How can elites run 26.2 miles at well under 5 pace and I struggle to run one at that?

I was especially surprised by the fact that Wesley Korir was **singing** at 5-minute pace. For me 5-minute pace is pretty close to an all-out sprint that I can pretty much only hang onto for 400-600 meters. At 8-minute pace, I am marginally able to hold a simple conversation. I would probably have to run about 12-minute pace or so to sing, although I have not really tried to combine singing with running.

I agree with the poster mentioning that there is an extreme bell curve in any discipline, and it is definitely still easier for me to comprehend the concept of someone running a 2:10 marathon (My half-marathon PR is 1:39 and if a ran a marathon, I would probably run about a 3:25 -3:30 marathon) than to comprehend a 29 foot long jump (I can only jump 12 ft)

It's because 5 minutes for a mile is really slow. Considering that little trained middle schoolers and JV runners run 5 minutes all the time, it's not too far fetched that the best in the world training very seriously can run 26 5 minute miles or faster in a row.

I ran 16:43 for 5K after 10 days of training, running 7 miles/day in the first 3 days, then going up to 10 a day in the next week. To be fair, I had already run 2:00 for 800 at this point, but hadn't trained at all in the 3 months between these times. Also ran 51.X on 4x4 and 2:00 in 800 off of 2 weeks of pure speed without base.

Jacking aaas wrote:Too bad this sport doesn't really impress the ladies. That's what my other hobby ( motorcycles) is for.

Let me guess, you have a nice chromed-out Hayabusa or a Harley with ape hangers, which you ride 500 miles a year, and you think you're hot shit?

I race motorcycles, and like with running, while I am certainly significantly better than average, the fast guys beat me by margins that are almost impossible to comprehend.

I can also attest to the fact that people (girls or men) do not give a crap about my motorcycle hobby any more than the give a crap about my running hobby. In general, reasonable people aren't impressed the the fact that you participate in certain things, they are impressed by the type of person you are or are not.

In general, reasonable people aren't impressed the the fact that you participate in certain things, they are impressed by the type of person you are or are not.

I dunno if they are "reasonable" but most single women I meet are impressed by the large size of my........checking account

Jacking aaas: "Friend of mine never exercised in his life wanted to get into working out so I brought him to my gym. He pressed 245 easily the first time he ever touched a barbell."

Absolute bullcrap, unless he weighed 200-300 lbs and was doing something like military circuit training for years, or tons of pushups with a big guy sitting on his back, using blocks--in which case doing 245 would be unremarkable.

"Some old lady and a fat guy ran a sub-38 10k, with a sprint finish"

Absolute bullcrap, it speaks for itself, unless all the description is pure hyperbole.

"Trust me when I tell you I do not work even close to 1/3 as much as the serious dudes in the club." "I just have to go thru a few motions to be able to do what most people around here will never achieve at any amount of effort."

lol, the Ubermensch.

"Trust me" ROTFLMAO

Good post, funny stuff!

cool story bro? wrote:

I ran 16:43 for 5K after 10 days of training, running 7 miles/day in the first 3 days, then going up to 10 a day in the next week. To be fair, I had already run 2:00 for 800 at this point, but hadn't trained at all in the 3 months between these times. Also ran 51.X on 4x4 and 2:00 in 800 off of 2 weeks of pure speed without base.

Cool story bro...

Yes, very few "old" women can run a sub-38 10K, unless a woman under 40 would be considered "old" The world record for a 55 year old woman is 37:09.27.

A slightly overweight guy with a very muscular build **might** be able to run a 37 minute 5k. (ie say a 6ft tall guy who weighs 200 lbs).. However, at a large Boston-area race last winter, no men who identified themselves as weighing 210+ pounds were able to break 20 minutes for a 5k (few clydesdales could even break 22 min for a 5k), and only one man identifying himself weighing 190-210 lbs was able to break 20 minutes for a 5k (he ran 17:26 which is equivalent to 36:09.4. And a 190-210 lb man may very well not be overweight if he is tall enough.

I thought I was pretty cool when I broke 5 minutes as a sophomore in high school. Until I realized two kids in the next town were freshman who could run 10:00 for two miles.

They are elite and you will never be....it's not real complicated.

In my opinion it comes down to two things

Most importantly, you have to have the body type and the natural ability. That knocks out about 90% of the population from being able to run 1 sub 5 min mile.

Now for those 10% of the general population who have the potential for running 1 sub 5 min mile, I would guess only about 2 or 3% have actually done it in their life so we are now narrowed down to 2% of the general population (talking both male and female) who have run 1 sub 5 minute mile.

Now for those 2% who can run 1 sub 5 minute mile, with enough patients, a lot of hard work, and a little bit of luck, they can get to a 10k at sub 5 pace with a lot of hard work. Now we are prob at about .05-.01% of the population who has run a sub 30 6 mile.

This is as far as I have gotten and from there I have no idea how you do 26.2 miles at sub 30 10k pace, Any elite marathoners here wanna share?

how is it possible? wrote:

5 minutes for one mile feels so fast for me. I don't understand how another human can run 26 miles, with ease, at that pace. How can they possible be THAT much more talented? As humans, we are not yet thaaat evolved to start seeing such huge difference based on region and race.

Its not yor bag that's why Baby.

Its not about working hard, its like being tall or short. Some people have it. Most don't.

I am sure there is something you do that's better than them. Its just not running longer distances.

The we=orld really only differntiates in a narrow field. For example, IQ tests in math and english. Maybe your talent is one of the minor god like skills.

There is a serious disconnect between marathon times and shorter distances.

I seriously doubt Ryan could break 4 when he was at his best in the marathon but he was able to run only ~33 seconds per mile slower during his best Half. How is that possible?

This shows we can crank our aerobic capacity/efficiency so high that it can make up for lack of speed to an extent.

Thus - run HIGH MILEAGE AND DO SPRINT WORK

Dixon was better. That's why....

And you are female, so you'd be better off comparing yourself to the top female marathoners.

If you had to work for years to break 25 for 5 miles, you had almost no shot at a 2:11 marathon. These are the brutal hard facts. No amount of training will make up for a lack of genetics. Those who break a 4:00 mile show that talent almost immediately (like running a 51sec 400 in HS). Those who run 2:11 marathons take more time via training, but will show that talent after a relatively short time of good aerobic training. Brian Sell is a wild outlier in his early race times, and most likely he was grossly under trained.

toro wrote:

It's amazing what you can condition yourself to do.

As a freshman in college, I could not understand how these guys could hold sub 5 pace for 5 miles.

And then I eventually did it myself.

Still don't know how I did that.

26 miles is pretty crazy but establishing good efficiencies is the main thing.

loofler wrote:

I thought I was pretty cool when I broke 5 minutes as a sophomore in high school. Until I realized two kids in the next town were freshman who could run 10:00 for two miles.

I had a similar experience in high school. Humbling experience. In fact, maybe the one thing that I really excel at is being satisfied with life near the middle of the bell curve. I suppose there are a few things where I am outside the norm by one or even two standard deviations, but none of those can be denoted by an objective measurement.

otter wrote:

Because of this wrote:

They can run 26miles at 5 minute pace because they can run 1 mile at sub 4 pace

Not true for most. I remember when Rod Dixon for years was the only one that had the claim of someone who had broken 2:10 and 4 minutes.

Although it would be hard for me to believe that all of these sub 2:05 guys would not be able to do it.

Maybe not true for most, but if you merely change premise from "sub-4" to "sub-4:10" then it becomes true.