Simply saying "false dichotomy" without explaining how is meaningless but I'm not really interested in what you'd say. What I'm going to try to make my final comment here is this. When some little douchebag with a barely mediocre performance comes here and not only brags that he managed to become mediocre with almost no effort then goes on to insult people who really care about the sport and their performances I may or may not be in a mood to ignore him. This time I was in a mood not to. Now I sort of regret not ignoring him because I'm caught up with people like you.
The para above is decrying just that in which it is indulging.
So when I see people here talking about how it's impossible for them to run 100 mile weeks or something similar I recall once thinking the same thing about myself and only learning that it was not at all impossible but also enjoyable and productive by trying to do it.
The part in bold is that with which some of us disagree, as there are more efficient ways to get mental strength or confidence for doing just about anything than running 100 mpw (except for the very goal of running long distances fast).
100 MPW is about 12 hours total time. That's not much time for a hobby.
I wonder about the ironman hobbyists putting in 40 hours a week just to have a shot of making Kona. But whatever who cares. People don't even bat an eyelash at someone playing fortnight 40 hours a week.
Um 100 MPW is 12 hrs at 7 min mile pace. So sure for a sub 2:30 marathon runner or 15:00 min 5k runner, yeah its 12 hrs. But for a typical "hobby" jogger, at 9min mile pace (which is the easy pace of an 18 min 5k runner / 3 hr marathon runner) you are looking at 15 hrs a week, which is more than 2hrs per day with no days off. Thats quite some hobby.
100 MPW is about 12 hours total time. That's not much time for a hobby.
I wonder about the ironman hobbyists putting in 40 hours a week just to have a shot of making Kona. But whatever who cares. People don't even bat an eyelash at someone playing fortnight 40 hours a week.
Um 100 MPW is 12 hrs at 7 min mile pace. So sure for a sub 2:30 marathon runner or 15:00 min 5k runner, yeah its 12 hrs. But for a typical "hobby" jogger, at 9min mile pace (which is the easy pace of an 18 min 5k runner / 3 hr marathon runner) you are looking at 15 hrs a week, which is more than 2hrs per day with no days off. Thats quite some hobby.
2+ hours/day every day of just about any planned activity except sleep would feel like “work” to me, even sex or eating.
16:00 is not fast. It's pretty bad actually. There's literally thousands of 15-17 year olds doing that of very little mileage. I actually knew a 43 year old who ran 15:54 off of 40 miles per week. It's just objectively not good.
If you can't break 16 in high school, you shouldn't waste your time, by your logic, trying to run in college.
Nonsense. In the grand scheme of things, it is fast, as very, very few people will ever run that time.
The freaks on here will say anything to justify their argument.
Dedicating that much time to running when you are earning no money from it indicates a high level of neurosis.
If you are, say, 32 years old and devoting all that time to running at the expense of other things like a job, family, etc, then I could agree with you. But if you are merely college age or just post college and trying to be the best runner you possibly can be, I’d say 100 mpw is the bare minimum to reach your potential.
And, really it’s not 100 mpw but, rather, two hours per day. That’s what the elite athletes do. I remember old school Mark Nenow running two hours per day in doubles, including a long run on Sunday, but he ran everything at like 6:00 per mile or faster because he got so dang fit. So like 140-150 mpw.
Personally, and I’ve always given this advice… I would encourage elite runners with bigger ambitions to explore this kind of running after college through one Olympic cycle. So like age 25-26. By then, you are either “pro” or hooked on with a team like Hanson’s making a living or you become an Olympian. But if none of those things happen or are likely to happen, it’s time to move on with life.
Mid-20s is still plenty young to get a career, go to grad school, etc, and pursue other hobbies, like lifting or climbing. That’s what I did. I got tired of having the skinny fat body all the time. Running two hours per day at that age with no opportunities in sight would then qualify as a neuroses, I agree.
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