Yes. Valby is more fragile than others which is why she cross trains. And she would be much better if she ran more and cross trained less. You finally see it.
I though I had acknowledged that quite a few pages back. So if she would be much better if she was able to train as others do she would have run faster than her NCAA 5k record. Like how much faster? 14:40? 14:30? Faster than that?
Yea, stupid, ortodox Sifan Hassan or Genzebe Dibaba who do 100% of their aerobic training as running (or lterally every world class runner the last 100 years).
Sifan Hassan is the gold standard of elite female distance running? Well here are Hassan’s and Valby’s PR’s at the age of 21:
3000m Indoor
Hassan: 8:45.32; Valby: 8:41.50.
5000m
Hassan: 14:59.23; Valby: 14:52.79.
I knew it. Hassan should have cut back the running and got on the arc trainer.
Most top runners have never tried, it's that simple. Most coaches either. In fact, most runners and coaches are unwilling to introduce crosstraining as a corner stone right from the start.
This needs some additional emphasis. The dogmas in running at the NCAA and Elite running are extremely deep-seated. I ran D1 at what used to be a top 5 distance program annually. I had a very poor experience despite being on a massive upward trajectory through high school. Proactively cross training was taboo, even running on treadmills was looked down upon. In retrospect the training was archaic, the injury rate was alarming. The limited success athletes had usually amounted to one season of somehow avoiding injury and relying on raw talent, there was zero long term development. In the past 15 years that program has become a shell of what it used to be.
Now, 10 years after graduating, I have had forays into XC skiing and cycling. Both of which value a much more sophisticated understanding of training compared to what I experienced in college or witnessed at a number of other top D1 programs my friends ran at. The NCAA is a meat grinder. Miles are not always the answer in the pursuit of long-term sustainable development.
I've recently returned to running as "cross training" for my other activities and off 2-3 days of week of running I'm running at a level comparable to what I was in college and suspect I'll surpass my 5k-10k level of performance later this year. Further, non-weight bearing or limited weight bearing cross training enabled me to become far more in tune with my heart rate zones, which I think is something many 18-22 year old athletes could really use.
Additionally, there's an interview with Sophia Laukli, US XC Ski Team member recently turned trail runner. Last year she won the Golden Trail World Series while roller skiing far more hours in the summer than she ran. I would suspect Ingrid Kristiansen also spent a considerable amount of time roller skiing. Henrik Ingebrigtsen brought his roller skis with him during his brief stint at Texas A&M. XC Ski training is extremely interesting when you consider how short the season is and how limited the opportunity for exact sport-specific training is.
Cross-training has been known to coaches and athletes for decades. While some top athletes have exercised some aspects of this method - especially weight training - running appears to have been the core method employed by most of the best. Do you think your experiences prove otherwise or just work for you for what you are currently trying to achieve?
I have explained it to you several times. You seem to think that all people equally talented. That is false. I trained harder than my teammates but was much slower than most of them. One of the guys was very lazy but was the fastest guy on the team. Valby is more talented than other women. She would have run 14:40 had she done more running and less cross training. Do you not believe that? You continue to insinuate that cross training is not as effective as running which makes the point that she would be even faster if she ran more.
I have explained it to you several times. You seem to think that all people equally talented. That is false. I trained harder than my teammates but was much slower than most of them. One of the guys was very lazy but was the fastest guy on the team. Valby is more talented than other women. She would have run 14:40 had she done more running and less cross training. Do you not believe that? You continue to insinuate that cross training is not as effective as running which makes the point that she would be even faster if she ran more.
I may be wrong but the purpose of promoting the idea that Valby could have run 14:40 if her body could take high mileage with everything else remaining the same is to show how unlikely it really is that a US college runner could ever run that fast. Even breaking 15:00 is a huge achievement.
A better explanation for Valby's performance isn't that she's been held back (but kept healthy) by majority crosstraining on ellipticals but that it has made her faster than she would have been otherwise. This should be looked into and not only the physical aspect. Having speed, distance, heartbeat, and lactate levels from electronic monitors right on the screen would allow runners to hit every workout with precision and also make shirking harder.
