Canova píše, v čem byl Mosopův problém
Moses isnot overrated.The fact is he was far from the shape he had in Eugene when bettered the WR of 30k, shape better than Boston. This for the following reasons :
a) Change of personal situation and of site of training. Last year he was in Iten, and I could follow him on daily basis. Now he stays in Ngong, and I take a flight Eldoret-Nairobi about once every 5-6 days for following him in training only in the main workouts.
b) Training conditions. For 3 months there was no day without a lot of wind. In the Masai area, where he trains, the conditions were very bad : very much more hot than Iten, and always windy. Moses was not used to train in those conditions, and also I doubt his recovery during the night was not the same for the hot temperature (don't forget he comes from a village at 3100m of altitude, 9300 feet). I'm curious to see the performance in London of Makau, that trains in the same conditions. About the wind, Moses used every day a lot of energy and his legs were tired. At the moment there is big difference between his organic engine and the possibilities of his legs. He's never tired, but lost the ability to change speed using frequency in his action. Under this point of view he is very far from last year,when in training ran 18 times 1000m in Kamarin track with 1:20 recovery, the first in 2:45, 16 timesin 2:42 and the last in 2:36.
c) Refuse to use tarmac during training. Due to the problems he had with his tendons, Moses always refuses to run on tarmac, but the last 3 days before the race in Rotterdam he went every day for 1 hour on the asphalt. His limiting factor yesterday was his calves very tigh that limited his mechanical efficiency (he uses running on the top of his feet as Haile, and calves and Achilles tendons have more sollecitations). Also Sammy Kitwara and Peter Kirui had the same problem, that never Ethiopians have, because they use tarmac for their long training of quality in Addis Ababa.
d) Tactical mistakes. When at 24 km Yemane and Getu saw him and Kitwara some meter behind, they pushed Geoffrey Kipsang to increase the pace against wind, in order to create a gap. They ran very well tactically. Moses didn't react immediately, waiting Kitwara for closing the gap together, and lost in 2km 14 seconds, but Kitwara was not able to stay with him. So, like in cycling, there were two groups, one with Geoffrey Kipsang, Yemane and Getu Feleke running 3" per km faster, the other with Mwangangi and Moses. At 30k the gap was 19" (1:27:41 against 1:28:00), and the Ethiopians remained together when Moses remained alone. The gap didn't change till 40k (1:57:56 / 1:58:19), and in the last 2200 Moses reduced the difference of 8.0. After the race, Moses learnt that NEVER an athlete can allow other strong runners move far from the finish, but the first goal is to stay together.
e)Psychological depression. Moses didn't go Rotterdam with the goal to win, but to better the WR. One thing is to goin a competition with the goal to win : in this case, bad conditions affect everybody, and the mind is concentrated in how to manage the race. Different is to look for a record. Everyday the strength of the wind was bigger, and was clear every hope for a new WR disappeared. In my opinion, this fact affected psychologically Moses very much, and at the start he lost the right aggressiveness thinking his target was not reachable.
This is my analysis of the situation. I'm the responsible of the mistakes (wind apart), because in any case a coach must be able to solve the problems of the athletes when there is a big target. Of sure,Moses is not overrated, and every comment from people not knowing the particulars are useless. And, for this kind of athletes, to think somebody cant beat the WR is a big mistake. After losing from Emmanuel Mutai in London for more than 1 minute, who could bet Makau could beat the WR in Berlin ? Understand that at this level some small difference in the preparation means more than 1:00, and that's the difference between WR and number 10 in the World. Another point is Kenyans, after last year, underrated Ethiopian marathon runners. But basically the training groups for Marathon in Ethiopia are under Getaneh (Global management), coach of Ayele Abshiro, Getu Feleke, Kebede and Tiki Gelana among the others ; under Gemedu Degefu (Demadonna management),following Aselefech Mergia, Aberu Kebede, the winner of Paris yesterday (Tirfi Beyene), Dino Sefir (2:04:50 in Dubai) ; under Adilio Haji, coach of Deriba Merga and Mara Dibaba. They changed their methodological approach, as the winner of yesterday clearly explained during the press conference, increasing the quality, after last year we had continuous contacts together inside the managements (Moses, Abel Kirui, Florence Kiplagat are Global like the winners of yesterday, Sefir and Aselefech Mergia are DAP such as Mary Keitany and Lucy Kabuu... so understand what means technical collaboration !), and the fact of their come back at top level can be a new stimulus for Kenyans too.