Is 'talent' real? Or did 'talented' kids just start training earlier than their peers?

As an untaltented

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I got this one.

According to Epstein, talent is largely genetic, but with a huge caveat: "Improvability" is also largely genetic... so some people will appear to work their way to the pinnacle of their sport, others will appear to be naturals, and others will appear to be a magic combination of both. We'll never know until we try.

Talent is absolutely real, and this is a dumb question

Talent shows when a group trains together the same way and one rises above.

This is a great way to put it. Obviously, there are also plenty of talented people who either don't put in the work, or who don't ever get a chance to realize their talent (for various reasons). I had a friend who never trained as a runner for a day in his life—one day he asked to join me for an 8-mile easy run. Five miles in, he decided we were going too slow for him so he dropped the pace down to what I later calculated to be 6:00/mile pace for the last 3. Afterward, he was barely that tired. I told him he should think about training as a runner but he never got into it. To this day, I think that kid had amazing talent for running. He just never wanted to be a runner.

If you’re fast at a young age it’s natural talent. I started running in high school and my 1600 times were 4:33 as a freshman, 4:14 sophomore, 4:09 Junior, and then never faster again due to perpetual injuries. I also ate pizza and McDonald’s for almost every meal and my easy days were run at 10 minute per mile pace with the 5:15 1600 guys. That’s all natural talent. And there’s been a lot of people like me out there.

I’m like you, super-talented. I got it all.

My son had never run a day in his life until running 4:52 for a mile in 7th grade gym class. He went out for the team as a freshman and ran 4:21.

Often if you’re fast at a young age, you may have hit puberty before most.

That’s not the same as having more talent.

So then you agree, talent is real

Yes, they would be slower. Talent is real. How could it not be? Why is there a kid in every elementary school who destroys the other kids in gym class and "field day" when it comes to running? Why is it that a whole team in middle school or high school can do the same workouts, and one kid is WAY better?

How is it that a TON of D1 runners train for 4-6 years, and then a small handful of them become professional runners afterwards?

Talent. In case you didn't get that...Talent. One more time...TALENT.

yeah pretty much. I just made this post because I was curious in hearing other's thoughts and there hasn't been much activity on the HS forum this week

Great thought. Part of the reason the NP boys are running so well is they are basically training like pros. But some runners may work their butt off for years and get only half as good as others doing the same training. Also if there’s any sport where talent can be developed through hard work, it’s running.

There are also different types of talent; more often I think of the runner who runs fast if of low mileage/minimal training. But another kind of talent is the ability to respond to high mileage training positively and handle it structurally.

The "trainability" talent is worth very little without anything else. You get the joy of being able to run 100mpw for years and maybe finally arrive at where others start, but rarely even then.

An interesting post. As a coach, I have come to believe that high-level talent is much more common than most of us think. I see it all the time. What is extremely rare is the willingness to work hard to unlock that talent. That is extremely unusual, as most people aren’t willing to put themselves through the discomfort to unlock that talent.

And it’s not only that. The willingness to work hard has to be cultivated by coaching staff, teammates, and a team culture that is directed towards that end. That is a rare thing in the world.

Your post makes no sense. As a coach you see high level talent all the time? Do you coach at NAU? Do you coach at NP? Do you coach at BTC? Those are 3 programs at 3 levels that have high level talent. But just because their coaches are working with high level talent doe not prove that talent is abundant because those teams are significantly better than their peers.

I knew a few o them kids with TALENT. They quit too young tho.

I know a few who didn't quit early and they did indeed make it to super elite.

So I guess not giving up is a special talent too?