I hadn't actually done any sort of formal exercise up until the time I was in 8th grade, literally just sat on my ass my whole life, when I went out to practice randomly one day because my parents forced me to and 'ripped' a quarter mile time trial in something like 76 seconds. I attended maybe 2-3 practices a week just during track season. Freshman year was the same story. It wasn't until 10th that I tried out XC and joined a club, and track season of that school year that I got semi serious about running as a sport.
I'd say I trained relatively hard that summer before 11th at about 30-40 miles a week (I thought 40 was high mileage at this point). Following that stint of training, I peaked with a 17:23 5k that XC season in my division's championship race. This is when I got really serious and became a bit obsessive with improvement. I dug up every book and every piece of advice I could find on training. During winter and fall after this past XC season I built up to around 65 miles and finally ran a sub 5 mile time trial.
So, all in all, I really only have ~1 yr or less of half-assed training and another couple months of 'quality' training. No athletic background whatsoever.
Does this indicate alot of potential? What kind of times can I expect if I keep running consistently for another 7+ years? Is a 13:50 5k and a 4:12 mile in the cards? Not trolling, I just don't want to keep hoping to achieve something that's out of my reach or thinking that I'll be great when I'm actually just average.