Most elite runners are savants/ super responders. Read most of their bios and it will read very similarly:
"I was playing (insert different sport) and I decided to go out for track/cross country with a friend of mine. That season I qualified for state, the next year I won and ran (insert national prestigious meet) and did well... I went on to run for NAU/OR/OkSt/Wisc/NcSt/ then signed my pro deal."
They were doing the same workouts as their HS teammates, they we putting in the same mileage, they just responded in amazing ways.
Most elite runners are savants/ super responders. Read most of their bios and it will read very similarly:
"I was playing (insert different sport) and I decided to go out for track/cross country with a friend of mine. That season I qualified for state, the next year I won and ran (insert national prestigious meet) and did well... I went on to run for NAU/OR/OkSt/Wisc/NcSt/ then signed my pro deal."
They were doing the same workouts as their HS teammates, they we putting in the same mileage, they just responded in amazing ways.
I think most high school running protegies are savants if you think of the term as someone having exceptional talent or aptitude in a particular area. They are just endowed with greater aerobic capacity than their peers.
No. A savant is someone who is brilliant at something. Being far below average at other aspects of life is not a part of being a savant.
An "idiot savant" is also a thing, but that isn't what the OP said.
Well, you don't know the definition of "liar" then despite it being in your handle.
If I were a "liar" I would have intentionally told an untruth. I assumed the OP meant "idiot savant" when, as you pointed out, he/she might not have meant that. That makes me "an assumer" or "a mistake maker." But I am not a liar.
Most elite runners are savants/ super responders...
Yes! Lauren Fleshman's husband Jesse Thomas transitioned from D1 runner to pro triathlete. He just needed to learn how to swim competitively.
He once said, "being new to swimming was difficult for me, so I joined a team where I was put in a lane with other beginners: young teens and children. In the beginning they were all faster than me. I needed to get closer to elite level in the water and I knew that was going to be a long, long road. I worked as hard as I could, and to be honest, athletically speaking, it was the hardest six weeks of my life."
The fact that he learned to swim at an elite level in six weeks tells you everything about who he is (Pac-12 steeple champion who could also dunk a basketball). He's a "high responder." He is a Savant!
p.s. Salazar also once told a story how he went to watch his older brother race in XC and though he had never run before, he "ran along side the varsity boys race so he could cheer for his brother who was in the lead." Yep, most of us couldn't just run alongside cheering the while we were in middle school!
Great runners neither work harder nor endure more pain, they just have much better form, and that's 100% a mental thing.
Have you seen Conner Mantz run?
Extreme forefoot striker, but not bad form unless you're somehow prejudiced about that.
Also talking about GREAT runners here.
Running mechanics needs extreme precision to be efficient. It's like hitting a ping pong ball 3 to 5 times a second at the perfect angle and force. It doesn't matter what it looks like, only matters what happens at the point of contact.
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