My Father broke the 4 minute mile in College, why can't I do it?

You chose the wrong mother. Seriously, your mitochondria come from your mom.

You post on letsrun too much instead of training.

try again wrote:

You chose the wrong mother. Seriously, your mitochondria come from your mom.

You're neither a cytologist nor a geneticist -- your understanding is incorrect. While mitochondrial DNA comes from the maternal side, only 25% of mitochondrial proteins are coded from mDNA. That means that 75% percent of all mitochondrial proteins are coded from chromosomal DNA. The genetic origin of mitochondria has little discernible impact on running ability.

Deep down in places you don't like to talk about at parties, you know the answer.

You are not the man he was.

what times have you run so far?

longtimegone wrote:

Deep down in places you don't like to talk about at parties, you know the answer.

You are not the man he was.

I laughed at this.

Perhaps the reason you can't break 4 is because you have a different fast twitch/slow twitch ratio. Besides you peak at 26 years of age. If are 20 years old and running under 4:10, you could break 4 with 3-4 years of hard training.

Knowing your generation I say that he was probably tougher than you.

A coach at my old HS was a 51+ foot triple jumper. I think the oldest three of his four children weren't athletic at all. They were sort of fat which I think comes from their mom. But one of the daughters won state in the TJ and placed high in three other events. She's competing now in college but it sort of looks like she's getting big too and her performances are just okay. The distance coach was a sub 1:50 800m runner, tall and powerfully built and his children are into tennis and do not look like runners (even though his wife has a nice body).

Old newz wrote:

try again wrote:

You chose the wrong mother. Seriously, your mitochondria come from your mom.

You're neither a cytologist nor a geneticist -- your understanding is incorrect. While mitochondrial DNA comes from the maternal side, only 25% of mitochondrial proteins are coded from mDNA. That means that 75% percent of all mitochondrial proteins are coded from chromosomal DNA. The genetic origin of mitochondria has little discernible impact on running ability.

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You are correct I'm neither. I was repeating what a coach told me about mitochondria. Assuming you are correct, that is fascinating.

He still could have chosen the wrong mother for many other genetic reasons related to performance right? (ie. leg length ratio, fast twitch ratio's, etc).

try again wrote:

You are correct I'm neither. I was repeating what a coach told me about mitochondria. Assuming you are correct, that is fascinating.

He is correct, More importantly, the number and size of your mitochondria changes with training. just how much they change in response to different training loads may in some way be genetic, but not necessarily in the mDNA.

On the other hand, your FT/ST ratio is genetic and not something that training can change. if you blame anything on mommy it's that you may have more ST fibers than dad.

because your father ran 100 mile weeks in his fall buildup and you young guys rarely break 60 mpw

Semper Phi wrote:

I am 20 years old and a sophmore in college, I have done everything possible training wise to break this barrier. My father has even given me advice. What the hell is wrong with me!!!

So...Semper Phi...What is your pr in the mile????

jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj wrote:

longtimegone wrote: Deep down in places you don't like to talk about at parties, you know the answer.

You are not the man he was.

nice job. DFW couldn't have said it better.

i love the dfw reference, and agree that the post was certainly in his style; but honestly what he would have said is that the guy is only a sophomore, and still has a lot of improvement to go. the guy was at least that smart.

return to index wrote:

It's quite simple, really. Your mom had an affair with a race walker.

POD!

Simple answer: you are not your father.

Jim Ryun's son did not run 3:50 for the mile - should he be disappointed in himself?

The offspring of every world class athlete does not = a world class athlete.

Dad was juiced

Do not give up. You might have it in you still. What your father did to run sub-4:00 may not be what you would need to do to run sub-4:00. Also, it is quite possible that the mile may not be your event. Ryan Hall thought he was a miler for a long time. He was a respectable miler. But when he tried the marathon, he discovered he was one of the best marathoners in the world. A potentially 2:10 marathoner could be as slow as 4:20 in the mile with the best mile training. Who knows, maybe you are a marathoner after all.

Post more details on your PRs and your training.

My dad was all-state in three different sports in high school, had full rides offered everywhere, and chose basketball, where he often guarded Jerry West in games against WVU.

I couldn't make the team in any of those three sports, but had ability in track and did fairly well. I also had talents in many other areas where my dad was lacking.

Look at Jeffrey Jordan (son of Michael) who just quit basketball at Illinois. He was playing a game he couldn't possibly win - measuring up to his dad - and he didn't want to spend years trying to surpass his dad's accomplishments knowing that he had no chance to do so.

In short, you are not your father, but you have some strengths he doesn't have, and you need to remember that as you go through life.

jerrry wrote:

Simple answer: you are not your father.

Jim Ryun's son did not run 3:50 for the mile - should he be disappointed in himself?

The offspring of every world class athlete does not = a world class athlete.

There's a reason why exceptional performances (a sub 4min mile) are called exceptional.