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A Wednesday video from Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the two-time defending World Champion in the 5,000 m, who won World Indoor titles in the 1,500 and 3,000 m in March, had him talking about recovery from injuries … and the steeplechase?
“The last eight weeks have been challenging, but at the same time I have been progressing quite a bit until things happen and I got a setback. Stumbled up on some illness, set me a little back and gave some more irritation to the Achilles.
“So, a little bit up and down, but in total the last eight weeks have been progressing both mileage, volume and also the pace. Until right now where I have been one half week in altitude in St. Moritz [SUI] and really progressing the load that I have given myself and also on the Achilles.
“A very good track session just a couple of days ago, so definitely pointing in the right direction, but still a lot more to improve and a lot more things that need to be done for me to be 100% prepared for World Championships.
“I think next two, three weeks we will get a lot of answers in what type of training that I have been doing, what I can do and also in terms of fitness, how fast I can run.”
Then he introduced a real stunner:
“I think that is going to lead up to a very exciting mid-September where worst case scenario we have to change things a little bit and maybe do something a little bit different.
“Don’t forget, I was a steeplechaser in 2017 in my first World Championship, but again that is very much and very difficult discipline for – let’s say your tendons – but that is where we are at right now. We are trying to push as much as we can, at the same time listening to the body and displaying all of our options and trying to maximize the performance and the results we can achieve for this season.”
What?
Ingebrigtsen was quite right about the Steeple and 2017; he ran the 3,000 m distance five times with a best of 8:26.81 in his debut and won the European Junior title in Italy that year, before racing in the heats at the World Championships in London. He also ran the 1,500 m Steeple three times in total in 2015 and 2016.
That’s his Steeple career. So far.
He admitted the recovery process has been difficult:
“It is definitely very difficult getting a setback as a professional athlete, especially when you have kind of been progressing and developing as an athlete almost continuously the last couple of years.
“But everyone is going to have some sort of setback. But it’s also what can be challenging is having an open mind when it comes to results or progression, short term but also long term. …
“You don’t necessarily have a guarantee that you are progressing and developing and getting, you know, getting along with where you want to be headed. So seeing kind of the light at the end of the tunnel and then getting, you know, a second or even a third or fourth setback is definitely one of the bigger challenges because it is a mental roller coaster where you’re starting to be positive and you see some results, but then everything is lost in a split-of-a-second and you really need to reset and still keep your head down and push through with the training and do the things that need to be done.”
Ultimately, he is focused on one thing:
“Right now it’s all about risk and reward. So, my main goal is to be fit and ready to go in the World Championships in Tokyo.
“And everything that happens before that, I have to see when it closes. Right now, I’m focused on training and trying to build my fitness.
And it’s relatively easy just to say, ‘Okay, this we’re going to do this race.’ But everything needs to be very well thought through when it comes to the risk involved and also the way it can compromise the World Championships.
“So it is a little bit exciting because there’s a lot of things happening every day and also a lot of discussions and choices that needs to be made, more than usual and I think it’s definitely different and a different approach and different aspect of the way we do our training and especially competitions. But sometimes that’s for the best and it can be a good opportunity to achieve something that’s maybe a little bit different.”
Ingebrigtsen, still just 24, has a direct entry into the Worlds as the defending 5,000 m champion and has the 1,500 m qualifying standard, of course. If he really wanted to run the Steeple, the event is already almost at capacity for Tokyo and the entry standard is 8:15.00 on or before 24 August. As of now, there are no Norwegians with the Worlds standard.
Steeple? Can’t be. Or can it?
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