Usain Bolt is inhuman...

[Dave Paton]

Alan Webb quit the University of Michigan after his freshman year because he was being "overtrained". However, he didn't even make the olympic team this year and his fellow U of M runner Nick Willis won the bronze for New Zealand in the 1500m while still being coached by the Michigan coach. So in yo face Webb. (did i mention i am a U of M grad?)

[JW Luckett]

Originally Posted by James Evans

It's the yams.

It's the truth! I just saw a TV news program here that sent a crew to Bolt's home in Jamaica and his sister pointed out the yams as the secret ingredient.

Must eat more yams.

[Allen Yeh]

Originally Posted by Dave Paton

Alan Webb quit the University of Michigan after his freshman year because he was being "overtrained". However, he didn't even make the olympic team this year and his fellow U of M runner Nick Willis won the bronze for New Zealand in the 1500m while still being coached by the Michigan coach.

He hails from the town I lived in for 3 years...only just moved.

Last year he beat the American WR with 3:46.9.

So in yo face Webb. (did i mention i am a U of M grad?)

We won't hold that against you.

[Tom Rawls]

Originally Posted by Dave Paton

Alan Webb quit the University of Michigan after his freshman year because he was being "overtrained". However, he didn't even make the olympic team this year and his fellow U of M runner Nick Willis won the bronze for New Zealand in the 1500m while still being coached by the Michigan coach. So in yo face Webb. (did i mention i am a U of M grad?)

As I recall, Webb believed he was "over-raced" and under-trained.

That is to say, they raced cross country in the fall, raced indoors in the winter, and then raced outdoors in the spring. The intercollegiate program was racing more than training--going fast in the here and now, which wasn't best suited toward long-term development.

I can imagine intercollegiate competition could grind a young athlete too fine.

[Scott Kustes]

Originally Posted by Scott Borre

Yes he's taller. But I'm not sure if this is it. As its rare for tall athletes to run that fast. There's a reason that Randy Moss is a freak.

But even if he takes less strides, this doesn't seem consistent with the running technique of Michael Johnson, where stride length isn't so much where the speed comes from. But it will be interesting to see if the sport starts to move to taller runners (an article I read while posting stated that in the past Bolt was considered to tall, and was told so, partly due to how it was thought to be more difficult for tall runners to get up to speed quickly from the blocks).

Very true about tall runners. That's why he's only been running the 100m for a year. Tall guys are typically slower out of the blocks, which is the area he worked his ass off to shore up. He's still slow out of the blocks in comparison, but his unbelievable top speed and acceleration pick it up for him.

As for stride length, it is THE predominant determinant of speed. Charlie Francis points out that increasing stride length is a much more fruitful endeavor than increasing stride turnover (the two combined create "speed"). If you watch the fastest and slowest runners, leg turnover rate is very similar. Stride length is the difference....stride length = power generation.

[Scott Borre]

Scott, I wasn't referring to the distance covered in between strides. I was referring to one's own natural stride length. Michael Johnson did not reach with his legs to cover more ground, but he had great power off the ground and his legs moved quickly. I'm not sure if longer legs would improve this or not.

BTW interesting articles:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni46a3.htm

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/economy.htm

and

http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/tec...Frank_Dick.pdf (WFS)

[Scott Kustes]

Gotcha Scott...misunderstood what you were saying. Good articles.

[Gavin Harrison]

Originally Posted by JW Luckett

It's the truth! I just saw a TV news program here that sent a crew to Bolt's home in Jamaica and his sister pointed out the yams as the secret ingredient.

Must eat more yams.

Hey guys, I'm gonna go grab some nuggits, anybody want some?

[Dave Van Skike]

Vern Gambetta weighs in...

http://functionalpathtraining.typepa...maican-se.html

[Allen Yeh]

It is not about kinesio tape, altitude tents, underwater treadmills, it is simple, get kids moving doing athletic activities. Let’s get real PE back into the schools and bring the focus of our athletic competition back to the schools.

Nice.