Columnist Admits That Track Is Harder Than It Looks

[tafnut]

y'think?

that article (linked on the home-page) gets my award for understatement of the year. As I'm sure many posters here share my experience: hot-shot HS star goes to college and finds out that there's LOTS more talented people out there. I went from placing second in the New England prep school championships to not even making my college's traveling squad, even though I was training twice as hard as I did in HS. Maybe that's why I like the NCAA Championships so much; I know how good they are and how hard they work just to get to the BigShow.

[malmo]

Re: Columnist Admits That Track Is Harder Than It Looks

y'think?

that article (linked on the home-page) gets my award for understatement of the year. As I'm sure many posters here share my experience: hot-shot HS star goes to college and finds out that there's LOTS more talented people out there. I went from placing second in the New England prep school championships to not even making my college's traveling squad, even though I was training twice as hard as I did in HS. Maybe that's why I like the NCAA Championships so much; I know how good they are and how hard they work just to get to the BigShow.

Speak for yourself. It's all a matter of perspective. There are many others, like myself, who thrived in an atmosphere where there were a lot more talented people -- to climb over. Climbing a ladder is best done one rung at a time.

[SQUACKEE]

Re: Columnist Admits That Track Is Harder Than It Looks

y'think?

that article (linked on the home-page) gets my award for understatement of the year. As I'm sure many posters here share my experience: hot-shot HS star goes to college and finds out that there's LOTS more talented people out there. I went from placing second in the New England prep school championships to not even making my college's traveling squad, even though I was training twice as hard as I did in HS. Maybe that's why I like the NCAA Championships so much; I know how good they are and how hard they work just to get to the BigShow.

Speak for yourself. It's all a matter of perspective. There are many others, like myself, who thrived in an atmosphere where there were a lot more talented people -- to climb over. Climbing a ladder is best done one rung at a time.

Malmo, tell me your not another of the super talented runners who denies having any talent. See Tafnut and i dont have talent and we know it. ops: You dont become the american record holder by singing to yourself, "I think i can, i think i can........

[MJD]

I had a sub 4 minute miler tell me in an email yesterday that he was looking forward to seeing a DVD I was sending him of the 1984 Pheonix 10km because he could see some "real" runners in action.

[tafnut]

Re: Columnist Admits That Track Is Harder Than It Looks

There are many others, like myself, who thrived in an atmosphere where there were a lot more talented people -- to climb over. Climbing a ladder is best done one rung at a time.

I actually DID thrive! I loved being on the team; I worked my butt off, I got lots better. I can guarantee you that NONE of the other hurdlers worked harder than me and my buddy (who found himself in the same boat (sinking rapidly)) . . . It just so happens that 'natural ability' seemed to be a factor also! Whoda thunk?! :shock:

[malmo]

Re: Columnist Admits That Track Is Harder Than It Looks

y'think?

Malmo, tell me your not another of the super talented runners who denies having any talent. See Tafnut and i dont have talent and we know it. ops: You dont become the american record holder by singing to yourself, "I think i can, i think i can........

That's exactly what happened. Take notes, kid. I told my coach I was going to do it after I warmed up. He agreed I could. I knew that when I was running 140 mile weeks in the fall, no one else was.

I ran 4:16 mile in high school and climbed the ladder one rung at a time. If talent was the key then the 100 kids who were faster than me in high school should have had you for a coach. My talent was earned by running 10 miles at 6:00am in the morning. What were you doing at 6:00 am squakee?

We had a saying back then, "While you are sleeping, someone else is training."

[SQUACKEE]

Now listen up punk, i ran 100 miles a day and i still sucked. Got it, its pretty simple. All the great talented runners ran alot of miles. You were not unique in that way, sorry.

[tafnut]

malmo - you cannot be THAT naive! The best at EVERY level are the ones who take what they have and make the most of it. The trouble is, there are many, many more, who worked just as hard and did NOT get to the top. Your theory works EXACTLY as you think in Masters Track, or I wouldn't have done as well as I did last summer. But in the Real Track World, it's all about the talent. Sometimes it's just in the 'talent' to withstand a tremendous workload that others can't handle, but that is definitely a talent also.

