Lagat concentrates on 5k to catch up with Bekele

NEW YORK -- Bernard Lagat began the year as the defending world champion at both 1500 and 5000 meters, and fancied ending 2009 with possession of both titles again.
As the summer arrived though, and with it the proving ground that is the European circuit, it became evident that the American's reign was going to end.
And it did, at the World Championships in Berlin in August.

Lagat was gracious in defeat, tipping his hat to Yusuf Saad Kamel after the Bahraini's victory in the 1500m, and calling Kenenisa Bekele "a great champion" after the Ethiopian's win in the 5000m. But Lagat is the ultimate competitor and - he made this clear after a fourth-place finish here in the Fifth Avenue Mile on Saturday - does not like to lose.

So after he was beaten by Bekele at the World Championships in the 5000m and at the World Athletics Final in the 3000m by an excruciating .45 seconds combined, Lagat didn't go off on an expletive-laced tirade or come up with a litany of excuses for his failures. He looked in the mirror and decided he needs to get better.

"I realized, ‘You know what? Losing twice is not bad for me, especially to this guy who is training specifically for this kind of event,'" Lagat said. "At the end of those two races, I felt strong but I also felt that there was something lacking. It's not speed. I have that. It's something more in the training that I need."

So with 2010 not being a major championship year, Lagat has decided to use the upcoming season to begin what he said will be a gradual transition away from the middle distances and into the longer-distance races.

"I think as we go forward, I will be doing the 1500m but my emphasis will be more moving into the distances and doing something there," Lagat said. "There is a territory that I haven't been into very much and that is the long distances, and I would love to try that. I want to move into the distances this year. Those are the races that I think might be good for me going forward in my career."

Such a move would put him squarely into events currently owned by Bekele, a man who has won 15 consecutive finals in the 5000m over the last three years on top of having never lost a 10,000m race. But the idea that Bekele never loses and can't be beaten is quite exaggerated. Lagat has actually done it.

At the London Grand Prix in 2006, Lagat ran 12:59.22 to Bekele's 13:00.04 to win the 5000m and join Bob Kennedy as, at the time, the only American men ever to break 13-minutes at that distance. This summer, Dathan Ritzenhein (AR 12:56.27) and Matt Tegenkamp (12:58.56) also joined that exclusive sub-13 club.
Lagat considers his 2006 triumph one of those races that could have easily gone another way.

"It was one of those things where the race was really tailored for you," he recalled. "People were going crazy in London when I beat Bekele and them. But they could have taken me to a good time or they could have burned me and I end up running thirteen-O-something."

Although Lagat went on to win the World title at 5000m in Osaka in 2007 while Bekele focused solely on the 10,000m, he is quick to acknowledge that his Ethiopian rival is clearly the man to beat.

In July, the talent gap between the two runners appeared to be significant. The much-anticipated duel between the two runners in the 3000m at the Paris Golden League meeting quickly turned into a rout as Bekele hammered a blistering pace for seven and a half laps to score a nearly five-second victory in 7:28.64. Lagat was second in 7:33.15 (watch video).

But Lagat was nipping at Bekele's heels a month later. At Worlds, Lagat was right on Bekele's shoulder rounding the final turn of the 5000m and held a brief lead late in the race before succumbing in the final 25 meters. Bekele won in 13:17.09 while Lagat crossed in 13:17.33 (watch video).

The two reprised their rivalry in Thessaloniki, Greece on Sept. 12 when Bekele held off Lagat's charge at the end of the 3000m at the World Athletics Final. Bekele won again in 8:03.79 to Lagat's 8:04.00. It was after that race that Lagat realized it was time he incorporated more distance workouts into his future training.

"They came down to the workouts that I do," Lagat said of the two narrow losses. "I was able to do this with Bekele, follow him in the 5K, follow him in the 3k, always being close. I'm thinking, ‘You know, I'm really only training for the 1500 and I can do this.' Think about Bekele. He's training for his specialty, which is 5K and 10K and I'm getting close. Think about what happens if I add more to what I am doing or cut what I am doing for the 1500 and put more on the 5000-meter training."

Lagat said his long-time coach James Li is quite equipped at handling such a change, and has already mapped out a future course of workouts. "I think now, in order for me to be good in the 5K, in order for me to be able to run as fast as Dathan or Matt or guys from Kenya and Ethiopia, I need to really do a different type of workout," Lagat said. "I need those hard repetitions at 1000m, at 800m, a lot of 400s that are more intense than what I've done. I also need to race over more longer-distances. Normally we do one of those and that's the end for the season but we will be doing more moving forward."

And Lagat figures 2010, a year in which he will only have to peak for the USA Outdoor Championships on June 23-27 in Des Moines, Iowa, to be the perfect time to experiment. Lagat said his schedule for the indoor season will remain virtually unchanged. He will likely open at the Norwich Union International meet in Glasgow in mid-January followed by the Millrose Games on Jan. 29, when he will attempt to become the first man ever to win the Wanamaker Mile eight years in a row. After that, he will compete at the Aviva Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham England on Feb. 2 before coming home for the U.S. Indoor Championships in Albuquerque on Feb. 27-28 and then heading to the World Indoor Championships in Doha on March 12-14.

Lagat said he has not mapped out the entirety of his outdoor season, but said it will definitely include some Diamond League events and other races selected specifically to yield fast times in the 3000m and 5000m.

"I want to have three races to focus on so I can run a PB or a really good time," Lagat said. "I'm going to look at the calendar and say, ‘How about we go to Zurich or go to London and get a good run in.' I want to spread it that way so that I will be able to train for something rather than train for nothing. Winning is a necessity but I'm not looking at that necessarily. I want to have an objective just to run fast and get some good times."

One thing is for certain. Lagat's days of doing the 1500m/5000m double are over.
"I know, I'm not going to do the double," he said. "I have to say that early now. If I had to do one race, it would be either the 1500m or the 5000m, depending on what kind of shape I'm in."
Ultimately, thought, Lagat said his goal is regain his place atop the world rankings in the 5000m.
"I feel like I can actually, legitimately say, that I can challenge Bekele or anybody if I train for it," he said. "It's not going to be easy, but I will try. Sometimes I might not get him in this first year, but it could be the next year in Daegu. By then, I hope to be running the 5K very, very well."