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April, 2011 // Posts published in April, 2011
The Biological passport stands up to test 3
One last short post, just to give a bit of significant news in the world of cycling. It is significant in that it boosts the efforts of the biological passport even further, and it is significant because it follows on from a series of posts we did just over a month ago on the biological […]
Boston “not significantly aided”? The ARRS stastician view and its faults
We hope everyone is enjoying a timely Easter break. Having wrapped up Boston in my previous post, I received a few emails and comments about another analysis of Boston, and thought I’d comment briefly on it here rather than in the discussion thread to previous posts or on Twitter! So the following article was released […]
Boston Wrap and looking to the Fall
boston First off, thank you so much for your great comments to the on Mutai’s amazing 2:03:02. The reaction has been overwhelming – the comments equivalent of a phone ringing off the hook! As has become the norm, the discussion to the post is twice as good as the post, so thank you! I apologize […]
A 2:03:02. 3 to 4 min? What effect did the wind have?
I don’t know the answer to that question. Let me say that right upfront. It’s insoluble. But it’s too intriguing not to ask, and attempt to answer, and there are a few approaches to it to shed light on a quite remarkable Boston Marathon, now that the wind has died down and the dust settled […]
Boston 2011 Live!
Geoffrey Mutai has won the 2011 Boston Marathon, in the incredible time of 2:03:01. No, it’s not a world record. It’s not recognized because the course is downhill, point-to-point. And that means that the WR belongs to Haile Gebrselassie at 2:03:59, but this is an extra-ordinary time nonetheless. Aided by the strong tailwind, Geoffrey Mutai […]
London Marathon 2011 Live
Emmanuel Mutai and Mary Keitany have won the 2011 London Marathon. Mutai shattered the course record in running 2:04:40, which makes him the fourth fastest man in history (with the 5th fastest performance), while Keitany broke 2:20 in her second run. For both, it was the manner in which the victory was achieved that was […]
The Sub 2 Hour marathon debate
I hate repeats. Well, that is, I usually hate repeats, unless there’s a very specific reason to watch the same thing twice. And I figured that with the London and Boston Marathons only a few days away, there is no better time for a repeat than today. The BBC yesterday did a radio show and carried this article […]
Chrissie Wellington on the charge and other marathon stats
I know I’m in the process of building a series on Talent Development and specialization, but today is a frantically full work day, and there are some really interesting sports stories from around the world, so I thought I would deviate to a (not totally) unrelated topic and look at two of them in a […]
Specialization, training volume and talent development
Yesterday I started what I hope is an interesting and thought-provoking in young children. I looked at a recent study of Danish elite and near-elite athletes where the authors concluded that “There is no delay in the athletic development that cannot be made up later with late specialization”. Practice trajectory leads to performance? That conclusion was […]