There was a compelling 5000M race in Los Angeles last Friday night. The winning time was 12:51, followed by several others in sub-13:00. The article link is here. There are times when a highly anticipated field disappoints in terms of how the race unfolds and the results. Not so this time, and hopefully it’s a preview of how the Olympic 5000 will turn out. There were a few interesting tidbits, including the following.
After the race, someone suggested that with a talented field at a 5000M in Oslo coming up, maybe the current record holder, Joshua Cheptegei would use that to try and lower his time. However, he indicated he probably wouldn’t be drawn into it because of the Olympics.
Race recovery is typically one day per mile, but there’s also conventional wisdom that runners will circle a key race on the calendar to build up to, including the 5000M. Thus, you’re training through a lot of races and not doing a true taper until the one you feel is most important. Even for the most talented, trained runners, that holds true. While Cheptegei says he’s focusing on the 10000M at the Olympics, he’ll use the same pattern, in that he won’t circle the 5000M record attempt so that he can work up to the 10000M.
The US Olympic Trials are late next month so with those, plus the Diamond League, and the Olympics, it’s a compelling summer for the 5000.