I had a bit more of a window this AM, and thought I would get up and get a run in. Nope. Slept in. I gave myself that justification as the cold has settled into my chest. Somewhere I rationalized that an extra hour sleep was necessary to fight that off. I woke up an hour later and still had the cold.
Nice write up on pack burro racing by Hal. Damn that race still stings.
In the evening … I am not real keen on running in the dark here. The roads are narrow, busy, cold and dark and so I am opting for the mill. I still think I can “outperform” my “outdoor” self on a mill, so the times for some distance mean little to me there. It is more about effort and time at effort. Mile warm up, then 2 on, mile off, 2 on, mile off, 2 on mile cool down. (8:03, 6:04/5:53, 7:45, 5:56/5:45, 7:52, 5:55/5:39, 8:01) – or “10” just under 67 minutes. For what is worth, my arse hurts less on the mill.
Really, it is crazy what this kid is doing. I think if he cracks people are going to lynch AlSal. I guess if Galen can run 3:50 for a mile, running 30 seconds a mile slower than that for repeats is not that big a deal … I mean, I am aware of a good number of guys who would do 5:10 mile repeats when they were about 4:40 milers.
But none of them did that 15 minutes after PR’ing at 2 miles.
Side note, one time Boulder local and RD of the USATF XC here in 2007 Pete Julian is in the video, milling around AlSal. Dude is cutting some serious teeth.
Okay, maybe more insane that I watched the whole thing but … hotel living …
… which was better than the option across the street which was karaoke ….
Rupp is awesome, but he's hardly a kid anymore.
ReplyDeleteand awesome only if you're willing to suspend disbelief.
DeleteTony, you're just jealous that Ruppy doesn't have to live in his truck!
ReplyDeleteRuppy?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I do admit I look at Rupp with that kid at Christmas sort of look that still wants to believe in Santa ... because of the history of the sport, and the ridiculous nature of his performances ... and frankly some of Alberto's history, we have to question him.
I don't know. If Rupp was doping I would think Alberto is smart enough to not raise suspicion. He wouldn't allow the public display of Galen's amazing workouts. Instead he's putting it out there for the world to see which is just begging for scrutiny. So he must be fairly confident in Galen's blood?
ReplyDeleteAnd Galen was tested what, 22 times last year? Many OOC's too. I'll stay optimistic (naive?) and give Galen the benefit of the doubt until he's busted.
I hope you are right. I really do.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately however, the logic of acting in a way that does not bring attention to you as a high profile laptop does not seem to be what many athletes that have been caught subscribe to.
I am not questioning Galen's character. It is the character of the sport that has been brought into question, and so that puts Galen - and anyone performing incredibly well into question automatically. It has just become a requirement in my mind.
I want to believe his clean. It is hard to not question it though.
Ya, I totally see your point. It is unfortunate that we have to be skeptical first. Great athletes are now guilty until proven innocent... but they can't even prove innocence. It's clear that the drug tests can and are beaten quite easily. I'll hold out hope though :)
ReplyDeletePacers for a 2 miler? Come on. ;)
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteYeah, that is the difference between racing and time trialing or going for a record. Even in the mile, there will be pacers when it is set up for a record. Folks hate it, but then they also hate championship racing that ends up being a sit and kick affair. Hence, when you get a race at that distance without pacers that is fast - folks get pretty fired up.
DeleteI remember when the idiotic IAAF (or whoever it was) said records (even retroactively) for women's marathons would be in women's only races because they could get paced by men. Well look at the men - at the major marathons they have a group of like 3-5 pacers up front leading the draft. Makes no sense to have pacers.
DeleteI ain't quite that purist. I get that having a pacer can help you get to a particular time - and it is a part of the sport. Sure, we like racing, but we like to see records set and fall. Not all records are going to be set by pure out right racing and so it puts butts in the seats so to speak.
DeleteLucho - I definitely feel a bit sad about my cynicism---esp the unfair "guilty until proven innocent" position---but I seriously doubt anyone under Salazar's watchful eye will ever get busted. Nike essentially owns USATF.
ReplyDeleteOf course, anyone who is also trying to compete at Mo/Rupp's level will always come off as sounding like sour grapes, but I've talked with enough people at that level in the sport and the sentiment regarding NOP is pretty universal. When something seems unbelievable it probably is.
For the record, I 100% believe that Webb was clean his entire career. And though he made lots of illogical decisions in his career, the fact that he left NOP right when he was finally starting to make some significant gains again says a lot to me.
Much like Armstrong, though, I still get excited when Rupp is crushing records. I can't easily explain the obvious contradiction in my attitude.
I don't think it necessarily "unfair" to think that. Just unfortunate that the sport has devolved to that point. And really, the sport earned that just like cycling! And I've also heard quite bit of talk about the seediness of NOP so I think you're just being more logical than me :)
ReplyDeleteAnd with Webb. It's tough to imagine he was doping at 17... and he ran 3:53! So he was a HUGE talent. I think if he doped he would have run much faster than just 13:10 in the 5k.
