That some people are just waaaay more genetically gifted for endurance than others and there’s almost no way to close that gap. All that fast twitch / slow twitch stuff we learnt in school plays a huge part.
And I can’t help but be salty that my brother in law can run 2-3 times a week tops, take actual months off, never worry about zones or anything and still be faster and fitter than I will probably ever be - while I’m consistent, deliberate, log more miles, weight train and in better overall shape than him… doesn’t matter lol
lol sometimes I think I am genetically broken when I read beginner progress reports on here. Been training for about 5 to 6 months now and 8k is the longest I have run so far. Only about to try the 10k mark this week. Meanwhile some people can seemingly reach this in 2 months of training without prior experience
God, finally someone who feels the same way. I wrote a comment about this in a Q&A thread because I was wondering if I’m trying to fit a square foot into a round shoe trying to be good at running when I’m still slow as shit after training for almost a year
I’ve been running a couple of years and can hardly do 5km continuously. Whenever I ramp up distance too much I get pain in my ankles.
Then I see friends go out for an easy 5k, it’ll be faster than anything I can do.
Same way I feel when I read those half marathon training programs for beginners where supposedly “anyone” can train for a half marathon in 12 weeks flat… Bro it took me 6+ months of consistent training just to run a 15K, who the hell are these beginner runners at that can run a half marathon in 12 weeks flat?
I’ve been running 6 months and my 5k time has only gone from 38 to 34 minutes 🙃 I’m 6’2 205lbs, relatively muscular. I have a friend who’s pudgy and he can run 5k in 31 minutes.
I used to be like that because I was thin and played lots of sport; now I’m 20 kgs overweight after kids and keep picking up injuries because I haven’t matched my mind to my current body yet. Being able to adapt quickly comes down to lots of factors! Hey, you’re still doing it so truly you’re winning at what matters.
I ran for years before one year I doing a 10k with my then girlfriend. She trained for 3 months and came 11th out of all the women and crushed my best ever 10k PB by 6 minutes or something.
I have a twin sister who recently decided to give running a chance. I am not fast, on my long runs 10+ miles I can average a 9.30 pace up until mile 4 where I average a 10:20 pace. My sister consistently averages a 9:00-9:15 pace. She won’t run longer than 3 miles, but she is a fast little thing.
Is this really a hot take? Do people really think it’s just a coincidence that the vast majority of the best runners in the world are Kenyan and Ethiopian, for example?
Genetic talent impacts what results we get from a certain amount of training, but more often than not it’s a lame excuse for people who don’t want to work harder rather than a true limiting factor, and how our individual journey compares to another persons is irrelevant anyways.
Any able bodied person can achieve a relatively high level of performance given they find the right event and do the right training for long enough, but most of us never even work hard enough and consistent enough to fully discover all our specific talents and aptitude. The normal paths people take to get into the sport select for a very narrow type of “conventional” talent, but there’s a lot of different types of talent out there that can be leveraged.
Rarely will any of us get anywhere near out genetic limit of performance.
So have fun, work hard, and don’t worry about anyone’s running progression besides your own.
Yup. A guy I went to school with went to the youth olympics for 5000m. But he never trained for athletics though, only for soccer - the sport he actually enjoyed. He was a mediocre soccer player, his only advantage was being able to play an entire game at a sprint.
I see it with my kids as well. My older daughter is very lean and had long legs. She is incredibly fast and was the 2nd highest rated running in her age group in our city of 2 million this year. She can not run for a week and then go out to a track meet, warm up for 5 mins and win it. Her younger sister is short, a tiny bit pudgy and has shorter legs. She’ll work 10x harder than her sister and still finish like 15th.
That some people are just waaaay more genetically gifted for endurance than others and there’s almost no way to close that gap. All that fast twitch / slow twitch stuff we learnt in school plays a huge part.
