itsgetsbetter15 wrote:
LateRunnerPhil wrote:
Great result? No.
In his prime he could run ~8:30-8:40. That guy ran a 3:56 mile and 3:34 1500m in his career without even focusing on these events. His endurance was fantastic for a 800m guy.
Now barely breaking 12 is not a "great result". He is 36, look at what Geb, Lagat, etc. have done when they were that old. Willis is older and even competing still, and I'm sure he wouldn't consider a 12 min 2-mile a great result for him.
I would say he is nowhere near the level he had just a few years ago, and subpar performances for an Olympic athlete should not be cherished to be something they aren't. Many runners have proven time and time again that you can still be very competitive in the late 30s, early 40s if they stay dedicated to the sport and don't quit.
Many hobby joggers with a lot less talent than Symmonds (that wouldn't even make a college team, or can only dream about Olympics) can run that time at 36 years old. So if someone who has around the best talent in the world for running runs a 12 min 2-mile, don't label it as fantastic performance.
This is pathetic. Nick has accomplished more than all of the poster in this thread COMBINED in the sport of running. He is still relatively fit, has decided to focus more on running a startup business, and has decided to also enjoy other fitness type activities (crossfit, hiking, mountaineering, yoga etc), in addition to still running here and there. He is not fat, and looks to be in fantastic shape for a 36 year old.
More importantly, he also LOVES to get out there with the youth in the running community and run events with them for FUN on his youtube channel. Who cares about the times. He is a GREAT ambassador for the sport and role model to the young running community.
Nick just loves running period. He had a video where he ran an all out 400 in like 52 seconds (which is horribly slow compared to his PRs), and he was SUPER excited and pumped about it, and basically said "It's just so much fun to get here and run a 400m like that!". Also love his video where he tries to break a 18m 5K and can barely do it - he is having SO much fun running with the youth like that.
That takes a lot of inner self confidence and contentment with ones life and successes to have that type of attitude. This is a man that has NOTHING to prove to anyone.
Why don't you go to the local track and run an all out effort in an event you haven't really trained for. Zero percent chance you have as much fun as Nick because you clearly are not satisfied with your life like him and feel compelled only to criticize others only. Maybe some day you can have as much fun as Nick does running.
I agree with most things you said, but I didn't criticize him - I actually went on a run with him in 2013 and had a great conversation. Also his life choices make a lot of sense, he has a nice business, channel and is doing a lot for the running community. I agree he is generally still fit (lifting was always a big part of his training).
I merely pointed out the fact that his 2-mile TT time is not a "great result" as suggested by the OP. It should have been framed as "Nick Symmonds runs a 2-mile TT, reaching army standard" or whatever it was, if OP deemed this to be a news worth sharing. But by saying he had a great result he is making the performance and the TT something it was not. Lots of us clicked on the video to see the time, expecting a low 9 minute or something, thinking he has been training really hard again and getting back to his peak shape. Then it's barely sub 12. That is an annoying click bait that a lot of people probably fell for, since OP never mentioned the actual time, just a "great result" and "Olympic runner".
