If Lance was a runner how fast would he be?

Kaiser wrote:

Pg 50-53 of the July 2004 Runner's World

".........88 and 94 are extremely unlikely. If they are true, those are the two biggest underachievers in history........

Cross country skiers tends to have the highest results. Bjørn Dæhlie had 93 at his best and one of the best skiers in the 1980s had 91. These are the exremes though, but many of the other skiers are situaded in the high 80s.

As far as I know the resason for this is that cross country skiing compared to running, biking, rowing, canoing etc. uses both upper and lower body. Therefor the engine (heart and lungs) drives a bigger amount of work. The skiers train their engine whether they train lower body or upper body. Hence it is possible to increase their heart and lung capasity with less risk of injures because of the variation and wider use of the body.

More muscle used = higher Vo2max. What is Vo2max? Amount of O2 used by the WORKING MUSCLES. XC skiers will have the highest Vo2max because of the endurance disciplines they use the most muscle mass. Rowers I'd expect would also have a high Vo2max because of the arm movement. Cyclists can have Vo2max's just as high as runners but if you put a runner on a bike his Vo2max will be about 10% lower on the bike than on the treadmill because of a lack of training on the bike. What are the units of Vo2max? O2/kg/min. Chop off a few fingers, an ear, a couple toes, get a haircut, your Vo2max will go up....relative to body weight. Math is fun. Take the wt in kg and Vo2max of known elites, multiply the numbers and compare absolute Vo2max's. Fun stuff.

Alan

If Hulk Hogan was a marathon runner how fast would he be?

Kaiser wrote:

Pg 50-53 of the July 2004 Runner's World

"...Armstrong jackhammered oxygen into his legs at the astonishing rate of 83 millimeters per kilogram per minute.

This figure wouldn't mean much if it weren't for the pioneering research of famed running coach Jack Daniels..."

Daniels says in one of his books that Prefontaine has the highest VO2 max ever recorded, 84. Daniels goes on to say that he is suspect of recordings higher than 85.

88 and 94 are extremely unlikely. If they are true, those are the two biggest underachievers in history.

My understanding is that there are many different VO2 Max protocols. One's VO2 Max can depend on how your lab runs its tests.

Second I have also been told that in well trained athletes, a reduction in one's weight generally does not mean an increase in VO2 Max (presumably b/c one loses muscles that would "use" O2).

Can someone back me up on this?

He would easily be the first human to run a marathon under 2 hours!

The real question is; If Lance was clean would he even be able to ride a bicycle?

Under achievers? Pre at 84 with only a 13:20 5,000m PR, Kenny would blow that away with his 12:37.

how many times a month must we ask this stupid question?

Focus wrote:

He probably has the explosiveness to run a decent 50m, but beyond that I'd say he wouldn't be anything special.

50m? Surely you jest. Who else on this board believes that Lance could A) Be competitive at 50m and B) be better at 50m than at longer distances. I just don't see how someone could really believe that.

If my memory serves me, the afore mentioned 38 10K was while pushing his kid in a stroller.

Prefontaine was an under achiever. Do you think Pre reached his full potential?

What a stupid statement about Pre having the highest Vo2 max ever recorded... Maybe in early seventies and maybe only in North America... how many records from Europe had Daniels seen? From Africa, Asia? Get over the stupid Pre fame! Ingrid Kristiansen had Vo2 max over 80, and she is a female... In that view Pre sucks! Tons of xc skiers and swimmers have Vo2 max well in excess of 80ml/kg/min, and some of them even more than 90.

Lance is talented- for bike though. He is too heavy for any distance running. Even if he would loose much of his bulky leg muscles, he would be too heavy for any running. Nobody over 145lbs would run sub 2:07 marathon, period.

Armstrong found his niche, did his best to meet his potential and succeeded. Nobody asks if Jordan would be a great highjumper... who cares?

Lance was well on his way to being a world-class triathlete when he made the change to pro cycling. He was a very good swimmer and cyclist, obviously. Running off the bike is not really the same as running an open race, either--it's just different.

A better comparison is to like at Karen Thurig, Steve Larsen, and Chann McRae, pro cyclists who also raced multisport. Fo the three Thurig has been the most impressive: world TT champion and champion duathlete and triathlete. I did Ironman USA in 2000 when Larsen won it. That year he only trained about 15-20 miles/week on the run, yet he ran 2:55 on a hilly course after averaging 24+ mph on a hilly 112 mile bike course.

In my experience, running and cycling talents do not necessarily co-exist in many athletes. Great runners are often poor cyclists, and I've seen many a cyclist who couldn't run worth a crap.

AE

waz wrote:

If Hulk Hogan was a marathon runner how fast would he be?

Are you watching the Amazing Race 6? It is hilarious to watch that big wrestler dude do any kind of running/jogging.

His face gets all intense as he settles into his 9 min./mile pace like he's some kind of hero.

If Jordan were a highjumper, could he have cleared 7'?

I doubt it, but I'd give him the upper 6' range easily... He was dedicated and coordinated enough he might have gotten the form right.

:)