Spencer Brown (The Athlete Special) is FINALLY back in sub 4 shape.

I'll admit I was a bit harsh on him during his Beasts stint but he seems to be thriving now he's back training under his old man. Thought he was washed but kudos to him on the turnaround.

anonymoose wrote:

I'll admit I was a bit harsh on him during his Beasts stint but he seems to be thriving now he's back training under his old man. Thought he was washed but kudos to him on the turnaround.

Just out of curiosity, what is your age and current pr’s (from last 2 years)?

No need for decimal specifics. I’m just curious what kind of people follow him. Moreover, I’m curious as to who would be so critical of the guy. He seemed to really be following his dream.

that workout is not indicative of sub 4 in any way

aztec the moronic wrote:

that workout is not indicative of sub 4 in any way

Agreed. He may now have the strength to get there, but nothing about this workout screams 3:59 miler. He did about 8k at about 8k pace. When he starts doing 10-12 400m reps in 57-58 we can talk sub-4.

aztec the moronic wrote:

that workout is not indicative of sub 4 in any way

This.

aztec the moronic wrote:

that workout is not indicative of sub 4 in any way

For him it is. He hasnt ever shown this type of aerobic strength. No clue what is speed situation is like right now.

Out of curiosity what do you think are the PR's required for a person to have an opinion on a content creator?

anonymoose wrote:

Out of curiosity what do you think are the PR's required for a person to have an opinion on a content creator?

I don’t think there’s a correct answer to that. I’m just kind of trying to get a handle on what type of person would be critical of someone chasing a dream like he did. I’m a 3:46 guy going into my RS sr year, and my teammates and I really enjoyed following his journey. It sort of gave the up and comer some hope.

Maybe you’re young and don’t know th effort/luck it really takes to get to where he has?

Maybe some type of jealousy?

Something personal with him?

Maybe just a naturally salty/critical persona?

Anyway, you don’t really need to answer if you don’t want to. I was just curious of your demographics. It’ll be something to talk about on the morning run tomorrow.

You’re incorrect in your assumptions, usually the people that like to hate on people like Spencer are guys that ran 4:50 in highschool, have a $45k a year job, but will claim they are sub 4:00 guys that make $100k+ a year. Lots of sad people on here that cope by sh*tting on younger people that are actually trying to make the most of themselves.

Hard workers and those with success for the most part love to see others succeed, failures and have beens hate it.

Kjyfdh wrote:

aztec the moronic wrote:

that workout is not indicative of sub 4 in any way

Agreed. He may now have the strength to get there, but nothing about this workout screams 3:59 miler. He did about 8k at about 8k pace. When he starts doing 10-12 400m reps in 57-58 we can talk sub-4.

Just curious, how do these 400m predictors work? Wouldn’t 10x400 at 58 indicate closer to 3:52 than 4:00?

I agree that the workout doesn’t indicate sub 4 by itself, but taking it in context (we know spencer has always been lacking strength, even if his speed isn’t fantastic either), this is very promising for him.

So Spencer, who has run 3:39 for 1500m (clearly sub-4:00 performance equivalent), calls this workout his "best ever", so something is likely up. Technically, he might not be capable of sub-4:00 at the moment, but his training is heading in the right direction.

slaaa wrote:

aztec the moronic wrote:

that workout is not indicative of sub 4 in any way

For him it is. He hasnt ever shown this type of aerobic strength. No clue what is speed situation is like right now.

He put on carbon fiber shoes to average 4:45. He had his slower friend sabotage his own workout to pace Spencer on all reps.

Indicates at best 14:40 5k.

To me he's just content I consume and to that end, I just think he blew the Beasts thing going in with a mindset that his bad diet and recovery could work in that setting (covid didn't help but it wasn't working before that). Actually I don't think the Beasts were a good fit for him period. I'm quite happy to see how he's doing now and the shift in his attitude. I don't know his whole back story but to me it seemed as though he coasted by on talent and now he's had a reality check and come out wiser for it which is all you can ask for.

aztec the moronic wrote:

slaaa wrote:

For him it is. He hasnt ever shown this type of aerobic strength. No clue what is speed situation is like right now.

He put on carbon fiber shoes to average 4:45. He had his slower friend sabotage his own workout to pace Spencer on all reps.

Indicates at best 14:40 5k.

Dude is quicker than that

anonymoose wrote:

To me he's just content I consume and to that end, I just think he blew the Beasts thing going in with a mindset that his bad diet and recovery could work in that setting (covid didn't help but it wasn't working before that). Actually I don't think the Beasts were a good fit for him period. I'm quite happy to see how he's doing now and the shift in his attitude. I don't know his whole back story but to me it seemed as though he coasted by on talent and now he's had a reality check and come out wiser for it which is all you can ask for.

Some people can't handle hard high end aerobic workout after hard high end aerobic workout. He never seemed to recover after workouts with the Beasts and clearly didn't have the aerobic stamina to hang with them. He's a speed-type 800/1,500 guy. He can thrive on 50-miles per week with the right workouts and not overdoing it. Honestly, his dad will know how his body reacts just as well as anyone. Not that Danny Mackey is a bad coach, but I'm sure that Spencer was about 16th out of 16 in terms of priority while he was there, so Danny probably didn't pick up on some of the signs of overtraining as well as his own dad will.

I root against any athlete in any sport that spends a lot of time promoting themselves or products on social media. Just shut up and do your sport.

hdudhdjdu wrote:

I root against any athlete in any sport that spends a lot of time promoting themselves or products on social media. Just shut up and do your sport.

This.

He doesn’t seem authentic either. Very image conscious. It seems/seemed fake/immature. My thoughts as a guy in his early 30s. (Get off my lawn!)

And be poor. Cool. Great idea.

Just like all the people on these boards telling runners to get a side job.

He has one and it's actually creative and probably enjoyable for him. Gasp... Heaven forbid.

hdudhdjdu wrote:

I root against any athlete in any sport that spends a lot of time promoting themselves or products on social media. Just shut up and do your sport.

Do you think spencer enjoys the part of the job where he promotes random brands and products that he probably doesn’t actually use? Runners need to make a living somehow. I don’t know if you noticed or not, but most pro runners don’t have multimillion dollar contracts, a large amount don’t even have contracts worth a living wage.

I dislike any company that advertises their company or tries to sell their product to me . Just shut up run your company amiright