It’s just like any sport. A mix of talent and hard work is what creates greatness. A lack of either limits people to “pretty good”.
Most top runners have similar physiques whether it be muscle fiber composition, heart/lung size, leg length to body length ratio, limb muscle/tendon insertion points, waist to shoulder ratio, there’s even a trend in height ranges, and many top 5k-marathon athletes healthily hold low body weights that aren’t even achievable for average people.
Top distance runners typically have sub 50 second 400m speed, which is a mark that most people who train specifically for the 400m can’t ever break.
I have come to the conclusion that I have “decent/good” running genes, I was a middle pack D1 800/1500m guy. In college I ran 49.high 1:52, 4:12 and 8:39 in the 400/800/mile/3k. I’m a few years removed from college, and I took about 9 months off of running where I also went from 165 lbs to 210 lbs, about half of that being muscle and half of that being fat. I started running again and was immediately able to sustain 30-35 mpw, I ran a baseline 400m TT and a baseline 5k TT about 2 weeks into training where I ran 57 and 19:30. Within 6 months I ran 17:47 over 5k, 4:49 over the mile, and had gotten that 400m down to 54 in a time trial, all of this at about 190-195 lbs, nowhere near “runner” shape. Since running is very trendy right now, I see friends/influencers getting after it, and it seems sub 20:00 over 5k is the holy grail for most people, and lots of people see a sub 5:00 mile as godlike.
One of my old teammates, (who’s sibling is a Nike athlete) ran a sub 17:00 5k off of zero training this past thanksgiving, ran just under 14:00 in college, and ran around 15:00 in high school off of 25ish miles per week at a relatively weak program. He also ran a 1:07 half marathon off of a 4ish month 40-50 miles per week build. His pro brother in high school at the same weak program ran 2:00 flat, sub 4:30, and sub 10:00 in the 800/1600/3200 as a freshman.
Me and this teammate compared untrained vs trained Vo2Maxes (as per garmin), and my untrained Vo2Max was 59, with my highest ever recorded garmin Vo2Max at 71. His untrained was 65 and his highest ever recorded Vo2Max was 79. I see influencers on social media flexing Garmin Vo2Maxes of 50-60, with tons of comments asking how it’s even possible to get there.
All of this to say that genetics do play a big role in how good of a runner you are initially, and how high your ceiling is.
Mentally knowing your family was a bunch of good runners probably helps too
a confidence thing, derived from the whole “maybe I was born to do this, let’s give it a try”
Running is very physical and knowing, or thinking something, has no affect on physical limits. Was there something he knew when he ran 3:48, but forgot when he ran 3:52 against Hocker?
This post was edited 13 minutes after it was posted.
It seems to come as a surprise to many here that the best in the sport are naturally gifted and not simply highly trained.
The irony of this is that it's the same point *everyone* is making to you but it hasn't stopped you from casting aspertions (ad nauseum) that Ruthe can't possibly be this good because he hasn't been training long enough or with [what you consider] the requisite mileage.
It seems to come as a surprise to many here that the best in the sport are naturally gifted and not simply highly trained.
The irony of this is that it's the same point *everyone* is making to you but it hasn't stopped you from casting aspertions (ad nauseum) that Ruthe can't possibly be this good because he hasn't been training long enough or with [what you consider] the requisite mileage.
That isn't why I am sceptical about his performances. There are a bunch of reasons. But that isn't the topic of this thread. I simply make the observation that what he says he has experienced is typically a feature in those who are gifted. It doesn't make him more gifted or less gifted.
