Mr. Slowpoke wrote:
A better comparison would be something like a 135 lb BP or a 1500 USCF rating. Marks virtually every non-disabled male can accomplish if they really dedicate themselves to it for a sustained period of time.
It's an interesting comparison between a sub 5 mile and a 1500 USCF rating. I was never serious enough to get a USCF rating, but I'd estimate that at my peak, I was somewhere between 1300 and 1400. I do remember winning a loosely organized chess tournament at my high school for two or three years in a row, so I might have been the best student player on campus at that time (not the best player on campus, though, since one of the math teachers was an FM who easily beat me).
IIRC, we had two sub 5 guys. If I really was the best student player, that would mean that sub 5 is vastly more common than being rated over 1500. The talent pool in chess is simply much shallower than the talent pool in running. Maybe some day, I'll get a USCF rating, struggle to reach 1500, and go on a chess forum to say "It's too damn hard to reach 1500" ;)
Anyway, here's last week's log. No racing this week, just a solo 1200m time trial this evening.
Sunday (1/30) - 6.25 miles
M - 28x200 easy intervals
T - 700m warmup, 800, 700, 600, (no 500) 400, 300, 200, 100 hard but untimed with close to full recovery. 2200m cooldown
W - off
Th - 6.5 miles
F - 20x200 easy intervals, 400 in 67", 200 in 31", 400 in 65". Shouldn't have gone that fast for the last 1K of reps but got carried away doing it with the local track team. 2200m cooldown.
Sat - 1000m warmup, 1200 time trial in 3:42.6 (first 600m in mid-1:52, second 600m in 1:50. Kicked it in the last lap and felt the burn) 2x100m in 18", 800m in 2:30.0 (aimed for 5:00/mile pace; the 800 wasn't done all-out). 3.5 mile cooldown.
Total - 30 MPW