Wednesday 081909
- The thought to run this AM actually came to me, but I suppressed it. I am still dealing with some residual soreness and can feel the hammie still healing. I could run, but I am not in a rush. I went for a walk in the AM with TZ, KZ and Lucy.
- Yet another amazing European mountain running article by Rickey …a 2.5 kilo pack is required?!
- The US Junior MR team … or the mountain runners of fame of the future?
- Not running related ... Not real bad but probably not super work safe is this guy's twitter posts of "stuff" his father says. Had me laughing out loud.
- Nick has a good post re: Leadville coming up. The showdown there between Parr and Anton looks to be a good one. I am not sure I'd agree with Nick on picking Parr over Tony, but I am more conservative in my selections. Simply I go with a person who has proven at the course and distance over a newbie - particularly in a 100. I have not run a 100 but I have talked to enough guys to know it is a different game. What you feel at 40 miles is tough. What you feel a marathon distance later with more than a marathon to go - DAMN.
- Karl M's post re: Leadville ...
- While I get excited about the outcomes of some US elite runners on the international circuit, this sort of contraversy is part of the reason why I gave up subscription to T&F news and decided it was more interesting to watch how locals did.
- So on that local front, I think anyone who has watched US distance running over the last ten years has watched the trifecta of Hall, Webb and Ritz - beating records, taking NCAA titles, dealing with injuries, going to the Olympics, etc. Ritz's left Hudson, after PRing at every distance while under his coaching. Brad talks about Dathan's build up for Beijing and why he thought Ritz was ready to medal ... "most U.S. athletes become better in everything when they have trained for a Marathon regardless of the result of the Marathon"
Click HERE to vomit.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, read those lyrics and hopefully you'll see what I mean. Its just too bad it was not written by Disturbed or System of a Down. A few F Bombs and it could have been a grunge hit.
Yea, I have only read of two times where Tony did not win. 1) One time he got injured and DNFd. 2) At the Leadville Marathon (not even an ultra) he finished 2nd fighting through horrible cramps.
ReplyDeleteBetting against Tony at LT100 or any similar ultra is like betting against Matt Carpenter at Pikes Peak. He beat the reigning champ (Michael Wardian) by 20 minutes at the recent 50 Mile National Trail Championshiops.
I hope Tim gives it a good go - most of those ultras are so difficult to get into that you rarely end up with people being pushed for the win.
You can at least give me an HR update for the AM.
ReplyDeleteTony all the way.
Brett - I am not sure if to give you BALLS COMMENT OF THE MONTH props for cross posting lyrics to Miley Cyrus or block you. :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, give me a bit with my Gibson SG and I can make that song ugly.
Brandon - the itch is there. Give me a day or two and I will be back to posting how much urine I piss out. It was two beers last night though.
Karl has posted odds on Leadville ... http://karlmeltzer.com/2009/08/the-leadville-100/
ReplyDeleteYea I tried in vain to find a heavy metal version of it. Its just itching to have one.
ReplyDeleteMr/Mrs Semenya just crushed the field to win the 800m, FYI.
ReplyDeleteanyone not picking Anton to run for the win at Leadville is delusional.
ReplyDeleteIf the weather is simply reasonable, he will win AND set a new CR.
Last 8 weeks - 1,100 miles of trail/hill time.
Timmy Parr is obviously an amazing runner but 100 miles is different. Meltzer knows this and didn't even bat an eye at placing Parr in the "other fast guys to watch".
I love that Karl has picked Garett Grabins in the hunt. Garett, in my opinion, is one of the most underrated ultrarunners in the sport.
Anton sub 15:40. I'm ready for the backlash if not...
Tim, I agree on Anton for the win, but in reading Karl's post, it sounds like he had never heard of who Parr was until Garrett pointed it out. I don't think he gave Parr a fair shake on his predictions, but think that it is mostly just because he doesn't know he is.
ReplyDeleteJustin, Karl had Parr on his radar for the Moab Red Hot 50K earlier this year. And I'd guess Karl takes note of the guys that beat him, even at that shorter distance. Seems clear that Karl "favors" those with 100-mile experience.
ReplyDeleteJohn, thanks. I remember that now - Brett and I thought it was funny that Karl said "trails weren't his specialty" then, Parr being a former and now current US MRT member.
ReplyDeleteMan, I am in the serious minority on my Parr call for Leadville.
ReplyDeleteI really don't understand why people would completely discount him just because he hasn't run a 100 miler before. There's no great secret to it. You run a ton of miles in training, and then you go out there and run at a moderate pace for a very long period of time. As long as he stays on top of fueling, hydration and salts, there is no reason to believe he'll blow up.
I get serious bragging rights if he pulls it off. Even if he comes a close second.
On Karl's predictions, I think he just lists names that he recognizes without giving it a great deal of thought. Considering Ryan B has run Leadville twice and blown up both times, it is faintly ridiculous that he has him in there among his favorites. Ryan is a 50-mile runner, and he'd be the first to tell you that.
Got to love armchair running!
I think ultras have to be some of the hardest stuff to predict ... even the athletes that are well prepared can have a bad day and go south (see WS100, Jurek and Mackey as examples).
ReplyDeleteIt sort of like picking who is going to win the world series of baseball come April 1. There is a lot of stuff that can go on out there in a baseball season - and then contenders become pretenders, and a swollen elbow pitches your season in the tank.
A 100 is a long way.
Certainly Parr COULD run amuck out there and win. He is talented, obviously focused and appears well trained, and is hanging out in Leadville when not hitching back from MT or winning races elsewhere. There have been folks who have in their first 100 killed it. In fact, I think Anton is such a guy. But, I think it is a bit much to assume that for a 100.
But compared to you Mr. Clark, what do I know about such events? I have not done one. Everything I hear about that stuff is second hand.
Interesting to peruse the "analysis" of the 2009 Leadville entrants here.
ReplyDeleteDamn - that site is a phone book!
ReplyDelete