Gerry Lindgren opened up 10 mile training run with 4:08 mile

The post below from elsewhere reminded me of this thread:

"14 miles. 2 mile warm-up, 6 mile fartlek run (2min hard@4.20s-50s mile pace/1min easy@5.25-50s pace in 30:18-(5:03 average mile pace), last 6 moderate at 5.28-5.50 pace closing last two minutes at 4.40 pace...not gonna lie, that shit hurt."

How fast do you suppose this guy -- who apparently just soloed a 31:15 10K or so with very inefficient pacing and then kept going to another 6 miles at around 5:40 pace -- can run a marathon or half marathon? Don't these look like the splits of an elite runner, maybe 2:15 or faster?

This is one of the more easily believable things. It would be like me running a 10 miler with the first mile in 4:35 when I could run 4:30, and then continuing. I've not done a 10 miler that way, but I have done several 12 milers with last mile in 4:38. So he likes to go hard from the start, and I used to like to finish hard when I was able.

The solo 50-88 milers are believable too. Lots of ordinary ultra runners go that far, even in training. I used to do 140-145 mile weeks in singles, and I wasn't a very talented or very fast runner by letsrun.com standards. I just found out that my body had a good ability to adapt, and even at that mileage in singles, my body had more capability.

The 16:08 4 miler was likely a short course, but he ran it all out. I agree he is detached from reality in some claims, but I think some of his claims are true.

Lindgren claimed that he ran those ridiculously long runs at 7 min/mile pace. No ultra runners do that...

well.. wrote:

Lindgren claimed that he ran those ridiculously long runs at 7 min/mile pace. No ultra runners do that...

How many ultra runners do you know of that ran 8:40 2 mile in HS and 12:53 3 mile at 20 years old?

Zach Bitter just ran 100 miles at 7:04 pace. You don't think Lindgren could run for long periods of time at that pace?

some is believable wrote:

Zach Bitter just ran 100 miles at 7:04 pace. You don't think Lindgren could run for long periods of time at that pace?

Without eating or drinking water, while getting shot at by the Spokane PD, and in the middle of a 350-mile week? Probably not, no.

And Bitter's performance, while extremely admirable, was accomplished on a track. More importantly there were witnesses and timers.

well.. wrote:

Lindgren claimed that he ran those ridiculously long runs at 7 min/mile pace. No ultra runners do that...

Unless he said 7:00 pace from start to finish, or if that pace was calculated from run time divided by distance, it's an approximation - closer to 7:00 than 8:00, more of the running time near 7 min/mile than 8 min/mile. 7 min/mile is not exactly precise with one significant digit.

A couple of things:

I've defended Gerry on many occasions. In talking with the man, I never heard him discuss things that I would consider impossible. Has he said some of those things in public? Yes. I'm not sure of the intent or the context.

The point is, the man was an exceptional runner who did things in training that no one had done before him. In talking with those that did run with him and train with him, I would have to believe that Gerry would have shattered any ultra records kept at the time.

Those that bring up his family are the real sickos. You question his stories, point fingers and cast stones and yet claim that stories in the bible are true. How hypocritical can you possibly be?

How many ran with Chronographs or stopwatches in 1968-72? More likely he had a regular watch and the times could be slightly off. The man was a beast.

50 years ago he was a good runner. Big deal. Since then he has told one tall tale after another. He is a huge bore.

it may have happened wrote:

Gold = wrote:

Look at all the other things he says; running 300 miles a week, having been en route to a sub-2 hour marathon before he decided to quit a few miles before the finish line. .

Some lady just ran 300 miles in 3 days. What proof do you have that he couldn't run 4:34 pace for 90 minutes?

I ran 400 miles last week. What proof do you have that I didn't?

Considering that his 3000m PR is 7:58 and his 2 mile PR is 8:34, which are both around 4:16 mile pace, it's safe to assume that he's full of sh*t.

well.. wrote:

Lindgren claimed that he ran those ridiculously long runs at 7 min/mile pace. No ultra runners do that...

I totally believe he could do this. Why not?

