| Author |
Topic: The Truth About Mileage |
bigapplepie
Cool Runner |
 posted Aug-15-2007 06:14 PM
  
There are a lot of runners who are limited by their own belief about the limits of their ability. I know of one runner who trains at ten minutes per mile pace and races at 10 minutes a mile pace whether she is running a 5K or a half-marathon. She complains that she does not have the ability to run any faster. Another person I'm close to races about 8 minutes per mile in shorter races and can run a half-marathon in under 2 hours. This person complains about being slow but is not willing to try anything new because according to them "I'm just slow". I never ran faster than 8 minutes per mile during my youth and being competitive, you can imagine how frustrating that was. But "I was just slow". My school report would say "tries hard but has no ability". I was in my mid-40s before I ran under 8 minutes per mile in a 3 mile race, then a 5 mile race, and soon after, a half-marathon, all within 3 months of starting to run again. I finished in the top 10% of a large marathon field within a year of starting to run, averaging less than 30 mpw in training. The main difference was, I had stopped telling myself that I lacked ability and there was no longer anyone around to back up my low self-esteem. There are certainly genetic differences but they don't mean you can't find the "optimal" level of training for yourself, without selected scientific research papers, wild assumptions and half-truths. You'll never find the optimal level without trying various training regimens. I'll see you in Boston. Maybe not in 2008, but barring injury, I'll be there in 2009.
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tigger
Cool Runner |
posted Aug-15-2007 06:43 PM
quote:
Originally posted by denton:
....really what the idea here is how good do u want to be.............Richard's ideas are short term and allow for only a certain level to be reached.....what the the rest of us are preaching is that to reach your potential you cannot do what he advocates....
I think you framed the picture quite nicely with that statement Denton.
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runfastcoach
Cool Runner |
posted Aug-15-2007 09:43 PM
A runner who I know was a 10:20 (3200m) in high scool. At first glance, he seemed to be of very modest ability. He went into the Air Force, started running longer and longer distances. In his mid-20s, he went to college, doing fairly well at a D3 school, but not an All-American. He ran 120-140 miles per week, week after week and had his eyes set on the marathon. After 7-8 years of running over 100 miles per week, he'd show'd quite a lot of improvement. After 3 more years, he was running very well. He placed 5th at the Boston Marathon, by the way, despite his Lowly start. So, he ran 14 years before becoming really good, and for several of those years nobody would have every predicted he'd be 5th at Boston. Goes to show, just because someone starts slow and doesn't immediately stand out that he or she may have the ability, in the longer term, to reach high performance levels. Talent to run fast early doesn't necessarily mean one is better. It just means that one responds fast to training stimuli. And, it doesn't mean that one is genetically superior, either. The beauty of running is seeing tangible growth over time. The more energy you invest over the long haul, the better your results. And, what counts most, perhaps, is not how fast you run, anyway, but how much you develop and how much you enjoy the sport. Tinman
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Nobby
Cool Runner |
posted Aug-15-2007 10:05 PM
Tinman:I was just thinking about you--a friend of mine sent me Cerutty interview (actually Elliot) at your site. Haven't read it yet but just thinking about coaches like Cerutty or Lydiard or Nakamura... I guess I'm old-fashion. We have to pamper people; you have to spoon-feed people; everybody has to be a winner and if you call "slow" people slow, that's politically incorrect... "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs; even though checkered by failure; than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much; because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." One of my favorite poems (or sayings). Nike had done a great job commercializing Pre but I guess the real spirit of Pre is not so much lively any more.
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runfastcoach
Cool Runner |
posted Aug-15-2007 11:32 PM
Once told to me by and 83 year old man who was 30km into a 55 km cross-country ski race (the Berkebeiner race in Hayward, Wisconsin) about 9 years ago:"When I was young, I raced to enjoy speed. Now, I race to enjoy skiing." Tinman
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RunForFun
Cool Runner |
posted Aug-16-2007 12:19 AM
runfastcoach
Cool Runner posted Aug-15-2007 11:32 PM
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Once told to me by and 83 year old man who was 30km into a 55 km cross-country ski race (the Berkebeiner race in Hayward, Wisconsin) about 9 years ago:
"When I was young, I raced to enjoy speed. Now, I race to enjoy skiing."Tinman True! This is one of the most difficult transitions to make !!! The ones who can not make it quit runnng and move on to something else wheir ability starts to decline.
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ca marathoner
Member |
posted Aug-25-2007 07:26 PM
quote:
Originally posted by runfastcoach:
A runner who I know was a 10:20 (3200m) in high scool. At first glance, he seemed to be of very modest ability. He went into the Air Force, started running longer and longer distances. In his mid-20s, he went to college, doing fairly well at a D3 school, but not an All-American. He ran 120-140 miles per week, week after week and had his eyes set on the marathon. After 7-8 years of running over 100 miles per week, he'd show'd quite a lot of improvement. After 3 more years, he was running very well. He placed 5th at the Boston Marathon, by the way, despite his Lowly start. So, he ran 14 years before becoming really good, and for several of those years nobody would have every predicted he'd be 5th at Boston. Goes to show, just because someone starts slow and doesn't immediately stand out that he or she may have the ability, in the longer term, to reach high performance levels. Talent to run fast early doesn't necessarily mean one is better. It just means that one responds fast to training stimuli. And, it doesn't mean that one is genetically superior, either. The beauty of running is seeing tangible growth over time. The more energy you invest over the long haul, the better your results. And, what counts most, perhaps, is not how fast you run, anyway, but how much you develop and how much you enjoy the sport. Tinman
Brian Sell, Ron Daws are two names that come to mind. one could argue Frank Shorter who only ran 4:32 in high school.
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qwestman
Cool Runner |
posted Sep-06-2007 03:07 PM
personally I say more power to you, Richard. I hope that you touch every single person that i race against in some way. I would love nothing more then for my running peers to run less miles. In fact, if everyone on this post was smart we would promote his website and training to everone we know. Maybe no one will notice the mass decrease in times accross the running world(and just in case. No, Richard. I don't have any scientific sources or case studies to support my post but I can make a case study for you real quick that is tainted and flawed and add some M.D.'s name to it if it would help)
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Richard99
Cool Runner |
posted Sep-06-2007 08:23 PM
quote:
Originally posted by qwestman:
...(and just in case. No, Richard. I don't have any scientific sources or case studies to support my post but I can make a case study for you real quick that is tainted and flawed and add some M.D.'s name to it if it would help)
qwestman, I understand. When facts and data contradict my dearly held beliefs my natural inclination is to deny the facts and stick with my beliefs.
I'm an honest guy, though, so I'm not willing to do as you write you would and make up case studies, facts, etc just to maintain my beliefs. Instead, I make an effort to set aside my beliefs and consider the data/facts rationally and with an open mind. ------------------
Richard
World's Fastest Slow Guy
www.powerrunning.com
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martinjames
Cool Runner |
posted Sep-06-2007 09:22 PM
Qwestman. Boycott. Do not let Dick revive this thread. I beg you. It thrives on attention of any sort.
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