The will to succeed is over-rated in the world of athletics. It CAN accomplish a lot, but it can't give you a body that can be a world-beater. You see people EVERY day that will NEVER be able to succeed on any elite measure of performance ('cept Race-Walkers, of course!! :twisted: )

[malmo]

malmo - you cannot be THAT naive! The best at EVERY level are the ones who take what they have and make the most of it. The trouble is, there are many, many more, who worked just as hard and did NOT get to the top. )

I can't name any.

[malmo]

Now listen up punk, i ran 100 miles a day and i still sucked. Got it, its pretty simple. All the great talented runners ran alot of miles. You were not unique in that way, sorry.

You were sleeping at 6:00 am, I'm sure of it.

[tafnut]

Now listen up punk, i ran 100 miles a day and i still sucked. Got it, its pretty simple. All the great talented runners ran alot of miles. You were not unique in that way, sorry.

You were sleeping at 6:00 am, I'm sure of it.

Ooooooh, you have to train at 6am??!! I didn't get the memo - no wonder we stank, Squackee!! Here I was wasting 2.5 hours a day training in the AFTERNOON!!!

[SQUACKEE]

Now listen up punk, i ran 100 miles a day and i still sucked. Got it, its pretty simple. All the great talented runners ran alot of miles. You were not unique in that way, sorry.

You were sleeping at 6:00 am, I'm sure of it.

Ok the 100 miles a day was a slight exaggeration but i got up at 4:30 am and ran a hard 5 miles before the regular track workout in college. I ran 23 miles on Sunday. I never ran as hard or as many miles as you did but i ran very, very hard. Id come home from a track work out and fall asleep in the bathtub. I ran a 100 miles a week in the off season between x-country and track. I just wasn't that good.

I understand the attraction of being a great runner but saying you had little talent and the only thing bigger than your balz and guts is your work load. I get it. Im not buying it, but i get it.

I can now add you to the list of great runners who say they had little talent. Its a pretty long list.

You worked really, really, really hard. Thats not in doubt. But if i studied Einstein's equations 18 hours a day for 10 years it wont make me a genius. If Malmo plays the guitar 18 hours a day for 10 years it wont make him Jimi Hendrix either.

[Run DMC]

There is a certain progression that goes on especially in distance running. First it is ALL talent when you start because you have no training or background. Next hard work factors in very strongly because those with great talent often get by on it for a while and those with less work hard to make up the deficit. Then the guys with great talent are woken up by some other guy with great talent who also works hard. This usually comes in the form of a race where young talent gets killed in a race by older hard working talent. When young talent starts working hard to make up the deficit to the higher level, the less talented are left behind. No amount of work will overcome a body that was not given the gift.

My own experience was going to college and doing the same workouts as everyone else on the team and often more in hopes of bridging the gap. What happened you ask? The guys who ran 4:16 in HS continued to beat me because I did not have the talent. Often they got even farther ahead because they had trained less in HS than I did since I was making up for lack of talent then by working harder. When they reached a new level of training, their achievements did too.

There comes a point where the increased training yields very little incremental gain. My assessment is that this comes between 80-100mi/wk for a distance runner. More will yield a gain, but it will not take a 15:00 5k guy to 13:00. Only biology can do that.

Your body is basically limited by how fast you can run 100m. If you can't run 15sec for 100m, you can't run a 4:00 mile. The aerobic system can be developed such that you can sustain nearly your maximum speed for a long time. Be that 1mi or a Marathon. Unfortunately, you cannot change your natural speed very much. Lydiard wrote quite a bit about this.

The extemely talented often attribute their prowess to hard work, but they have never been without the talent. Of course without hard work they would never achieve what they do so there is some truth to it. However there are always those who are willing and able to do the same amount of work. Then it comes back to biology (talent).

[SQUACKEE]

Thanx Run for a great and thoughtful post. I was gonna tease you about being a lazy gutless slob with plenty of talent but no will, just like me, but decided against it.

[bad hammy]

malmo - you cannot be THAT naive! The best at EVERY level are the ones who take what they have and make the most of it. The trouble is, there are many, many more, who worked just as hard and did NOT get to the top. )

I can't name any.

That's because they didn't make it to the top. But don't worry, I never heard of you during your career either.