Dear World,
Jeremy Wariner is fast.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this manner.
Sincerely,
Kangway
p.s. oh yeah he also just ran 43.50 in Stockholm. Link below.
Wariner Runs Fast
PS (from mark): Championship form:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
21 comments:
Bekele ran the second 1500m of the 3000 in 3:38.
It's funny think about how Kenny B and Haile G are both like 5'3" and 5'4" respectively. SO FAST!!!!
Wariner's form is really nice.
He's probably have an awesome kick in, like, the 5k.
1) he is also extremely thin!
2) he must have really, really strong feet. those spikes are like socks, and he's pushing off of such a small surface area...
i wish i had less broken feet...
He may be thin but he is still hot as shit. See, thin guys can be hot too. You may have to break 44 in the 4 to do so, but my hopes remain unbroken!
Also I always wondered what would happen if he started doing distance. He spends so much time on the 2 and 4 trying to get his speed down, maybe a few 8s or even 1500 would be interesting.
No Garrett, he should go straight to the 5k.
No Ian, he should go straight to the Marathon.
Jeremy Wariner runs so well in the finishing stretch because he runs 100-mile weeks for twelve weeks a year over the hills of Waitakere. This buids his fitness to such a level that when all his competitors are floundering, he effortlessly pulls away.
Following his base phase, Wariner performs four weeks of hill-bounding, and always ties his shoes to avoid undue stress on the top of his foot.
Yeah, Clyde Hart is actually Arthur Lydiard. Didn't you know?
Actually Clyde Hart's 400m runner training is pretty interesting. They do a lot of 200's but they aren't what you'd expect. Here's a multi-page article outlining the training. I think it's totaly a sweet read:
http://www.sports-fitness.com/article/sf/ie/read/78/2
woah, jeremy wariner just got like 100 times hotter in my eyes...
i did not think he put in that much distance work. i guess that would also explain his svelte figure... that is such classic Lydiard, i love it!
also, wtf is up with the highly unsatisfactory american record breaker choices!?!? where are my favorite running men: ryan hall and tim broe!? heck, why don't we just go ahead and add jeremy wariner? i just might vote for him.
What are you talking about? Lagat already ran 12:59, Tegenkamp 13:04.9, Goucher 13:10. Last time I checked Broe's PR was 13:11 and he had been injured for about four years nonstop. Seriously, I don't see Broe as the one to break Kennedy's record. If he gets healthy again maybe he'll run fast, but he's not in prime contention right now.
Ryan Hall is a stud, but his speed doesn't match the other guys. He's got a decent 1500 time but he'll be focusing on the Marathon the next few years. Basically, he won't be in the race to set the 5k record because he probably won't even be focusing on the 5k. The same goes for Webb. Webb may have run 13:10 but he won't be running as many 5k's as the other guys.
I think Tegenkamp and Lagat are really the way to go.
My point in making the poll wasn't even to worry about who was most likely to break the record - the actual name chosen wasn't important. It was just to point out how exciting it is that there is a slew of runners, all of whom have a legitimate shot. Compared to 5 years ago, American distance running is much stronger than it was.
Tegenkamp is the clear choice because he is so young, and still improving. Two years ago Tegenkamp was not even the top college runner (Solinksy, Hall, Willis, Dobson, Ritzenhein and some Africans were overshadowing him) - now he is the top 5k runner in the US.
Similarly, Solinksy and Rupp are on there just because they've run very fast (over 3000 and 10,000 respectively) and are young.
Lagat is the most-proven at the distance. He beat Bekele in a fair fight, and is clearly one of the best in the world. However, he's getting older, and has been struggling this year. Don't count him out, though.
Webb is the best miler in the world right now, and a strong distance runner and cross country runner. He's focused on 1500 for the rest of this year, but he could break the record as early as next year.
I can't see Ryan Hall with a chance at the 5000 record. Isn't Hall's 1500m PR from high school? 3:42 in 2001. He isn't going to focus on the 5000 with the intensity necessary to break the AR.
