Sports Performance of the Year? (Read 1283 times)

Travis, There is nothing that you said that in your response to my post that I would argue with. My iniitial reaction was to the "Sports Performance of the Year?" question but that would be an impossible choice anyway. One thing for sure is that what Jamie did was truly remarkable. I was surprised that she put in 200-mile training weeks too. And, no, I cannot begin to imagine it. That would be more than a marathon everyday!

To put her training effort in perspective, think about this. Dean ran 50 marathons, in 50 consecutive days, in 50 states. Jamie, beat him at BadWater! Oh yea Jamie is a grade school teacher! She does get summers off but I doubt many people who put in 200+ mile weeks hold down a full time job! She is one of a kind!

I competed against Jamie in track and XC in high school and college. I think if Jamie wanted to be a world class marathoner she could. I believe she was the Pennsylvania state champion for xc, the mile, and the 2 mile. In college she finished in the top 5 in nationals for xc and the 10000 meters. I believe that the training that goes into utras (high miles) and little speed work kills your marathon time. Lisa

All I know is that she dropped it down to a 6:30 mile after mile 84 when I ran with her at Umstead! I was supposed to be pacing her but I was just trying to keep up with her! I bet she would be good for a 2:45 marathon with minimal marathon specific training. Yesterday I tried to match the effort she put in on that day. I failed miserably! However, it was 95 degrees and 90% humidity yesterday. It was ONLY 70 degrees and 100% humidity(fog and rain) when Jamie did it. That was a joke of course!

run a 6:30 after running 80 some miles... ARE YOU SERIOUS! there are a whole host of folks trying to do that for just 5k ... and training hard to do so... amazing... Wow...

It was actually kind of weird running with her. We got about 6-8 miles into the lap and I thought "Heck, I bet I could keep up with her for the whole 100 miles"! Then she laid the hammer down and I realized why she is so great! I finished that single 12.5 mile lap with her and wished her luck. I got to go sit down and be pampered to some Cheese Burgers and Sodas. Jamie went out and hammered another 12.5 mile lap(her 8th of the day). That is the difference between a long distance runner and an Ultra marathon runner. I could keep up with her or stay ahead of her for about 28 miles. After that it would look like an SR-71 passing a wounded duck! I would be puking my guts out at that point while she would still be warming up! Just for good measure I went out and ran 12.5 miles in Umstead today(Where the 100 miler is). I managed a nice 8:00 per mile pace for the whole 12.5 miles. However, I am absolutely spent right now. I could not run another mile. The thought of another 87.5 miles is just sickening. Ultra marathoners are a different breed!

Jason Lezak's 46.06 anchor leg when the chips were down. That was racing.

I tried to find the splits for that race for the top 2 teams... and I can't seam to find them... (sorry for the highjack)

Hyperbole - it's the greatest thing ever! MTA: Here's the link to Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_records_in_swimming If I understand it correctly, they only compare splits in relays to other events if you're the first one in the water. Because the current world record at 100 meters was set during that race by the first Australian. It's 47:24. Two of the Americans broke that record, but they swam the second and fourth legs - so I guess there's a timing issue or something that makes it an apples and oranges comparison. Maybe some swimming expert will explain. Nevertheless, Lezak swam a 46:06.

(Don’t even say Nadia, Lewis, Mary Lou, Luganis, or Spits)

Regarding this part of your post (and sorry in advance for the off-topic but ...) I remember the old joke from '72 - "How do they fill the Olympic Swimming Pool?" "Mark Spitz" Bwahahaha - juvenile, I know. But I thought it was the greatest joke ever when I was 11! Oh, and I think you're right about the waiting for the gun to sound. That's much more difficult than anticipating when your swimmer will tough. You're off a little that you just can't hit the water before your teammate touches - supposedly you have to wait .03 seconds AFTER your teammate touches before you can jump. Anything less than 0.03 seconds is a disqualification. Lezak's time was 0.04!!! Did he time that right or what?