Why am I slower than other people who don't train as hard?

Every other no talent says the same thing.

But how do you know their rests aren't the right amount of time for you?

jayz wrote:

Is it just pure talent?

That's one factor. Another factor is high schoolers' bodies mature at different paces which exaggerates the differences even more. Some guys who were faster than I was in high school, but I caught up to them in college. Another is that you have to train SMART and not just HARD. And then of course there is the mental aspect in racing and often the people trying to hard in practice leave themselves flat when it comes to racing.

How hard are you running those 400's with only 30 seconds

recovery?

Every other talented person says the same thing

The workout was 3 sets of 4x400m with 30 second rest between intervals with a 400m jog between sets. Pace was 5k pace pace for 400 minus 3 seconds so about 87 seconds. My 5k time is 18:54

The workout was 3 sets of 4x400m with 30 second rest between intervals with a 400m jog between sets. Pace was 5k pace pace for 400 minus 3 seconds so about 87 seconds. My 5k time is 18:54

The workout was 3 sets of 4x400m with 30 second rest between intervals with a 400m jog between sets. Pace was 5k pace pace for 400 minus 3 seconds so about 87 seconds. My 5k time is 18:54

How fast were the fast guys doing them?

As at various times in my life I had been a 20-30 mpw (in high school and around when i turned 30) and i guess 30-40 mpw (the summer after high school), as well as 40-60 nowadays, speaking purely from experience the mileage is more money in the bank than an avenue for immediate results.

i recall after several months of higher mileage i did not see substantial improvement until all of a sudden i noticed that my threshold workouts were becoming simultaneously easier aerobically and faster. but it took nearly a year. especially in the shorter distances like the 5k even now the improvement is not drastic (20 s/mile in the 5k?), but as distances increase the speed endurance gained becomes more apparent.

If i were a teenager again, i would focus on developing my aerobic base irrespective of results.

Don't train hard, train smart.

I have asked myself the same thing after getting 40th place in a race, then I realized:

I don't know how hard they are training.

It just seems hard to imagine all that many people giving it more than I am but I don't actually know. I have to think everyone on the board has thought that!

This is so true--excellent advice. My experience has been very similar, especially in regard to the rewards being more noticeable as the distances increase.

I train hard AND smart, I know some people who don't train hard or smart and are still faster

Why do these types of threads keep popping up? There are genetic differences between every individual. There is a reason not everyone runs 12:37 for the 5K.

30 second rests are too short at your fitness level at that pace. 60 second rests are closer. You may be overtrained for your level right now. Your lazier teammates are doing the workout correctly.

Talent is the most probable explanation. It is by far the biggest factor influencing performance.

jjjjjjjjj wrote:

30 second rests are too short at your fitness level at that pace. 60 second rests are closer. You may be overtrained for your level right now. Your lazier teammates are doing the workout correctly.

You are a hardcore idiot. There is no known "correct" way to do a workout, only a conventional way. It's idiotic to say that a rest interval could be too short in light of the fact that the race itself is continuous.

Talking about mileage with no regard for pace makes no sense. Running 50 mpw all at 7-8 minute pace is different than 30 mpw with a variety of moderate, easy, progression, and recovery paces. Only doing junk mileage might be your issue. Maybe you'll respond to more quality.

Talent is a thing but it's overrated. Train smarter. Train faster and not just more. If your training isn't working, mix it up.

It's just like how jayz is terrible compared to Nas even though Nas barely even produces music these days and jayz does.