Broe is now 30 or so, and dropping 15 seconds this late in his career would be a shock. I actually forgot about him while I made the poll.
Famiglietti I put on the list because he's been getting better at 5k, but he seems like a long shot.
Ritz and Dan Lincoln are also both long shots at 5000, but they've both run well at that sort of distance and are track-focused runners.
by the way, Megumi, I really hope you didn't ACTUALLY BELIEVE that the world's best 400m runner does 100-mile weeks.
also, "struggling" for lagat means winning the US championships at 5000 and running a 3:33 1500m
RME... don't take advantage of the gullible... though see that sounds remarkably like Peter Snell's training program and well 400 runners are kind of similar to 800 runners... or at least in my opinion they SHOULD be.
At any rate, personally I think Ryan Hall is less of a long shot than Lincoln or the Ritz... and since you put old timers in there like Gouch (who has a similar PR and history of injury) I don't see why being 30 has to specifically be a strike against Tim Broe.
I think Lagat is an amazing runner, and the obvious choice given how close he already is, however, I would *prefer* for the AR to belong to an american born... its kinda like those little countries in europe who offer large amounts of cash to kenyans to get them to switch nationalities... it just feels a bit cheap.
I'm gonna go Webb or Hall on this one. Basically, whoever gets it is going to have to really step it up from where they currently are so from that standpoint I think current PRs are not necessarily an accurate measure of potential. I feel like Webb and Hall have both shown that they can really step up to the plate even after years of disappointments and inconsistencies.
sorry but there is very very very very very little chance that ryan hall will break the american 5000 record.
also, lagat originally came to america go to school on a scholarship - remember him being one of goucher's main competitors in Running With The Buffaloes?
he has been living in america since then. he became a naturalized citizen because he wanted to be an american. he is not a stephen chereno-style mercenary.
there were some complications with Lagat becoming an American citizen before he represented Kenya in athens, but if you were Lagat, what would you have done?
the WORST part of the olympics is that they are a breeding grounds for nationalism. they are infested with politics (see boycotts in 1976, 1980 and 1984, for example) and i hate it when politics encroaches on sport.
lagat is a real, true american (he cannot be president, but other than that he's as full an american as i am). that is the whole goddamn point of america. it is a country that was invented, very deliberately and very carefully, with the idea in mind that it would be a place of greater freedom and acceptance than any other place on earth. it took a long time to work the kinks out (many still exist) but by and large america still makes the attempt to live up to that ideal. lagat ALREADY holds an american record - he has the 1500m record (it might not last much longer, though), but that is not at all a cheapening of the American record. it is a celebration of one of the things about America that's worthwhile.
khalid khannouchi, kerron clement, abdi abdirahman, mebrahtom keflezighi, alberto salazar, sydney maree and sanya richards are some other great foreign-born american athletes.
some people might take exception to khannouchi and maree because they do not give the appearance of being patriotic. well, i am not patriotic either, but no one has denied that i'm a full american
Mark always beats me to what I want to say. It's because I sleep.
In any case, I'm am very disturbed at the people who are like "Oh yeah, screw Lagat, he's not really an American." Or I hate how any time Abdi or Meb are talked about they always point out how they aren't American born. Basically it's the same as what Mark said, that's the point of this country! To become an American citizen shows that you want to be an American! It's living the dream. Seriously, there are tons of American-borns that are less patriotic than naturalized citizens!
Also Mark, I definitely remember reading stuff from Khannouchi where he was very, very proud to be an American citizen, but you know, you can always correct me if I'm wrong.
But back to Lagat. Seriously, read this article! Look at the picture of his family! How is that not American!?!!?
Also Megumi, Gouch is still in the mix because he ran 13:10 a year ago. Also he is going to Worlds so that shows he's worth something.
