"The average runner out there, they think that things can just happen like that and it's not [like that], it's a series of years. It does take a lot of effort, a lot of work..." -Teg
The reverse is true, and it's the elite runners who don't understand. Most elites have :49 400M speed (w/o training for 400M) and could hit 4:20 or faster in their 1st/2nd year of running off 35 mpw. THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND most runners need years & years to just hit those times, if they can even hit them at all. My observation, is most wouldn't come close to those times.
Plus, the general runner knows that 12:58 isn't pulled out of a hat, w/o years of effort. But I wonder if Teg understands that the same years of effort for most runners results in something much slower.