So Seth did a Tempo Run today. 16k at 3:33/k. That's 10s/k slower than Marathon pace, but at his current fitness(which is vastly overrated by his Strava Stans), I think we can call that a Tempo Run?
I don’t think Teg or Solinsky doped. Shelby does put a mark on the whole group, though, and as I recall there was some suspicious biological passport stuff going on with Jager…. But I am generally a believer that the group is by and large clean. They train at extreme levels and in the make or break world that is that group, the outliers who don’t get injured are going to have incredible success. That was Solinsky. What a season that one year.
He was a patient of Doc Brown at the time so idk what you think that is but I know most ppl here think that is
Chris Solinsky trained really freaking hard and he wasn't afraid to eat. One of the best articles ever on Letsrun by Jonathan Gault describing Solinsky's American record 10k and how he crushed Galen Rupp and shady Salazar includes this gem: "If you look back at some of my better moments in my running career, I actually had, the night before, an insatiable appetite,” Solinsky says.
Solinsky began with the gnocchi at Il Fornaio, an Italian restaurant in Palo Alto, but the portion was insultingly small. So when Solinsky showed up to Cold Stone Creamery, a pre-race tradition dating back to his Wisconsin days, for his usual order (vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cookie dough, white chocolate chips, and caramel), he ordered a “Gotta Have It” — the biggest size they had. That didn’t do the job either. Only after devouring the majority of a medium pizza from Little Caesars that he “split” with Bairu did Solinsky go to bed satisfied."
Only a LRC poster would describe this meal as the result of an insatiable appetite... To recap:
1. Small portion of gnoochi - basically a cup of pasta
2. A large ice cream - effectively a milk shake
3. half a medium pizza... - a cheap, cardboard brand pizza - medium...?
To me this looks like a typical night-before-a-race glycogen fill-up.
For a guy with a high cal-burn metabolism, and insatiable appetite would be more like: a large, whole pizza with topping, milkshake/ice cream, and then some kind of take-out/fast food.
You should watch your diet to lose weight leading up to a race but in the day or two before you toe the line, get a couple good meals in. I'm convinced (from my own experience and observations), that a lot of runners show up on race day woefully fueled. They've basically "bonk" shortly after the gun goes off - you can't run hard like this. If you're good with your diet and cutting weight, don't worry about an extra pound on race day - that's your gasoline!
True, but I really doubt he was ever 165 in his prime.
Wouldn't doubt if he was 10 lbs heavier. He was a tank. I have about the same size frame as him, lean but less muscular and weigh 175.
I wouldn't doubt if he was 5lbs lighter. It is basically impossible to guess weights off photos and who knows how/when that 165 number came from. Mottram and Ben True are pretty similar builds. There are a bunch of 5'10 guys in that 155 range.
They might not have the ideal body for running but they are close enough. Give him a smaller frame and maybe he is running 12:40 with his aerobic engine....
Not all weight is the same. That dude had big muscles in his legs. Which happens to be the heaviest muscle area. His upper body was a stick when he ran sub 27. He just had a rare genetic difference between his legs and upper body.
It's not just strength or just weight, but strength to weight ratio that counts. And it applies to sprinters as well as middle and long distance applications. CS was big, but very strong for his build. The visible proportions don't necessarily reveal the optional proportions as strength isn't as obvious as weight.
Plus, Solinsky is tough and can handle the pain along with his super engine.
There are plenty of very talented athletes who aren't tough or do not have the mental skillset to put together a fast performance. It's part of talent, just like durability.
I had a college teammate who was way better than me (He was a multi-time state medalist in mile/2-mile, also was in my high school conference. He ran 4:20/9:17, I ran 4:29/10:02) We both ran in Wisconsin when Solinsky was a frosh too... Anyway, I ended up running a faster mile than my teammate in NCAA because I just could work harder in practice and get closer to my limit in races. He didn't like the discomfort. We even had our VO2 max tested in college. (He was 80 and I was 72)
This happens all of the time.
Google "Asbel Kiprop" and then Google "Bernard Lagat"
Those athletes basically ran the same 1500m time. Lagat looks like the perfect human body for running fast, Kiprop looks like someone who has been suffering from famine and has no muscle.
Weight is irrelevant to performance. If you're training at a high level, your weight will be what it should be. You should not try to artificially change the number on the scale. Fitness is fitness, and who cares what you weigh. The number that matters is 26:59, not 165.
Weight is something that old school coaches would throw around because they were either sexist in their judgement of women's bodies, or as a way to avoid responsibility for an athlete's poor performances.
Moving larger and larger amounts of mass around and oval for extended periods at high speeds creates biological problems in terms of oxygen tension & bioenergetics that can't be overcome by your wishful thinking. To think otherwise reveals your stupidity. He was and still is a huge outlier weight-wise on the sub27 list. It matters. He had the right gifts to do thing at a weight Noone else could dream of (that and Jerry's special sauce).