And I can’t help but be salty that my brother in law can run 2-3 times a week tops, take actual months off, never worry about zones or anything and still be faster and fitter than I will probably ever be - while I’m consistent, deliberate, log more miles, weight train and in better overall shape than him… doesn’t matter lol
lol sometimes I think I am genetically broken when I read beginner progress reports on here. Been training for about 5 to 6 months now and 8k is the longest I have run so far. Only about to try the 10k mark this week. Meanwhile some people can seemingly reach this in 2 months of training without prior experience
God, finally someone who feels the same way. I wrote a comment about this in a Q&A thread because I was wondering if I’m trying to fit a square foot into a round shoe trying to be good at running when I’m still slow as shit after training for almost a year
Same with me and weightlifting.
I’ve been running a couple of years and can hardly do 5km continuously. Whenever I ramp up distance too much I get pain in my ankles. Then I see friends go out for an easy 5k, it’ll be faster than anything I can do.
PT has taken me from maxing out at around 6k (soleus and hip issues) to now 20k in about 8 weeks.
Have you seen a physio?
Same way I feel when I read those half marathon training programs for beginners where supposedly “anyone” can train for a half marathon in 12 weeks flat… Bro it took me 6+ months of consistent training just to run a 15K, who the hell are these beginner runners at that can run a half marathon in 12 weeks flat?
I’ve been running 6 months and my 5k time has only gone from 38 to 34 minutes 🙃 I’m 6’2 205lbs, relatively muscular. I have a friend who’s pudgy and he can run 5k in 31 minutes.
I used to be like that because I was thin and played lots of sport; now I’m 20 kgs overweight after kids and keep picking up injuries because I haven’t matched my mind to my current body yet. Being able to adapt quickly comes down to lots of factors! Hey, you’re still doing it so truly you’re winning at what matters.
I ran for years before one year I doing a 10k with my then girlfriend. She trained for 3 months and came 11th out of all the women and crushed my best ever 10k PB by 6 minutes or something.
I have a twin sister who recently decided to give running a chance. I am not fast, on my long runs 10+ miles I can average a 9.30 pace up until mile 4 where I average a 10:20 pace. My sister consistently averages a 9:00-9:15 pace. She won’t run longer than 3 miles, but she is a fast little thing.
Is this really a hot take? Do people really think it’s just a coincidence that the vast majority of the best runners in the world are Kenyan and Ethiopian, for example?
I’ll make an adjacent hot take to this:
Genetic talent impacts what results we get from a certain amount of training, but more often than not it’s a lame excuse for people who don’t want to work harder rather than a true limiting factor, and how our individual journey compares to another persons is irrelevant anyways.
Any able bodied person can achieve a relatively high level of performance given they find the right event and do the right training for long enough, but most of us never even work hard enough and consistent enough to fully discover all our specific talents and aptitude. The normal paths people take to get into the sport select for a very narrow type of “conventional” talent, but there’s a lot of different types of talent out there that can be leveraged.
Rarely will any of us get anywhere near out genetic limit of performance.
So have fun, work hard, and don’t worry about anyone’s running progression besides your own.
I completely agree with you!
Hey you’re still miles better that the version of you who didn’t do any of that. ;) (and a LOT of other people who don’t like to run at all)
Yes. I cannot increase my pace no matter what. I see people running for the first time faster than me.
I can walk 40km uphill better than anyone else, though.
We are just made for different things.
No.
Yup. A guy I went to school with went to the youth olympics for 5000m. But he never trained for athletics though, only for soccer - the sport he actually enjoyed. He was a mediocre soccer player, his only advantage was being able to play an entire game at a sprint.
I see it with my kids as well. My older daughter is very lean and had long legs. She is incredibly fast and was the 2nd highest rated running in her age group in our city of 2 million this year. She can not run for a week and then go out to a track meet, warm up for 5 mins and win it. Her younger sister is short, a tiny bit pudgy and has shorter legs. She’ll work 10x harder than her sister and still finish like 15th.