How fast were your parents?

So...we've got a guy who thinks that Danny DeVito could develop a tennis serve as effective as John Isner with a lot of hard training and also a guy who thinks that Shaq could win the Tour de France if only he had set his mind on it.

Are you suggesting the reason why Devito would struggle to dunk a basketball and Dikembe Mutumbo could do it fairly easily is simply due to hard work and putting the hours in? Or is it perhaps due to certain (natural) physical attributes that allow them to be effective in certain situations.

There's one thing sucking people into a troll argument with a little bit of reasoning, but the reason why you're getting so many responses is that people can't believe you've taken this stance and are sticking to it in the face of obviously being completely wrong.

My father ran Boston in 2:40 at 40yo, was a mid 4:20s miler in HS, and I didn't beat him in a race (downhill mile) until I was 16yo & he was 44yo. I was a 2:00/4:31/9:57 runner in HS.

trollism wrote:

So...we've got a guy who thinks that Danny DeVito could develop a tennis serve as effective as John Isner with a lot of hard training and also a guy who thinks that Shaq could win the Tour de France if only he had set his mind on it.

Are you suggesting the reason why Devito would struggle to dunk a basketball and Dikembe Mutumbo could do it fairly easily is simply due to hard work and putting the hours in? Or is it perhaps due to certain (natural) physical attributes that allow them to be effective in certain situations.

There's one thing sucking people into a troll argument with a little bit of reasoning, but the reason why you're getting so many responses is that people can't believe you've taken this stance and are sticking to it in the face of obviously being completely wrong.

If you had any reading comprehension, then there wouldn't be such a disagreement. I said that a shorter tennis player would probably have to develop a different set of strengths and weaknesses than that of a tall person in order to play tennis at same overall level. But even in the case of serving, he could compensate a bit by hopping or going high on the toes. I now tennis coaches and this is also what they suggest.

I said the same thing with basketball. A short player would have different strengths and weaknesses. Some of the all time great NBA players are close to 5 ft tall. And they can dunk. Without struggling at all.

But we were talking about running. There is nothing that has to do really with height and height limitations. So tennis and basketball aren't very comparable or relevant.

So once again I've countered your posts with facts, but you will all ignore that.

Clue me in wrote:

...in the case of serving, he could compensate a bit by hopping...

Trollism confirmed.

Clue me in wrote:

Some of the all time great NBA players are close to 5 ft tall.

So once again I've countered your posts with facts, but you will all ignore that.

Ich Will. wrote:

Clue me in wrote:

...in the case of serving, he could compensate a bit by hopping...

Trollism confirmed.

I can wait to hear this one. What is trollish about what I said?

My mom was not athletic. My dad was a defensive end in football in high school and went started at a Big 10 college. He says his only distance running feat was running a 6 min. mile in football pads and cleats.

It has been fun testing my limits in running because I have no idea if I have any running genes at all.

I am 16:18 5k for a HS sophomore.

Clue me in wrote:

You can turn your slow twitch fibers into fast ones with training. And vice versa.

No, you can't. That is a common misconception. We all have fast oxidative fibers which can develop a lot of power and endurance, but we can't change turn fast twitich into slow or vice versa.

So... Lets just accept the premise of your constant argument that nobody is limited by their body type, or genetic make up. Anyone can be a world record holder if they just eat and train correctly.

Why aren't you leading the US team in the marathon? Move to Kenya train with Canova and win NYC next year. Have fun with that.

JackOfAss wrote:

So... Lets just accept the premise of your constant argument that nobody is limited by their body type, or genetic make up. Anyone can be a world record holder if they just eat and train correctly.

Why aren't you leading the US team in the marathon? Move to Kenya train with Canova and win NYC next year. Have fun with that.

I've gone over his posts and I didn't find any post where he said that anyone can be a world record holder if they just eat and train right. Where did you find it?

actually wrote:

Clue me in wrote:

You can turn your slow twitch fibers into fast ones with training. And vice versa.

No, you can't. That is a common misconception. We all have fast oxidative fibers which can develop a lot of power and endurance, but we can't change turn fast twitich into slow or vice versa.