Ryan Hall is not going to try for the 5k record, so he will not get it at all. Lincoln is stuck in medical school, and that's killing him, but his 3000 Steeple PR is pretty hot stuff. If he survives medical school or finds time to train and race well, he could still run fast.
oh, god people... i didn't SAY that he was less american. i SAID that i prefer for the american record to belong to an american born. its the same reason why i'm psyched that there's an asian dude who can hurdle, and a white dude who can sprint...
obviously athletic ability builds upon a genetic base. why was there such a fantastic commotion over that frosh with the last name 'Rono'? like it or not, there are some stereotypes and some populations of people who seem to be predisposed to have a higher proportion of fantastic athletes.
i just PERSONALLY am drawn to examples of people who buck those trends. i'm talking nationality and where you grew up from an extremely practical sense. your genetic make up, but also the environment in which you were raised... possibly before you became an athlete has a LOT to do with how you turn out. Like Macharia Yuot, i can't prove this, but i would BET that his childhood ordeal and perseverance formed the basis for his physical and mental toughness required to pull off the triple national championship in 100 degree heat followed by a 2:25 marathon. i'm NOT saying, ergo its not fair to his competitors who didn't happen to have the opportunity to walk 3,000 miles with limited food, safety and shelter... i'm just making a statement of fact. what your genes are, what your environment is, even what food you eat to some degree influence how your body turns out when you're 20+ years old. just ask a biologist.
many of the marathoning greats have stories of how they ran 10 miles barefoot carrying a backpack to get to school every day. i am 100% japanese by genetic make-up, but i am very different from my relatives that did not leave the motherland because i grew up eating cheeseburgers and campbells soup. i am taller and fatter than the rest of my extended family members, with a greater incidence of allergic reactions, though all of my cousins and my mother suffer a predisposition to allergic dermatitis.
basically, it has NOTHING to do with nationalism, i'm just saying, i am personally interested in seeing what a kid who grew up in america could do in the 5K, vs. how lucky can america be to inherit some fantastic runners who happened to love this country enough to become a citizen. why do you think people even track the statistic of fastest american born? if you want to think its because we are all hypocritical, exclusive, racist bastards... fine... you are entitled to your opinion. to me, its just an interesting study.
also, since these points were brought up, i feel compelled to say:
1) i tend towards the whole "being an athlete is the only important thing in the world" line of thought, but to me, the ONE thing that trumps that is the responsibility to be part of the world. that being an elite athlete does not release you from being affected by what is going on around you, economically, politically, socially. as an athlete you ARE a public figure, and i personally do not respect people who aren't mindful of that. that you are in a position to have people listen to you and pay attention to your opinions. if you COULD speak out about something really heinous that may be going on in the world by say refusing to accept a gold medal from nazi germany, etc. then i feel like you shouldn't have to feel like "oh, politics should never affect athletic contests" granted, i feel like such decisions should be the independent decision of each athlete, vs. the government saying okay we as a country will boycott so YOU can't compete, sorry. but nevertheless, i absolutely disagree with the fact that athletics should be exempt from the circumstances of the world.
2) people who play the America is the land of the free, we are the most accepting country, blah blah blah holier and better than thou line REALLY REALLY REALLY PISS ME OFF. intolerance and discrimination happen in many different ways, and while some countries may be ahead of others in getting rid of such, i strongly object to anyone getting the high horse card on this account. you think the US isn't still ruled by the WASP-y types? do you wonder why we still have an appalling rich poor gap, and how that percolates down to everything from public education to healthcare. did you know that a 10 year old kid DIED because his family was too poor and afraid to seek healthcare and that still happens in this day and age? that people of middle eastern descent were vandalized, assaulted and even killed after 9/11... but say *anything* even vaguely construable as anti-semitic, and you'd be stoned to death within 5 minutes... seriously. sure we're so proud to showcase the "foreigners" who came here and loved it and became naturalized and now bear records and achievements credited to the american name, but meanwhile people like Bush are in office, keeping mexicans out of san diego. THAT is hypocrisy.