If no ultra runners are doing that now, just wait until the current crop of marathoners move up because of the large amount of EASY money available at the ultra level (sponsors, book deals, etc...).

K. Goucher has hinted at doing ultras. I'm sure she could do 7min pace and set records if the pace isn't that fast yet.

Five Knuckle Shuffle wrote:

Without eating or drinking water,

Dude, he has said he packed lunch in a paper bag so he had something to eat when he got hungry. When I was in high school, I ran 12 miles to another town, stopped and had an ice cream cone and ran 12 miles back. I probably ran close to 7 minute pace while I was running and I was a 10 minute 2 miler. Doubtful he was talking about total time, just the pace when he was actually running.

Lindgren could run 4:35 pace for 10k. You don't think 7 pace would be ridiculously easy for him?

shuffle walk wrote:

Lindgren could run 4:35 pace for 10k. You don't think 7 pace would be ridiculously easy for him?

I wouldn't be surprised at all if he covered 50 miles at or below 7:00 pace, or even 70 miles, based on his known drive and ability. But there's also his known flair for prevarication/confabulation and that detracts from the credibility of anything he says that cannot be corroborated. Gerry should know more than anyone else that if you don't do it in a race, nobody gives a shit, and even if they do it doesn't matter much.

ray wrote:

A couple of things:

Those that bring up his family are the real sickos. You question his stories, point fingers and cast stones and yet claim that stories in the bible are true. How hypocritical can you possibly be?

-------------------

Hmmmm Who is the sicko again?

Mr Lindgren has recently found out that court-ordered child support has no statute of limitations.

And he is still running ....

ray wrote:

A couple of things:

I've defended Gerry on many occasions. In talking with the man, I never heard him discuss things that I would consider impossible. Has he said some of those things in public? Yes. I'm not sure of the intent or the context.

The point is, the man was an exceptional runner who did things in training that no one had done before him. In talking with those that did run with him and train with him, I would have to believe that Gerry would have shattered any ultra records kept at the time.

Those that bring up his family are the real sickos. You question his stories, point fingers and cast stones and yet claim that stories in the bible are true. How hypocritical can you possibly be?

I'm not ready to start handing all the hypothetical ultra records to Gerry. Obviously in some sense, yes, he was better equipped than your average jogger to run a good ultra, but his claims are so filled with lies, who knows what to believe? I'm not convinced he ever ran 50 miles in his life. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. He doesn't even have credit for any official marathon finishes as far as I can tell, or if he does, they were completely unremarkable times. He has a couple of imaginary 2-hour marathon near-misses that didn't actually happen. What is his marathon PR? Maybe he never even finished one.

The point is, what we know about him is that he was good at distances up to 10k. Beyond that we have a bunch of tall tales. Just because he said he ran 350 miles a week, doesn't mean we should say, well, he may have exaggerated a bit, but I bet he did at least 280, and if he said he did 80 mile long runs, he probably did at least 60. If I say I high-jumped 11 feet, obviously it's not true, but it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm at least a pretty good high-jumper who must be capable of 6'6" or more. And then people always counter, yeah, but he ran 8:40 for 2 miles indoors in HS!....Great! But his best track times were 12:53 for 3 miles and 27:11 for 6 miles, so just a B-level pro by today's standards. No extraordinary ultra-running ability required for that.

Kubla Khan wrote:

..Great! But his best track times were 12:53 for 3 miles and 27:11 for 6 miles, so just a B-level pro by today's standards. .

That 12:53 is just a couple seconds off the current American record in the 3 mile.

Except for the fact that several guys have went through three miles WAY faster....

Lindgren doing ultras at 7min wrote:

well.. wrote:

Lindgren claimed that he ran those ridiculously long runs at 7 min/mile pace. No ultra runners do that...

I totally believe he could do this. Why not?

If no ultra runners are doing that now, just wait until the current crop of marathoners move up because of the large amount of EASY money available at the ultra level (sponsors, book deals, etc...).

K. Goucher has hinted at doing ultras. I'm sure she could do 7min pace and set records if the pace isn't that fast yet.

To run it in an ultra race is one thing, to do it while doing high mileage is something completely different.