That’s kinda my point though man. He ran 100+ miles per week, you ever see someone carry unnecessary weight after a few years training like that? His weight was what it needed to be for performance. If he’d tried to cut weight artificially to get down to some “magic number” that doesn’t exist, he would have underfueled and probably crashed out long before his sub-27. Training matters, not the number on the scale.
Weight is irrelevant to performance. If you're training at a high level, your weight will be what it should be. You should not try to artificially change the number on the scale. Fitness is fitness, and who cares what you weigh. The number that matters is 26:59, not 165.
Weight is something that old school coaches would throw around because they were either sexist in their judgement of women's bodies, or as a way to avoid responsibility for an athlete's poor performances.
Exactly. Don't understand why this is so hard to understand. A lambo beats a Civic any day of the week despite weighing more. You can try putting a lambo engine in a civic but 99% of the time it's breaking down without extensive modifications most people don't have time for.
Moving larger and larger amounts of mass around and oval for extended periods at high speeds creates biological problems in terms of oxygen tension & bioenergetics that can't be overcome by your wishful thinking. To think otherwise reveals your stupidity. He was and still is a huge outlier weight-wise on the sub27 list. It matters. He had the right gifts to do thing at a weight Noone else could dream of (that and Jerry's special sauce).
That’s kinda my point though man. He ran 100+ miles per week, you ever see someone carry unnecessary weight after a few years training like that? His weight was what it needed to be for performance. If he’d tried to cut weight artificially to get down to some “magic number” that doesn’t exist, he would have underfueled and probably crashed out long before his sub-27. Training matters, not the number on the scale.
so I'm a VERY similar build to solinsky. same frame height...and when I ran competitively, same weight (170). I sort of look like him too (srs).
I never felt heavy. Zero interest in losing any weight. I would do long runs and it just felt fantastic like I was gliding along.
I wouldn't have dreamed of losing weight. Sure I wasn't as good as Solinsky, but I never understood the obession with his weight, to me it made perfect sense why he ran that way at that weight.
I also NEVER got hurt ever.
being sub 150 (even 160) just never seemed like it was necessary or smart for me. I wish more runners understood this.
so I'm a VERY similar build to solinsky. same frame height...and when I ran competitively, same weight (170). I sort of look like him too (srs).
I never felt heavy. Zero interest in losing any weight. I would do long runs and it just felt fantastic like I was gliding along.
I wouldn't have dreamed of losing weight. Sure I wasn't as good as Solinsky, but I never understood the obession with his weight, to me it made perfect sense why he ran that way at that weight.
I also NEVER got hurt ever.
being sub 150 (even 160) just never seemed like it was necessary or smart for me. I wish more runners understood this.
No one is suggesting that a person with Solinsky's build should lose weight. When he was running at his peak, he was already as thin as he could be while maintaining optimal health.
The point being made is that weight is important in distance running.
Solinsky was the outlier (1 in 7 billion). Correct me if I'm wrong, but when he ran that sub-27, he was 8kgs heavier than any other person who'd ever achieved it.
I don't understand people who look at the exception and then draw the conclusion that that's the rule.
71 men have broken 27 minutes for 10,000m and every other runner was 65kgs or less (most were in the 55kg range).
The real champions - people who are in the discussion for GOAT - are those with huge engines stuffed into a tiny little body, e.g. Bekele, Gebrsellassie, Kipchoge, Cheptegei, etc.
The real champions - people who are in the discussion for GOAT - are those with huge engines stuffed into a tiny little body, e.g. Bekele, Gebrsellassie, Kipchoge, Cheptegei, etc.
Wrong. They don't have huge engines, they have the right sized engines to do the work, i.e. optimal power and efficiency.
Weight is irrelevant to performance. If you're training at a high level, your weight will be what it should be. You should not try to artificially change the number on the scale. Fitness is fitness, and who cares what you weigh. The number that matters is 26:59, not 165.
Weight is something that old school coaches would throw around because they were either sexist in their judgement of women's bodies, or as a way to avoid responsibility for an athlete's poor performances.
Garbage.
CS is the exception that proves the rule. Plus how tall was he. Extra 2 inches can add a lot of weight Also 5km is not a marathon
1.85 so 6 foot 1.5
How many Kenyans or esp Ethiopians are that tall? Mainly due to restricted die when younger.
You are right in one aspect lungs and heart are the most important thing for a distance runner. However, lugging round extra weight usually muscle in you arms or chest is clearly not helping. You need powerful thighs look at KB
The Culpepper thread reminded me that Alan Culpepper was 6'1" and 130 and he fit right in on the best team ever assembled. People weren't saying how thin he looked. He looked fast.
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