coburn, Frerichs, Houlihan, etc - just aren't going with the pace. I still thought Shelby would win. I timed her last 200 in 29.83 but it wasn't enough.

Muir ran with guts. Normally in running, the people who run smart win but today guts was rewarded.

Best post in the thread. It has disgusted me for decades. Americans sit back and somehow expect something good to happen. And on the rare occasion it works, they over value the result and somehow brainstorm it is a good strategy. Meanwhile, it is the wrong choice far more often than not, and somehow the American coaches either don't understand that or the athletes don't listen. You cannot cede ground at highest level and expect to be rewarded.

Coburn, Frerichs and Jager are outmatched by the athletes atop their event. I applaud their effort but results are a bonus. That event has indeed been weak of elite competitors but quickly changing. I won't be shocked if names we've never heard of are at or near the top within the next 2-3 years.

Houlihan has tremendous turn of foot and is the most interesting American female middle distance runner in years. Simpson does it via great timing and strategy but Houlihan can actually beat these women at their best, and at various distances. Yes, today she screwed up and lingered too far back. I was screaming.

It was a classic case of over valuing the most recent outcome. You can't do that. She sat back and assumed she could regain contact and then go past Sifan and Muir on demand.

You were right, though wrote:

Les wrote:

Oh right. How could I forget? Her AR 5k.

Even so, your basic point still stands. It's been a while, and she hasn't raced all that much this summer. In the past four months, she's run 7 races. 3 of those were at the USAs. Take those out, and she's run 4 races in four months, one of those was a time trial that involved no strategy. Given this schedule, I'd be shocked if she wasn't rusty.

When was Selemon Barega's last race?

I really had fun attending the competition. That 5k was just incredible. I was sitting near the high jump pits and the crowd was crazy every time Nafi jumped. Very nice Men HJ too, as Gianmarco Tamberi is a real showman and played a lot with the public (but for some reason he literally had a fight with Thomas, the Bahamian jumper).

Weather was perfect for distance, but too cold for sprinters and jumpers. That 9.79 from Coleman was really impressive given the temperature.

Does anyone have news about Omar Craddock ? He walked a few meters after his last attempt and then fell on the ground all of a sudden. He was conscious but could not stand up for like 15 min and finally left the field on a stretcher. I really hope he's OK.

A Sure Thing wrote:

runnerchx33 wrote:

In the 1500, what happened to Jenny Simpson? She came in last...

Not quite last, but not good.

On the other hand, just six weeks ago in London, both Simpson and Hassan took care of Muir handily. Simpson beat her by 2 seconds, and Hassan demolished her.

Muir has bounced back impressively, this was probably her strongest race this year (at least outdoors). She was good but without a real challenger at the EC, not so good in the 1000m in Birmingham and faded to last (or almost last) in 2:04 over 800m in Rovereto a week ago. I suspected injury but whatever it was it must have been only temporarily.

Jo72 wrote:

Muir has bounced back impressively, this was probably her strongest race this year (at least outdoors). She was good but without a real challenger at the EC, not so good in the 1000m in Birmingham and faded to last (or almost last) in 2:04 over 800m in Rovereto a week ago. I suspected injury but whatever it was it must have been only temporarily.

Oooh, I forgot all about that 800. I wonder what was up with that? (Hay fever? Her training cycle?)

I'd like to believe Rojo when he Muir's finally got her tactics sorted. But after looking at your list, I'm not so sure.