I hear he got himself a good running coach now and improved his times quite a bit, but why did he suck in the first place? There are so many stories of other-sport-athletes who enter a 5k and at least run a sub 20 5k (often times a lot faster than that) off absolutely zero running and yet here is this guy with this unearthly engine and strength (who probably did at least run once or twice a week) and he probably wasn't even able to run a 6min mile!?
What's the (physiological) reason for that?
First, he does not have this "unearthly engine and strength".
Second, he's not really that talented, he's just in a sport that has no other talent in it.
Third, he didn't train to run quickly, he trained to lift.
I suspect there are guys who can run a good 5k who suck at crossfit. Apples and oranges. Running has little to do with his "sport".
it's a sad story, man
about ~16min potential does not "suck" in my book for a 200 lbs guy. You have to keep in mind that in pretty much all other Crossfit disciplines, he was considered world class.
The other guy! wrote:
about ~16min potential does not "suck" in my book for a 200 lbs guy. You have to keep in mind that in pretty much all other Crossfit disciplines, he was considered world class.
how do you calculate that potential?
Eugenius wrote:
The other guy! wrote:about ~16min potential does not "suck" in my book for a 200 lbs guy. You have to keep in mind that in pretty much all other Crossfit disciplines, he was considered world class.
how do you calculate that potential?
xfit-guy said it
The hot dog king of Chicago?
why does kiprop absolutely suck at doing dead lifts? see how that works?
Because he participates in a high-aerobic sport and deadlifting has nothing to do with that. I think crossfitters have a terribly underdeveloped aerobic system as they never go long and steady with a low heart rate. Everything is either pure strength or >80%max HR.
Rowers, bikers, swimmers, xc skiers who never run still have an extremally developed aerobic system. So it's not surprising that they will do well in a 5k
That's "Sausage King" to you sir.
elephino wrote:
I suspect there are guys who can run a good 5k who suck at crossfit. Apples and oranges. Running has little to do with his "sport".
dan bailey is a 47.xx 400m runner in cross fit. i would say that's talent.
also (not really defending cross fit) but you should watch it sometime, does take some talent... they had a 3x2 mile relay one year and each team 6 members and 2 of them ran two miles each, but they had to be together the whole time. top team finished in 11:40 for 2 miles. not bad for guys that big.
I got to watch him run at Nationals when my company sent me out there to do some market research. My takeaway was that he's a bit midget-like in build, so he has very short legs (great for squats, etc.) but he doesn't produce any elasticity and/or power in his stride.
He could probably get under 23:00 for 5K, but not much more under that. He just doesn't have that fluidity that some other x-fitters have but he won that year so running didn't matter.
The other guy! wrote:
about ~16min potential does not "suck" in my book for a 200 lbs guy. You have to keep in mind that in pretty much all other Crossfit disciplines, he was considered world class.
His PR is about 22:13. Please don't throw out phony numbers.
efwcewcv wrote:
elephino wrote:I suspect there are guys who can run a good 5k who suck at crossfit. Apples and oranges. Running has little to do with his "sport".
dan bailey is a 47.xx 400m runner in cross fit. i would say that's talent.
also (not really defending cross fit) but you should watch it sometime, does take some talent... they had a 3x2 mile relay one year and each team 6 members and 2 of them ran two miles each, but they had to be together the whole time. top team finished in 11:40 for 2 miles. not bad for guys that big.
47.83. That is over 4.5 seconds off the world record and roughly 3 seconds away from elite.
47.83 is faster than the majority of people, but I don't think it shows that cross fit is loaded with talent, when the fastest former sprinter you can find to point to was slower than the women's world record.
And to answer the question about Rich Froning being so terrible at running:
Froning is disproportionately bad at running compared to lifting because he has very short limbs. This makes the lifts much easier if they are based on a percentage of body weight. It also isn't very unhelpful in running.
He also clearly works only on raw strength and some anaerobic conditioning, with very little aerobic conditioning. That is basically the way crossfit is set up, both as a workout plan, and also in the competitions. He looks what where he thinks he can get the most possible points and then sets up his workout plan accordingly.
Its the same reason decathletes don't gain 40 pounds of muscle so they can dominate in the shotput and discus. They may make more points in that event if they did that, but they would suffer in most of the other events as a result.
Froning sucks at running for two reasons: 1) he does not need a fast 5k to win lots of money at crossfit competitions, he just needs to be very good at power lifting for time and 2) crossfit does not make you into a fast distance runner. His legs are not short. He has a very average body frame. If he did not spend all day power lifting, he would probably be built like Nick Symmonds. He could probably get down to 16 min 5k if he quit crossfit and trained like a distance runner for a few years. But as long as he is overloaded with muscle and spends all his time doing short bursts of power lifting, he is not going to be a fast distance runner. Specificity matters big time in training.
Precious Roy wrote:
Froning sucks at running for two reasons: 1) he does not need a fast 5k to win lots of money at crossfit competitions, he just needs to be very good at power lifting for time and 2) crossfit does not make you into a fast distance runner. His legs are not short. He has a very average body frame. If he did not spend all day power lifting, he would probably be built like Nick Symmonds. He could probably get down to 16 min 5k if he quit crossfit and trained like a distance runner for a few years. But as long as he is overloaded with muscle and spends all his time doing short bursts of power lifting, he is not going to be a fast distance runner. Specificity matters big time in training.
So, you are saying he could improve 6 minutes by losing weight and having a more approach to running. Not any Joe Schmo can run 16:00. I ran with guys who ran every day but one guy only ran 16:20, another 18:30, another 17:20, and so on and so on. And they often trained with me who was much faster. Froning tops out around 18:00 on my book.
Sally Vixxx wrote:
His PR is about 22:13. Please don't throw out phony numbers.
Moron, you pulled that number out of your a&&. Froning could probably run 17:xx any time of the year and with specific training he should be able to dip into the 15's. You can't deny the ridiculous amount of talent he has.
XFIT BRO THE REAL ONE 1 wrote:
Sally Vixxx wrote:His PR is about 22:13. Please don't throw out phony numbers.
Moron, you pulled that number out of your a&&. Froning could probably run 17:xx any time of the year and with specific training he should be able to dip into the 15's. You can't deny the ridiculous amount of talent he has.
That was his PR 2 years ago. I deal with what you have actually done, not what one guy could "probably" do.
Froning would be faster if he weren't so SCRAWNY and WEAK. PATHETIC.
RIP: D3 All-American Frank Csorba - who ran 13:56 in March - dead
RENATO can you talk about the preparation of Emile Cairess 2:06
Running for Bowerman Track Club used to be cool now its embarrassing
Great interview with Steve Cram - says Jakob has no chance of WRs this year
Hats off to my dad. He just ran a 1:42 Half Marathon and turns 75 in 2 months!
2017 World 800 champ Pierre-Ambroise Bosse banned 1 year for whereabouts failures