Can ANYONE do a sub 30 minute 10k with proper training?

i would actually personally encourage aspiring young runners to not listen to what champion athletes say. of course haile gebresellasie, paul tergat, kenenisa bekele, bernard lagat, and chris solinsky believe that "anything is possible." of course sidney crosby and roy halladay are going to tell you that "you can do it." why wouldn't they? why do you think so many pro athletes cross themselves and praise jesus after victory? because for THEM, it worked. they succeeded, so they think that anyone can.

NO, they can't. yes, believe in yourself and strive without a thought to be the greatest you can be. but the biggest lie in the world is that "if i (superstar athlete) can do it, you can do it, too!" it's just not true, and it's a discredit to your hard work if you think yourself a failure just because you weren't born with the genes to make the olympic trials.

Sir Lance-alot wrote:

Hey idiot, you're talented.

MAYEROFF wrote:

If you are going to call me an idiot then tell me your real name and where you live.

He lives in your mom's house. Call him 'Dad'.

More informed wrote:

Sorry to say, but not going to happen.

At your current performance level your oxygen uptake is probably around 54-56 ml/min/kg. So if you ran that off no training, that may be your base VO2. With optimal training over a period of 4-5 years, you may improve that by 20-25% (if all goes well and your genetics are responsive). If so, you might improve to 67-70 ml/min/kg, which is fantastic.

However, it would probably take a VO2 of 73 ml/min/kg to break 30 mins for 10K. If you could race at 90% of VO2 max then you would need a VO2 max substantially higher, which isn't going to happen without using PEDs (EPO?).

This fact shouldn't deter you from training and improving as much as you can. The journey is more important that the destination.

First of all, the guy above is not nearly as "informed" as he might like to think. VO2 max is one of the most misunderstood and relatively useless physiologic measures for distance running. I've run 30:27 and never been measured above 66, while xc skiiers might be in the mid-70s and unable to crack 35:00. A much more useful value would be pace at lactate threshold as that at least begins to factor in running efficiency (inefficiency can actually increase your VO2 max measurement).

But, getting to the OP's original question -- I'll agree with the majority who are saying that it's very difficult to predict what a high school runner will be capable of. The percentage who stick with it for 10 yrs after high school is quite low. My advice would be to pick a different goal that's more achievable in the short-term (ie 17:30 5K, 37:00 10K). You might eventually get to 30 min, but it won't be for years.

** FWIW, my high school 5 km PB was 16:20.

FVCK all the haters. Train your @$s off and don't stop until you get there. Run 120 miles a week. Do hard tempos. Run 30x400. Do it for the people who post on this board who can't.

Dude, 120 miles a week is a LOT for a 10K. Its even a lot for professional marathoners. Counting tapering and injuries, I doubt that most professional marathoners average 120/week.30X400. Yeah, right! More is not always better. For a 10K specialist, 90-100mpw should be good with a lot of quality.I thought that thread that asked whether a 15:30 5K required natural talent was crazy; people actually thought that a good percentage of average guys could attain that with perfect training. A 30 minute 10K is even more ludicrous. It takes a LOT of talent to do it. According to some performance tables that I've seen, a guy that runs a 16:25 5K has 1 in 1,689 talent. That is, out of 1,689 males at their peak physical ability, one can do a 16:25 5k. Even if you have the "talent" to not get injured and put in 100 mpw, you probably won't be able to run so fast. Look around at everybody near you--a lot just don't have the right body type and aerobic potential that a 30 minute 10K (heck even an 18 minute 5K0 would require.I think that almost any healthy 20-25 year old male could run a ....19 minute 5k with VERY IDEAL conditions.http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=34511275K Percentile Rarity (1 in ?? Men25:00 50 2 Average male in prime21:37 84 620:10 90.9 1119:30 97.22 3619:00 97.72 4418:40 97.959 49 Will often win age-group for 50 yr16:50 99.865 74116:25 99.9407 1689 Will win most local races15:45 99.9666 3,00015:08 99.9966 30,00014:25 99.9998 500,000 Top college runners13:50 99.999966 3,000,000 Top 50 in USSub 13 Top 15 in world 2009

yes wrote:

FVCK all the haters. Train your @$s off and don't stop until you get there. Run 120 miles a week. Do hard tempos. Run 30x400. Do it for the people who post on this board who can't.

Interesting post, bump.

Could anyone who has run sub-30 (or the equivalent) shares his progression?

Mediocre HS runner wrote:

Can ANYONE do a sub 30 minute 10k with proper training?

Oh yea, sure. I'd say ANYONE can do sub-28 for 10k with the proper training and just a bit of mental toughness.

Noco wrote:

Don't listen to this guy. I left high school with a 19:15 PR. It's been 2 1/2 years since then, only one of which was hard training and I just ran 1:10 in the half-marathon.

Get out , train hard and you'll surprise yourself

Dreams are nice, realistic dreams better.

Sub-30 is hard work + talent territory. While I don't disagree with giving it a go if motivated to do so, but not everyone who works hard will get sub-30 results.

What about sub33 or sub 35, are these times within "pure" hard work territory?

Good post. Surely, anyone who does some research ought to realize that well less than 1% of runners can break 30 for 10K!? Now, that's not proof that you cannot do it...but why do you think you are have that kind of luck? One must have extreme talent to pull it off and extreme talent is rare.

You don't have talent. You want people to tell you it's ok, talent don't matter, just run 150 mpw for 10 years and be the best you can be.

You will get disillusioned long before that. Have the maturity to realise that now. You will never run 10k in 30mins. That takes a rare talent and like most dedicated runners, never mind people, you don't have it

If you don't believe me, just check the data.

OP if you're still around, did you get your sub 30 in the end??

Anyone else have successful stories to inspire another mediocre HSer?

I'd be surprised if anyone could run an 8k under 30 minutes "without training" much less a 10k.

Definitely not everyone can run a 30min 10K. I agree with a previous poster that only about 1 in 1000 people can run a 30 min 10K. If it has taken you a lot of hard work to get down to an 18:15 5K at 17, a 30 min 10K is not in the cards for you. Maybe 33-34 10K some day with continued hard work over many years.

Why not go for the world record!

Ultradude wrote:

Definitely not everyone can run a 30min 10K. I agree with a previous poster that only about 1 in 1000 people can run a 30 min 10K. If it has taken you a lot of hard work to get down to an 18:15 5K at 17, a 30 min 10K is not in the cards for you. Maybe 33-34 10K some day with continued hard work over many years.

No, it's more like only 1 in 500000 can run a sub 30 10K.

Freakin ridiculous question

yeah anyone can do it,so yeah, the sub30 min 10k is just like you mom.

On the original question: It's pretty clear that not anyone can run a sub-30 10km.

This does require lots of talent, hard work, and good luck w.r.t. injuries and health.

I would guess around a 1/1000 people have the necessary talent, but that still leaves the hard work and good luck. Even with talent, a sub-30 10km doesn't come without years of training (and injury risk). So even for those who have the talent, it's not a given that you can do it, even if you do put your mind to it.

A few other points on the OP's post (now 7 years later, I wonder if he's still running and if he's gotten close?): I think it's worth pointing out that someone who can run a 18:15 5k on a cross-country track at age 17 has talent aplenty. Maybe not sub-30 10km talented, but still probably at least a 1/50 talent. That means you're in the 98th percentile. Pretty damn talented. Yeah, you'll encounter lots of people who are faster than you, but that's just because they're more freakishly talented than you are, not because you are "without any talent".

I run 55-60 mpw and have broken 14:30. Can I break 30 soon?