Alistair Cragg to make Half-Marathon debut in NYC

Rineanna

Cragg added to NYC Half field:

http://www.universalsports.com/news/article/newsid=454337.html

Interesting to see how he fares. First steps towards 2012 marathon?

thirtyfoot

Will be interesting to see how he goes. I wonder is that where he sees his future.

shels4ever

Tingle wrote: »

Will be interesting to see how he goes. I wonder is that where he sees his future.

I had heard a few months back (before the euro XC) that this was going to be the plan for the spring, Hope he goes well and maybe get to see both Fangan and Cragg in the National half mara this year (Oh I'm a dreamer ) ...

asimonov

That's a cracker of day / night with Fagan in the LA marathon and Cragg in NY Half. Looks like they are both on universal sports as well.

TheRoomWrecker

I think Cragg will break Fagans national record in the half as the course is fast, and Ive heard that he is flying in training with his new group which includes Ryan Hall 59.43 half and 2.06.17 full

Krusty_Clown

Looks like Fagan is out of LA, sadly. No news on why..

TheRoomWrecker

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Looks like Fagan is out of LA, sadly. No news on why..

Fagan's twitter http://twitter.com/Iinthislight

its a pity that he's out, he's getting no luck with injuries:(

shels4ever

Yep heard that this morning too, It's sad but not a shock

mrak

interview with Cragg here:

http://racingnews.runnersworld.com/2010/03/a-brief-chat-with-alistair-cragg.html

TFBubendorfer

And a picture of Fagan here.

shels4ever

mrak wrote: »

interview with Cragg here:

http://racingnews.runnersworld.com/2010/03/a-brief-chat-with-alistair-cragg.html

He was only ever doing 70-80 miles a week ???

With 100+ miles now i'll sticking a load of money on him to take home a gold in the euros now......

ecoli

shels4ever wrote: »

He was only ever doing 70-80 miles a week ???

With 100+ miles now i'll sticking a load of money on him to take home a gold in the euros now......

Wait to see how his body olds up in relation to injuries as he can struggle during summer time given his history. Wish him the best of luck he should go well provided he can make the transition back to track training without injury

shels4ever

ecoli wrote: »

Wait to see how his body olds up in relation to injuries as he can struggle during summer time given his history. Wish him the best of luck he should go well provided he can make the transition back to track training without injury

Yep that was in his 70 mile days he's new runner now..

I really hope he does, seems to be smart with his training and rushing into a marathon may have been an easy option.

pgmcpq

Can see coverage of the NY Half here:

http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=74bfbe33-2724-4a64-8ddc-790d4cd994b4.html#2010+nyc+half+marathon

They mention early on that this Cragg's first attempt at the distance and is looking at the marathon going forward. Conditions were ideal - don't know that I would call it a fast course however. (Btw, how tall is he ? He looks like a giant in there)

mrak

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

And a picture of Fagan here.

okay this could be a really ignorant comment but see how Fagan trailing foot is on the ground behind him? I have noticed this with him before and you can see it in the pic.

I went to several physios with achilles problems and one of them advised me to avoid having too acute an angle between the foot and the foreleg as it compresses the tendon along the back of the leg. With the exercises she gave me (i.e. heel drops) I was advised not to drop down too far as it "squashes" the tendon and to just drop to 90 deg. I was also advised to shorten my stride and pick up my feet fairly quickly when they pass under my knee to reduce the amount of time the achilles is spending "squashed" and to keep my foot "strong" so the angle doesn't go under much 90 degrees. I.e as your foot goes behind you don't leave it flat along the ground but keep it at 90 so it moves up on the toe.

I haven't seen or heard this advice anywhere else other than from this one physio. I still have and will always will have achilles pain but I think that advice helped me manage it as at that stage I was on the verge of giving up because it was just getting worse and worse.

Now Fagan is one of the top 3 irish male runners out there but I guess there's an outside chance that his running style mightn't be helping his achilles.

woodchopper

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

And a picture of Fagan here.

This session Fagan was doing only happened yesterday in Sedona along with Brett Gotcher 2.10 marathon runner. My question is how can Martin Fagan be banging out mile reps on a track if he was too injured to run on Sunday. Was it a preventative measure, and if so hammering out 150 mile weeks in the buildup and running half marathons probably was the not the safest option. The injury seems to go one minute and come back the next just when a marathon is around the corner.

Flaghigh

The week of LA Marathon, Martin aggravated his knee and was advised not to run a marathon on it. He is not seriously injured but was just not willing to risk any further damage. He is now getting ready for the Great Ireland run and is back training and doing workouts.

TheRoadRunner

Flaghigh wrote: »

The week of LA Marathon, Martin aggravated his knee and was advised not to run a marathon on it. He is not seriously injured but was just not willing to risk any further damage. He is now getting ready for the Great Ireland run and is back training and doing workouts.

I was wondering the same thing as woodchopper but the above makes sense. Glad to see some common sense being used in not risking an injury. I wonder what sort of shape he is in (marathon wise). Anybody know if he is running euros this year and if so what event.

ecoli

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

I was wondering the same thing as woodchopper but the above makes sense. Glad to see some common sense being used in not risking an injury. I wonder what sort of shape he is in (marathon wise). Anybody know if he is running euros this year and if so what event.

Here is a quote from an interview before xmas

FI: Do you have any marathons in mind for the Spring or early next year.

MF: "I would love to run another marathon. It really just depends on how my body responds to the training. I've had a tendency to train a little too hard in the past and I'm still learning about my body and whats right for it. As soon as I get this right, I will run another marathon. I'm hoping it will be early spring so I can recover and get ready for European Track champs."

The Euro's is definitely in his plans and if so i reckon the ten k will be the event he most likely enters