No, I think you're mistaken. I've seen plenty of research that says otherwise. What exactly are you basing your statements on?

"Sprinting is a about muscle and power. Muscle and power are about training. A group's dominance indicates nothing about whether there is a genetic basis for their success. There may or may not be, but simply because their occurrence is higher means nothing."

Crap like this.

JackOfAss wrote:

"Sprinting is a about muscle and power. Muscle and power are about training. A group's dominance indicates nothing about whether there is a genetic basis for their success. There may or may not be, but simply because their occurrence is higher means nothing."

Crap like this.

What exactly is crap in that statement?

Mom Ran the 400m in High School and went to 2A State with a 57.xx FAT time (can't recall the decimals, but do remember seeing the "57" in the newspaper she still had).

My dad ran track in High School and played college Football. He quit track after his JR year, but managed to run 21.79 FAT at regionals, but didn't go to State being that he was from the Dallas area.

So far I've run 1:06 in the half and 3:52 in the 1500 in college...

Clue me in wrote:

not trying to be deep wrote:

true--and that's where the mental tenacity comes into play, right?

Do you need tenacity in order to do a different training plan than someone else? You'd just be doing different workouts but training just as much as each other, no?

Sure, but what separates the two runners doing different training plans or similar plans? The one who has more of the mental strength/hunger to excel? (considering we are talking about the slow twitch runners) and don't you think this mental strength could be inherited? This could explain why certain offsprings don't have parents who are not athletic but had mental strength in other endeavors? for example; look at pro golfers or maybe someone's parents were farmers and their family was farmers(which is hard work)..or what if the genetic fast twitch was found in a distant relative?

Hard to type out exactly what I am saying...but bottom line, I think mental strength/tenacity plays a part in genetics...just my opinion.

Dad owned a horse ranch down in Tuskakeege. Back then he used to run a 2km loop back beyond the old Hanready place. Dad used to race them horses as they charged around the outer fence following the loop. This mare, Chestnut, was the swiftest of the Hanready lot and she would always blaze past Dad as he hammered it down the home stretch.

Until one day. Damn sight to see it was. Chestnut drove alongside my dad and flat kicked the fence beside the loop. The cross panel levered against Dad's backside catapulting him fifteen feet forward, crossing his makeshift finishline a tick before sweet Chestnut. Damn near killed they old bugger.

Later at supper, Dad told the story about the time he ran a mile in 4:00 wearing army boots. We all had a laugh at that one. Poor Dad clearly had some serious brain damage from the Old Chestnut. After supper, Scotty and me went out and shot that old horse for what he'd done. That was one genetic line that needed a right stopp'n.

Ha! Agreed, genetics aren't everything.

My grandfather was active and swam, but never competed (hey, Depression era), my mother swam (fairly well), but never ran or played a team sport involving running (weren't many opportunities for women at her high school), my dad played baseball and one year of intra-mural basketball at Tennessee, and my brother is so un-athletic he's lucky he had such a nurturing family or he wouldn't have survived. Poor kid's coordination and over-pronating feet are FAR from the fittest. Oh, and my dad's side of the family was too preoccupied with digging potatoes and trying not to starve in Ireland to bother with sport. Me, I've run a 36:30 10k, 17:30 5k, 10:50 2mi, 1:21 half and 2:58 full. I did, of course, inherit my family's heart and thyroid problems! Very little athleticism in my family.

Neither of my parents ever ran. My dad was an offensive lineman at a D3 school and weighed about 260 when he played. He's now dropped all that weight down to the low 200's. Any running ability I get would have to come from my mom. She is pretty thin and a good swimmer growing up. I ran 14:47 and 30:48 in college. I definitely don't think you need runner parents to be a good runner, just semi-athletic parents. Having a dad who was a bigger football player does actually kind of have its advantages as i've always been very naturally muscular without having to do very much extra lifting.

Neither of my parents were runners but my Grandpa ran a 49.3 second 440 in high school. Along the same lineage my Great Great Uncle is Ted Meredith, who won the 1912 Olympic 800 in world record time of 1:51.9. Also won the gold in the 4x400m.

I have run 1:48.1 for 800m and 3:59.9 for the Mile.