Diamond League Finals; what to look for.
So the Diamond League as you all know is the big show. Each year 16 disciplines are deemed Diamond Events. Over the course of the year/meets they are raced with 10 points for a win during the regular meets and 20 in the finale, so these last two meets a lot can change. A win in a single race will net you $10000 and you take of 40K if you are the Diamond race winner. So let's look at who should come out on top if all goes according to plan and if we might see an upset. (Running event's only as I have very little knowledge about field events)
Men's and Women's 100m - Justin Gatlin and Elaine Thompson should be a lock here, I don't see an upset coming.
Men's and Women's 200m - Alonso Edward is too far ahead of Ameer Webb so he is pretty much a lock and on the women's side it's all about Dafne Schippers
Men's and Women's 400m - Lashawn Merritt has looked great all year, even in his 43:XX for 3rd place in Rio, he's taking the diamond for sure. For the women it's going to be very tight and it's a toss up between Stephenie Ann McPherson, Shaunae Miller and Natasha Hastings who are all only separated by 3 points!!!! This is one to watch.
Men's and Women's 800m - One of my favorite events! Now I'm not saying these are the best two 800m guys, but the two with a shot to take the 40k this year are Rotich and Bosse. Personally, I don't see either of them winning the race but I like Bosse to come from behind and snatch the Diamond race. On the women's side, even with Niyonsaba being just 2 points behind Caster Semenya, there is no way she is beating her, it hasn't happened yet and it won't go down in the final. Look for Semenya to do what she always does, WIN.
Men's and Women's 1500m - Another one of my faves. The two with a shot going in points wise are Kiprop and Manangoi.....boy, they fizzled out this year a little hey. Anyway, I see Kiprop getting the better of this one as he's likely rested from the Olympics and that 1000m he ran about a week ago and has the motivation of squandering incredible early season fitness. Kiprop FTW. On the ladies front, I kinda want to go with the upset here and take Laura Miur, but I don't see her being allowed to do what she did at the last race. It was amazing watching her determination running away from the Olympic champ. But Kipyegon is just that THE OLYMPIC CHAMP. She's going to take it but it will have to be wrestled from Muir.
Men's and Women's 5000m - With the finale being double points the long, lean, Kejelcha could upset the points leader Muktar Edris and after watching him bring back Iguider in the 3000 that was contested over the weekend in Paris I think he's beating anyone and everyone not named Mo Farah, Kejelcha takes this. On the women's side if Ayana toes the line at anything better then 80% she wins this. Mercy Cherono is only 2 points back but she's not beating a rested Ayana over 5k.
Men's and Women's 3000m SC - This is as cut and dry as it gets, even if he doesn't start the champ, Conseslus Kipruto has 50 points and wins by default in true legend status. On the women's side, can we picture anyone beating Ruth Jebet after shattering the WR, no dice! Jebet will be taking home some cold hard cash for sure.
Interesting story line to watch - The Bowerman Track Club teammates of Evan Jager and Ryan Hill in the 5k. Can either of them go sub 13? I think Jager is certainly in that type of shape, the question is, will the race go out that fast or will Edris and Kejelcha just sit back and duke it out letting the pace slow? If the leaders run sub 13 minute pace the whole race I like Jagers chances, he's aerobically very strong and can handle that kind of tempo. I feel like Ryan Hill's best event is the 3k as he showed last weekend running 7:30.9, number 3 all time on the american list (4 if you take Rupp's indoor time). I don't think he's got the aerobic engine to support a sub 13 pace from the gun but he could prove me wrong. My prediction is it's a 13:0X race with a burn up at 600m to go.
My week that was in training.
Monday - 90' with 4X15" strides
Tuesday - 92' with 4X15" strides + General Strength
Wednesday - 71' with 5X800m on the track off 2' jog/hands on knees (2:12, 2:13, 2:15, 2:14, 2:19)
Thursday - 93' with 4X15" strides
Friday - 45" super relaxed
Saturday - 121' LR, easy first 60' then 3X15' with 2' recover after the first 15' and 3' after the second. Average paces for the 15' segments were 5:07, 5:09 and 5:16. (Ideally half marathon pace will be 5:08, or all 16:00 5km's)
Sunday - 62' death shuffle
So that's another one in the books. I had a little session of mile race pace work today, just sharpening up the legs and trying to get em' feeling snappy again. Things are going well, I was pretty tired at the end of last week with those workouts but I'm coming around now. I'm not running the 120+ mile weeks I used to but all of my runs are much higher quality and I'm spending more time on drills and other accessory stuff which seems to be helping.
Until next time guys,
Stay frosty,
Dave