"The fastest people I know all have these three things in common: ..., ..., ..."

bearer of bad news wrote:

so intelligent people are less likely to party/drink/smoke? what do you base that on? Have you ever been to a top 10 school? Those kids can party like the best of them. How many intelligent people do you know that don't party/drink/smoke?

which training approaches are you saying have the highest probability of yielding optimal results?

Yes, in fact I do go to a top 10 school. Everyone there is more intelligent than average, but the trend I've noticed is that those with GPA's closer to 4.0 tend to drink, smoke, and take drugs less. They make better decisions. (I'm removing the "party" qualifier as on second thought there are ways to party that do not interfere with training).

I know what you're going to say -- a high GPA does not imply intelligence. But it DOES correlate with it (there is an upward trend), much as IQ does.

I never specified what training approaches yield optimal results. I was saying that those who tend to focus more on their training are better at finding these approaches than those who do not.

1) talent, they all have a natural ability that seems to be super human

2) erratic work out schedules. they all seem to go from running 100 miles a week to taking 4 days off then 80 miles the next week.

3) they all started running in HS or later.

Seriously though wrote:

Actually there have been many studies done relating high IQ's and increased drug usage. So basically the opposite of what your are saying. I don't have a source but if you really need one I could dig it up, pretty sure one of them was from CNN.

Yes, I need a source from a reputable, well-known university to believe you.

West African heritage

use PEDs

train hard

combined these can lead to sub-9.7 100 meter times.

Name one runner in the top 40 from NCAA XC Championships that lives this lifestyle? Runners who are not in the top 40 aren't considered fast. The "fast" runners take running seriously.[/quote]

here's the thing, my statement was actually based off of 3 runners i know closely that finished in the top 50 at nationals this year. however i am not going to publicly announce their names, as that would just be disrespectful. they dont need crazy letsrunners all up in their business.

heres the deal yo wrote:

Name one runner in the top 40 from NCAA XC Championships that lives this lifestyle? Runners who are not in the top 40 aren't considered fast. The "fast" runners take running seriously.

here's the thing, my statement was actually based off of 3 runners i know closely that finished in the top 50 at nationals this year. however i am not going to publicly announce their names, as that would just be disrespectful. they dont need crazy letsrunners all up in their business.[/quote]

They did not smoke weed and party all the time. You are making this up.

I may be wrong here, but haven't AJ Acosta and Nick Symmonds been known to pound the brews? I'd imagine they cut back during their competitive season, but they party hard and they're notably fast, Symmonds especially.

Oh and what about Sammy Wanjiru,, Bolt, and Pre? They were all partiers, right? Granted Bolt's cleaning up his act and things didn't end to well for Pre and Sammy.

Its not too crazy to think that a decent amount of fast people ate living it up.

Quenten sure pounded back the beers. Bruce was a little worried and thought he may have been self-medicating a bi-polar disorder.

From a master's POV: all of the runners I know are either into marathoning or cross-country. What the fastest ones have in common:

- no children, or at least none living at home

- obsessed with training

- eccentric personalities

A left testicle, a right testicle and a spacer between them.

An ashtray, a remote control, a paddle game, and a magazine, and a chair.

cocky

consistent

tough

Seriously though wrote:

I don't have a source but if you really need one I could dig it up, pretty sure one of them was from CNN.

CNN is not an acceptable source. They did not conduct the research. They cite someone else's work and sensationalize it to attract viewers.

so true

in this order:

single-mindedness,

willingness to suffer,

genetic predisposition.

of course, little of the above will matter without:

good coaching,

family and/or friends' support,

good teammates,

good diet,

and if in college, academic strength and/or support.

the best examples i've seen personally of "has it all" (as best as i could tell, anyway):

carl lewis and bob kennedy.

Lean build

Sense of humor

Tough as nails

Does most work in a power point format

Afraid of drowning in a tub of spiders

high armpit hair to nipple hair ratio

Incredibly fast naturally (even without training)

Fiercely competitive

Listens to their coach and follows the plan

The fastest runner on my mediocre DI team(top finisher for XC up until conference and school record holder at 800m) drank more nights a week than anyone else on our team, never stretched or iced, and ran slow as shit on most of our recovery days. Would also claim to be cross training and sit on the stationary bike for a half hour or take off. Has never been injured. Some people just have the talent and some don't.