Now everyone raise your hand if you have ever ran a 3:46 mile....
Now everyone raise your hand if you have ever ran a 3:46 mile....
Class.... wrote:
Now everyone raise your hand if you have ever ran a 3:46 mile....
Raise your hand if you think he was a doper.
*hand is up*
Class.... wrote:
Now everyone raise your hand if you have ever ran a 3:46 mile....
(raises hand)
Webb needs a new coach.
I also agree that Webb is still more of a time trialer than a true competitor. His talent is not a question ( for me ) and neither is whether he is a doper or not. He is also a very good guy from what I hear and maybe he just doesn't have "what it takes" yet to be in the hunt consistently at that level. It is a very specific type..
Alan Webb was a man-child in his teens, and has been balding since high school. Maybe he doesn\\\\\\\'t need a new coach. Maybe he needs to resume taking what he was when he etched his name in the H.S. record books... or do they test for that now?
Look, what's going on now has nothing to do with whether he's a time trialer or a true competitor (I'd say his 3:30.54 victory over Mehdi Baala in Paris in '07, when Baala passed him and he patiently timed his "pass back" perfectly, shoe he was a competitor).
He was so far off the pace in NYC so early that it doesn't matter which or those two things he was. Yesterday, he had nothing, period.
He was physically much more mature as a teen. Now he's 26 going on 40. His days as a miler might be over but I think he still has some juice left if he wants to try the 5k.
Alan
Webb was competitive internationally at every distance from the 800 to the 10k. Can you picture Nick Symmonds running a 10k, or Bekele toeing the line in an 800 at an international meet? That raises a red flag.
Webb looked like a 40 year old man at the age of 16, had a receding hairline by 18, and by 24 looked like a spokesman for Hair Club for Men. That raises a red flag.
Webb rapidly rose from obscurity (not uncommon for youngsters) but experienced a rapid fall as well. It's apparent that something has been missing in recent years that used to be part of his equation. Is it environment, drive, diet, or another factor? That raises a red flag.
Webb has never tested positive for a performance enhancing substance. Its important to recognize that fact, because the rest of the suspicion around his potential drug use is merely anecdotal.
Anyone who says Alan Webb certainly used drugs is a fool. Anyone who denies the possibility is a greater one.
To those that say that Webb simply matured early and is now physically older than his actual age, is that a real condition that exists in some people?
I'm not talking about someone who doesn't hold up well at the age of 35 or 40, I'm talking about 26 going on 40. Is that real?
Class.... wrote:
Now everyone raise your hand if you have ever ran a 3:46 mile....
Given that this is the AR, neither Cook, nor Gags, nor Dr. Li, nor even Steve Scott is allowed to raise his hand.
I guess that means Alan is only allowed to talk to Aouita, since he is the only person on the planet (attempting to be) coaching who has actually run 3:46--and that worked great for the Australians and the Moroccans, didn't it?
Are you starting to come to grips with how silly this is?
Is Webb done at 26? He shouldn't be. But continuing to do the same training, under the same coach, in the same town, with the same training partners is unlikely to pull Webb out of the rut in which he's currently stuck. Webb and his agent should be interviewing guys like James Li. I don't consider such a recommendation an indictment of Scott Rackzo, who, despite limited experience, managed to coach Webb to an American record in the mile (though the 1500 meter record would be more impressive). Rather, it is the realization that Webb has progressed as far as he can with this coach and that if he wants a shot at an olympic medal, he'd better get a new coach asap.
The change has to come from within. A new coach may not fix the problem, a new approach might and if the coach isn't open to new ideas/approach then a change may be necessary. Coach-Athlete chemistry is key so a switch may not necessarily work.
HIEOFJO wrote:
To those that say that Webb simply matured early and is now physically older than his actual age, is that a real condition that exists in some people?
I'm not talking about someone who doesn't hold up well at the age of 35 or 40, I'm talking about 26 going on 40. Is that real?
No. Progeria advances with pretty dramatic sign/symptoms that are not conducive to world class miling.
I think some people are making the argument that he was taking something the f-ed with his hormones. (Elevated testosterone is linked with balding).
There are so many factors that could go into this why he is not performing as well as he should be, especially at this point in his career. Only him and his coach might have some ideas, but I still feel that he still has it, but now his body more geared towards the 5.000 or even 10.000; now the thing keep developing and timing everything for those two events but life in the 1500 is over. Just support him, the past two years for him have been kind of bad. In the meantime, Manzano just peaked; he is not going much faster than he has already. [quote]groves wrote:
When is/what is Webb's next race?
He can't be feeling to good about a 3:42 right now.
Isn't Webb's problem now that Steve Magness has "joined" his group and his intellectual dwarfism is having negative repercussions? Surround yourself with negativity and the worst will come...
Okay, I know Webb's body looks different than it once did--it's bulkier, and it doesn't all look like good bulk--but is there a reason people think he has bad eating habits--or are we just assuming that because of his changed body type?
jabroniii wrote:
When is/what is Webb's next race?
He can't be feeling to good about a 3:42 right now.
Pre Classic, and if he doesn't have more than he showed on Saturday (everybody can have a bad day) he's really going to be up against it:
Haron Keitany (Kenya)
Shedrack Korir (Kenya)
Asbel Kiprop (Kenya)
Belal Mansoor (Bahrain)
Alan Webb
Lopez Lomong
Juan van Deventer (South Africa)
Leonel Manzano
Nicholas Kemboi (Kenya)
Josephat Kithii (Kenya)
Nate Brannen (Canada)
Evan Jager
Peter van der Westhuisen (S Africa)
Henok Legesse (Ethiopia)
He boasted in an interview in 2007 about his poor diet. Eerily, as if cursed, he never ran well again.
I believe Mr. Webb could benefit from that 20-banana-a-day diet that has worked wonders for so many letsrun forum freewheelers. Go Alan - live long and prosper!