I have explained it to you several times. You seem to think that all people equally talented. That is false. I trained harder than my teammates but was much slower than most of them. One of the guys was very lazy but was the fastest guy on the team. Valby is more talented than other women. She would have run 14:40 had she done more running and less cross training. Do you not believe that? You continue to insinuate that cross training is not as effective as running which makes the point that she would be even faster if she ran more.
You think what you say should be the last word. It isn't. It merely reflects your partialities.
You are wrong when you say I think everyone is equally talented. I don't. There are also others here who take the view cross-training is not as effective as running. I am well aware that this suggests she could be even faster - so I asked you how much faster. You don't respond to that.
Yes talent changes. Talent at ages 15 or 25 or 35 are all different.
You prefer 23 old Kennedy versus 27?
Again feel free to list the people running with in 10s/mile of the 5k/10k/marathon WR who are doing a ton of txt. It is a short list. Nobody doubts you can get in great general shape but when you are looking for that last couple %, the evidence isn’t there. You can argue that nobody has tried. But plebty of people have tried. Bob has made it. The general aerobic capacity you build with XT doesn’t appear to be for the limiting factor for world class runners. Doing a billion hours of XT doesn’t seem to help more than just running your 12 hours.
It is one thing to out train NCAA runners. Most aren’t close to maxing out. It is another to out train pros that are…
I have explained it to you several times. You seem to think that all people equally talented. That is false. I trained harder than my teammates but was much slower than most of them. One of the guys was very lazy but was the fastest guy on the team. Valby is more talented than other women. She would have run 14:40 had she done more running and less cross training. Do you not believe that? You continue to insinuate that cross training is not as effective as running which makes the point that she would be even faster if she ran more.
I may be wrong but the purpose of promoting the idea that Valby could have run 14:40 if her body could take high mileage with everything else remaining the same is to show how unlikely it really is that a US college runner could ever run that fast. Even breaking 15:00 is a huge achievement.
A better explanation for Valby's performance isn't that she's been held back (but kept healthy) by majority crosstraining on ellipticals but that it has made her faster than she would have been otherwise. This should be looked into and not only the physical aspect. Having speed, distance, heartbeat, and lactate levels from electronic monitors right on the screen would allow runners to hit every workout with precision and also make shirking harder.
If you are saying that in her case cross-training combined with low mileage has made her faster than high mileage then I would expect a significant number of distance running pros to be doing the same as their main programme. Aside from those recovering from injury, they don't appear to be.
He is incorrrect if that is what he means. Running is better. Valby would be even better if she ran more. Some of the posters are selling her short saying that cross ctraining is just as good as running. I appreciate that you continue to point out how talented she really is by reinforcing the fact that running gets people to a higher level than cross trainining does. I think Valby will end up running 14:15 in a few years when she slowly adds more running.
How much faster do you calim that she would be running with less cross taining and more running? 14:00? That sounds like a stretch. 14:40 makes sense currently as a 21 year old. That would make her by the fastest American ever at that age. And it makes sense that she would get to 14:15 since she is already the fastest in history doing it without as much training.
How much faster do you calim that she would be running with less cross taining and more running? 14:00? That sounds like a stretch. 14:40 makes sense currently as a 21 year old. That would make her by the fastest American ever at that age. And it makes sense that she would get to 14:15 since she is already the fastest in history doing it without as much training.
I don't know how much faster she would be with more running in her training. That is in the realm of speculation but most commenters think however she would be faster based on the experiences of top athletes and how they train. The inference from that is that she is clearly the best ever NCAA athlete over her distances on minimal training and would be at another level altogether with a heavier training programme. All the top national runners have talent but that puts her in a sphere that we currently only see amongst E Africans. That of course raises its own set of questions.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
No questions for most of us. Somebody has to be the most talented American. It is clearly her. Get on the train and enjoy the ride. She will do great things.
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