Nationalism and patriotism in my opinion is LESS about "i love my country my country is the best, best one" and more about loving something that is flawed and really, really caring about making it better and taking a personal interest in helping the other people connected to you by the shared title of being an "American". i think in theory, patriotism is a really positive thing--but the point is that you feel some loyalty to something bigger than you.... not that you seek out the biggest best social unit for you to belong to. thats why i detest yankees fans, cuz at least 90% of the ones i meet basically follow that team cuz they perceive it as the "winning" team. rooting for a team is kind of like loving a country. you're predisposed to pick the one you were born and raised with, but neverthless its a choice you make and you stick with it through the good and the bad. as JFK says "ask not what my country can do for me, but what i can do for my country".
i DO consider myself patriotic, to BOTH of my countries. not cuz i think they are *better* but because i really feel a desire and a responsibility to support them and to do what I can to make them better. this is related to something I feel about the LA area, i go to work every day to try to make education better for the inner city kids because i WANT to make LA better, i feel some attachment to the inhabitants of this place that i have made my home, and care for their welfare. It's kind of like a pride in those who share something with you... less so than its a detrimental feeling towards those who are different.
whoever gets the AR fully deserves to have it. but i'm also allowed to root for someone over a different person.
apparently i disagree with Mark and Kangway across all pretty much all of the philosophical debates, which is fine... but just because there are TWO of you doesn't make your opinion more correct.
Megumi,
my post was mainly in response to the statement,
"I would *prefer* for the AR to belong to an american born... its kinda like those little countries in europe who offer large amounts of cash to kenyans to get them to switch nationalities... it just feels a bit cheap."
I disagree with that statement, which is just what I was saying. For Lagat, Khannouchi, or Clement to hold an American record does not "feel a bit cheap".
You elaborated on this issue, but i am confused by what you said. What about an American-born runner whose parents are Kenyan? He has the same genetic advantage as a native-born Kenyan.
Matt Centrowitz (the younger) ran one of the fastest 2-mile times ever by an American high schooler this year, but his accomplishment is obviously cheapened by the fact that his dad was an American running great, and he was raised in a running household. I would much prefer that some other kid, without all the advantages, had done it.
Also I would prefer that Michelle Kwan weren't so good at figure skating, since the only reason she's so good at it is she's been doing it since she was three. I would prefer for the shot put world record to be held by a man 5'7" tall and 97 pounds, because those big guys just have a huge advantage, and it's not little guys' fault that they're genetically small. I also prefer the music of deaf musicians and the paintings of blind artists, since it's so much harder for them. I would prefer for the great philosophers to have down syndrome, for the great scientists to have been raised by wild wolves until the age of 24, and for the winner of the Tour of France to be paraplegic.
I also disagree with the statement that athletes have special responsibilities in terms of being role models, making political statements, or other things of that nature. They don't. Being good at sports doesn't magically impart extra responsibilities to you. That's just silly. If athletes want to use their status as public figures to make political statements, fine, good for them. But they have no more or less responsibility than other people, because they are no different as citizens than other people.
Finally, running to school every day does not make you fast. What you did ten or fifteen years ago is not going to have much bearing on how well you run today. Your body is influenced far more by what you've done in the previous few years than by what you did as an eight-year-old. Haile G ran to school each day. Paul Tergat did not. That's not why Haile has Olympic golds and Tergat has silvers.
Kangway,
I put the qualifier on Khannouchi because, to my knowledge, he has never represented the United States in an international championship. He has run many major marathons as a US citizen, but no world championships, olympics, etc. I don't think he has an obligation to do that. He has no such obligation. But that is the argument I have seen as to why he may be seen as not patriotic.
oh, and finally, being African doesn't make you fast. there are many Africans who are not fast at all. They are just very, very hungry.
Mark something you said reminds me of Hendrick Ramaala and what he said recently:
"There is no big difference between us (African runners) and them (American runners) … ya know, it is all about yourself ... you have to tell yourself that this is my chance and I am taking it ... and the end of the day we are all equal ... but some believe in themselves more than others."
In any case, I just brought that up for no real point.
Megumi, I think we just disagree.
Also Mark, can you really blame Khannouchi? The dude set world records and then has been plagued by injuries for years. He's having a very, very hard time right now. Maybe he's just trying to make a living by running major marathons instead of the Olympic Trials.
Post a Comment