To your point Lucho, I cannot think Cain (or any of the other young successful runners like D'agostino, or Cranny) are involved in any doping. But maybe I am being naive there as well.
ReplyDeleteUgh. Horrible to consider huh!?
ReplyDeleteWe have watched Rupp improve slowly and consistantly since he was 13. I'd buy the drug argument if he had come out of nowhere, or started throwing down times that he wasn't close to in the past, but that's not the case here.
ReplyDeleteDrugs, Rupp, and even some Webb! This is just like letsrun!
Nearly every American that is at the competitive distance running top (800m to marathon) was amazing in high school as well (at least with men). In fact, the guys that are awesome in baseball and football in the pros were awesome as well in high school and college. There is no doubt they are hard working and have amazing talent and genes they are working.
DeleteTruly, the come out of nowhere types (who would that be?) should be questioned more ... but even the guys who have been performing great through their youth years can end up to make choices that are considered cheating by today's rules.
On a side note, Sandi Nypaver published this blog post:
ReplyDeletehttp://sandinypaver.blogspot.com/2014/01/ultra-running-and-sponsorship-for-women.html
In the original form, part of her complaint was that iRunFar interviewed 7 men and only 2 women before UROC.
Meghan wrote a several page very long rebuttal, explaining more women either didn't respond at all, or couldn't meet...and then listed a lot of their other balance of men vs. women and was pretty critical of Sandi's post.
One hour later, Sandi's negative iRunFar section was gone, and so was Meghan's comment.
Is like masking a drug test - none of this ever happened!
When can we go back to the good old days when it was unanimous that everyone just made fun of Dean Karnazes?
I saw that too, and was disappointed to see it all disappear this AM. Had to bite my tongue to avoid jumping in.
DeleteGZ, you're pretty good at net searching... anything out there that shows what life for Rupp is like (and has been like for well over 10 years now)? i mean a really candid look at what he does in his day to day life.
ReplyDeletei can remember my brother being in the same dorm at UofO with him and commenting there was a "runner kid who sleeps in a bubble". He's probably not doping (my opinion) but no one has lived and trained with so much focus and attention like he has for this long at his age.
imagine Pre without beer and chicks and political squabbles with Track and Field czars, just a bunch of scientists pushing him to new limits day in and day out...
I will poke around but I have yet to see one with Rupp. I recall a series where Kara and Shalene - in the run up to the last Olympics - did some segments on their lives. Completely what you'd expect: wake up, eat a little, morning workout, post workout workup, eat, nap, strength work, another run, massage, nap, eat, stretch, etc, etc etc. Repeat. Incredibly boring and worked like race horses all day. The dream to the top means a lot of boring days for sure. For a kid like Rupp, or any of the guys in the NOP I am sure it is even more over the top with alt tents, cryogenic chambers, anti grav treadmills, yoga, psych counselor visits.
DeleteAs I have said before, I have come to conclude there are some advantages to not being that good.
Other topics for Front Range letsrun discussions:
ReplyDelete-How much would you pay to sleep with Suzy Favor Hamilton?
-I'm 38 and recently ran a 22 minute 5K, are my Olympic dreams over?
-Was JMock doping when he ran his 2:29?
I'm still on my thyroid meds.
DeleteGreat stuff JT. I was thinking you'd go with what masters are doping, which ultra runners own guns, and who is the ALL TIME BEST (BEAST)
DeleteI can't really intelligibly explain why, but I found the extra stuff Rupp did after he set the 2-mile record to be disturbing. I was disturbed that Salazar would have him do that. I've never been a big Salazar fan. But I'm not the one who took first at Boston and Comrades, so what do I know?
ReplyDeleteAs for whether or not Rupp is clean, I believe Barry Bonds never failed a test. There's some evidence that Armstrong failed a test (for EPO), but it was never publicly reported until recently. So the fact that Rupp has "passed" all of his tests really doesn't hold water in the court of public opinion. Who knows what to believe. I can't help but be skeptical. And that's sad.
http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/22/usada-drug-testing-statistics-galen-rupp-lindsey-vonn-ryan-lochte-missy-franklin/
Wyatt
Where I struggle the most in considering the PED issue is the arbitrary ruling related to so many substances. Get a TUE and you are good to go. Tweak your markers to some level because it is within the "legal" limits. Take a substance because it gets you to normal or healthy expected limits (I am sure you have heard all the low T ads on the radio). We define what is "natural" and what is "performance enhancing."
DeleteGiven that people can apparently mask substances so well still, I think the best defense for USADA is a good offense. I think if they changed the rules to say that a certain type of positive test would result in a lifetime band and a fine equal to $100,000 or 100% of the last 5 years sponsorship dollars (whatever is larger) would help. These folks testing positive and then coming back a couple years later deters nobody I would think.
DeleteLike Martin Fagan? http://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2014/01/results-of-pollshould-martin-fagan.html and http://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2014/01/martin-fagan-considers-return-to.html
Delete