bluebury park wrote:
Their coach has done an excellent job of raising the bar. Their idea of fast is way different than the rest of the country and their kids respond accordingly.
The same thing happens when good runners progress to the college level. They realize they have to run faster to be competitive so they start doing what it takes to run faster.
You can speculate all you want about their workouts. But, it’s their mental game that makes all the difference.
You guys go on and on about coaching, but success at that level is 100% natural talent and those brothers would be just as good at hundreds of other HSs.
German Fernandez's HS Coach didn't have experience coaching elite runners and the next fastest runner on German's team probably couldn't break 11:00, but he still managed to run 8:34. Walt Lange of Jesuit and South Eugene's Tom Johnson had their best teams when the Mastalirs and McChesneys were there.
Most elite HS runners train enough to maximize their abilities. Runners in the 70s probably trained harder than the Newbury Park kids but in recent years it seems less might be more. NP's month at altitude Is good for comradery but has no affect on performance.