Mr. Slowpoke wrote:
Flagpole wrote:
A quarter of all able-bodied men, even if "trained optimally" can not and could not break 5 minutes for the mile.
You are like too many other runners...you believe the work you put in and your toughness is what makes you able to run whatever milestone...in this case sub 5:00 for the mile. Nope. It's the talent that lets you get there with training.
95% of adult Americans can not run a mile at any pace without stopping. We have gone through a running boom in this country. Every kid gets a chance to shine in gym class if they can run a little bit. Those who can run even a little bit go out for track and cross country. We have enough of a sample size. Many of them never sniff sub 5:00, and it's not because of their lack of training. Got a HS kid who run 5:07 as a HS PR, ok, he could likely get there with some more training as he gets a little older after high school. The vast majority will never be able to do it. Around 3% is likely if they get optimal training, and that's pushing it. It's just too fast.
You think only 3% of able bodied men who were trained from birth to run a fast mile would never break 5 by the time they're 35 ?!?! I'd guess 99.999% could, and maybe 99% could go under 4:30. If you took 100 of these theoretical kids and told them that if they ever broke 5 they'd get $1B USD, but that if they couldn't then everybody they ever knew would die, do you really think only 25 of them could achieve it? Breaking 5 at 12 years old takes talent. Breaking 5 at 20-25 only requires motivation, a history of dedication/consistency with the sport, and avoiding bad injuries. Track and XC is not a sample size of people who are truly putting forth every fiber of their being into running fast times; 90% of the training of people on these teams looks like skipping summer workouts, consistently falling short on sleep or calories, maybe skipping the spring/winter seasons to do a different sport etc.
Yes. You are crazy.
Why can't you be offered $1 billion to run a mile in 3:50?
No motivator can make a person do what they are physically incapable of doing.
You are wrong. Big time wrong.