@ Pat0,

I agree. She's sponsor Gold (but maybe not marathon gold).

She moved to Portland, is running with Jerry Schumacher's group, training and being paced by the 'Bowerman Babes' and not wearing Asics. I just can figure out this swooshing sponsor situation. What in the world could be going on here . . . [pink]

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YouTube

It's basically the shortest a track can be and still fit a football field inside...

Only 2:24 BEFORE you subtract another 4% should she sign with Nike & run the marathon in the Vaporfly 4% (pink font). 5% if she trains with Salazar's group.

No worries mate, i was just yanking the ST aero chain. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Ok, but we can all agree that she should wear latex socks.

Im pretty sure she bought the shorts online just a few days before the race haha.

She used to be a triathlete. :) What if Jorgensen would have continued to run post college with the same focus and passion that she had for triathlon beginning in 2010? At what age would she have run a 15:15 5K?

It's entirely possible triathlon made her strong enough head to toe & mentally, to be able to run that where had she been a pure runner, not have developed the all around fitness she needed to hit that mark. We will never know, it's all speculation & nobody has it figured out had someone gone one way or the other. I'm sure someone thought that about Lance after he switched to cycling...how fast of a triathlete would he have been had he focused on that? How good of a skier could Ben True have been had he not switched to running?

The spikes are a custom upper on the Asics Cosmoracer LD plate. You can see the plate of the spike in the video she posted to instagram. She's also warming up in the nike Vomero.

This.

Slowtwitch boomers, taking a break from hating on PC culture: “Not enough milenials are interested in endurance sports”

*Talbot posts a cool video that feels right at home with a lot of the social content I consume as a young person, only it’s about a badass woman athlete named Gwen Jorgensen*

ST Boomers: “turn the music down. I want to hear more about her interval training”

i don't know that focus and passion would've done it. several of us were having precisely this discussion a half hour ago. had she stayed a pure runner in 2009? the consensus from our group: she'd be working in a cubicle right now. her triathlon interlude had as much to do with the 15:15 as anything else.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I can't wait to see her in a 10,000m outdoors, and in a competitive half marathon. But, the speed showed in the 5,000m indoor race is what's needed for the always-strategic Olympic marathon that will depend upon an ability to surge constantly.


I never doubted Gwen's ability and possibilities - She's been legit from the get-go with this, based on what I know and have seen.

What's really great to see here, and a bit of lesson for those following along is the importance and significance for great 5000m/5k fitness and performances. It's awesome tempo fitness if you are considering racing shorter - that's why you see 1500m/3000m runners, running cross-country in the fall and a few 5k road races in the off-season, and it proves great base "speed" if you are considering going longer - 10K, 1/2 Marathon, and even marathon. Raise your 5k fitness and performance and you help all of your running!!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

As a cube dweller I'm offended.

One of the main reasons I put the EDM music is because I messages daily of people watching my videos doing trainer workouts and treadmill runs.


FWIW - The music was great.

It's always a tough call. People have such individual choices. The unfortunate thing is that (so) many have a very narrow range of what they like. I can only take, "Eye of the Tiger" so many times (or never)! :-)

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

ST Boomers: “turn the music down. I want to hear more about her interval training”


LOL - who cares!

She's put in a massive amount of hard work over the years as a triathlete - had a bit of a break, via pregnancy and then come back to running and has done REALLY well.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

So the triathlon interlude was powerful enough to keep her going as an elite runner until the Olympics? I assume you think she'll end up doing more S & B than she talked about in her interviews after making the switch to the run focus.

pull out your crack pipe, you'll get over it.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Wrong thread come on now keep them straight.

i don't know how much S&R she'll do. all i know is, i have a hard time imagining her getting from 15:52 almost a decade ago to 15:15 last week, with any sort of objective analysis ending up with 14:55 or 14:50 within reach, without spending the last decade the way she spent it. just like verzbicas, who came up as a triathlete. how much faster than 8:29 do you think he would've run in HS if he'd came up as a pure runner?

i don't have any agenda here. i never believed, ever, that a background as a triathlete would better prepare one for running than pure running. but, i can point to a half-dozen right off the bat who caused me to rethink what i thought.

and, btw, it's worth considering that the lady who won gwen's race did a fair bit of swim & run to come back from injury over the last year. don't kill the messenger.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I think people forget that GJ actually was working in a cubicle back then. She had zero interest in post running because she wanted to start her accountant career. Back then tri was basically a hobby, as she was working as an tax account and dabbling in ITU (sorta 1 foot in, 1 foot out). It took Sarah Haskins, Laura Bennett, and Sarah Groff (now True) basically soft pedaling while they had a gap out of T1 which allowed the chase pack to hook on and allowed for GJ to pop onto the world stage and take an Olympic spot in 2011, and as they say "the rest is history". Basically that "oops" by them allowed GJ to believe in her ability (and showcase the potential) and that led her to going "all in" basically post London '12 Olympics. I still contend if they attacked that group, they would have gotten away and likely kept GJ off the team, and I think she likely would have just as easy said "thanks tri, I'm off to live the accountant lifestyle now".

So no, she wasn't going to run professionally. It really was tax account career + itu as a hobby or nothing, her early post college years.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

You might use pink and other people might say it's a zero sum game, but after all the research Nike did pre-sub2H attempt, Kipchoge always races with tape on his shins to help with aero. Also, check his race kit.

I'm sure people were also making fun of cyclists and triathletes before aero concerns were the norm.

She used to be a triathlete. :) What if Jorgensen would have continued to run post college with the same focus and passion that she had for triathlon beginning in 2010? At what age would she have run a 15:15 5K?

Mark,

It's a good question to ask.

The post collegiate world for a runner that Gwen was at the time - good-but-not great - would offer few opportunities. There is little sponsorship support, again for runners where she was at. Money starts to become a BIG issue. It's a high point of attrition for many very good runners, RIGHT when they could really start to step it up. There's also the physical challenges - often runners at this level, may not have access to the best coaches, and there is a tendency to over-train - taking the simplistic more-of-more is the best/easy solution to higher performance - so burn-out and injury, loom as dangers as well.

With the move to triathlon and the extraordinary success that she had at triathlon right after college, Gwen saved herself from all the negative of the above. Now after 5+ years of triathlon training, and a bit of a break from pregnancy, she's coming back to JUST running - she's physically/mentally fresh, and financially, while I have no idea of the full picture, I would assume that over the final few years in triathlon, with the sponsors and success that she had, is at least for the time-being, financially well off.

To answer your question straight up - she may have gone on to success as a pure runner, or we would never know who Gwen Jorgenson is!

Personal anecdote - When I stepped away from triathlon myself in 1997 at age 37, and went back to just running, I had some of my best running performances of my life for a couple of years after that! :-)

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

yeah. great post. thanks for the reminder. you're absolutely right.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

And...She is still breastfeeding!!!! Superwoman :-)

Can you elaborate further??? I take it that this "oops" was in one of the Oly Trials races??? Also, I thought she was already a full-time triathlete by 2011???

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."