Why you did not become an elite runner?

Has rojo answered yet?

I won district mile as a freshman in Texas - next year made the baseball team. Gave up track.

#humblebrag

Simply put, I don't like feeling uncomfortable. In my teens I could run 55 seconds in the 400m and 2:00 min in the 800m without feeling too uncomfortable; but everyone from the team to the coaches, to the school, to the entire community was disappointed in me because they knew my jig. They knew it because I could run shorter intervals at paces that predicted better race times but it is because I could do those shorter intervals faster without feeling uncomfortable.

Now in my 30s it is more of the same. I can run a 2:45 marathon without feeling uncomfortable; but I have no desire to become uncomfortable.

My psychology professor said I could have been much greater in running and in life if I was open to feeling uncomfortable and working a little bit.

Are you aware of the word "have?"

I had too much LOFT in my running. Lack Of F-ing Talent.

First High School XC meet (as a sophomore) - 24 minutes for 5k puking all over the place the last half mile
Graduated High School 9:32 and 4:28 PRs, never ran in the summer, never did any off season training until winter of my senior year, which lead to a big PR jump.
Graduated College - 14:41, 30:37 and never put together a complete season. cracked a rib as a freshman, bronchitis as a sophomore, small injury as a junior, vertigo derailed my senior season.
Post collegiately I put together one really good summer, and ended up running 1:08 for a half after 7 weeks of 80+ MPW. And that was it, I tweaked my knee, got a job, got engaged and have randomly jumped in some 5ks over the last 15 years.

I never made it because I never had the desire or discipline to do the little things that the truly elite athletes do. I was always a few pounds heavier than I needed to be, never stretched, lifted inconsistently, and did a poor job of cross training when I was injured. I've been fortunate enough to spend some time around some recognizable elites, and I can tell you that my fire for the sport never burned the way theirs did. You can really love this sport and be dedicated to it, but at the level of the truly elite, they possess a dedication and discipline that exceeds what I ever brought to the table. Even if you win the genetic lottery, you have to possess an incredible discipline to truly be elite, and I didn't have it.

stopped caring around the same time i found weed and a girlfriend who put out

Qualified for the trials on one leg in 84. Took 35 years to find out it was runners dystonia. No bueno.

I have not become an elite runner because it wasn't the path for me.

It's still possible I could, yet at my age it seems unlikely (though I am a very optimistic person, I believe all things are possible).

Basically, to become elite you need a bit of talent but also consistency.

Consistency beyond a few months or years of training.

I had some results I was satisfied with - I was able to place decently in local road races and had some success in high school. But I didn't train consistently for years on end.

It also has to do with structure in your life. After high school I was living at home for a few years, I worked part time a bit, I was no longer a part of the club I was with in high school.

The loss of a team/structured environment makes training more solitary and perhaps mentally difficult - especially when you are younger.

When you don't have practice to report to or a coach to monitor your results, you are doing everything on your own. That's not easy when you've just finished high school.

- hs only had xc. Felt my coach was pretty ok, but the rest of the year I was trained by runner's world magazine and ran local road races.

- poor college choices. Went to a college with xc only, no track because I believed in the coach's vision. He quit after my freshman year and we got a real goober for a coach. That was to be expected at a school with no track team.

- picked a stupid major so I'd have more time to train and less stress. This may have led to me running a little faster than I would have with more stress, but it made job searching and my 20s hell. I was underemployed, stressed, and eventually depressed for a long time. Despite this, I pr'd into my late 20s, but then was just sort of phoning it in for a few years.

-finally found a white collar job that would take someone with any degree - but the trade off was lots of overtime. Lots of 80+ hour weeks. Running took a back seat and into my early 30s I got even more out of shape.

-finally rededicated myself to training, but with the above work environment, there is only so much I can do. Whereas when I was underemployed 120 mile weeks were bread and butter, now 100 mile weeks seem herculian. I'm happy when I get over 80.

-still dealing with recurring depression and I sort of will skip runs and get 40 mile weeks here and there, plus its hard to do more than run easy after a 12 hour work day

- I think if I pull myself together and consistently run 80-100+ a week in my late 30s, I could still pr before I enter masters competition. That's the goal now. I've gone from wanting to run a trials qualifier to just wanting to pr and prs to just faster than last year as more immediate goals. Getting a job with better work life balance would help, but no one wants to hire someone with a degree not related to their work and my work hours are fairly standard for the industry.

-finally, injuries. I've had a hell of an injury history, probably had more injuries than anyone on this board. Oh and poor diet. See stress and depression.

Noticed after I stopped running that elite gets good very fast and then keeps going and going. I was neither, with frequent injuries and then PRs after time off for recovery and then intense training to make up for lost time. Love the sport, though and admire the talent of the very few kids who can run a 5K in the 15s in their few months of training. Some of those very few never progress into the 14s and 13s. Some do. My progression was in the minutes above the 15s not below. My goals were slower than what was basically their starting point. Only runner I knew of from his first day running who I am sure would be classified as elite, was in the 14s within two months of day one and competed for high school national championship as a senior and ended up in the low 13s. Two others I know of got into the 14s within a year of their first run. They are probably not "elite," but were regional high school stars, who were just good collegiate runners, not stars at that level.

Health problems

After college, not that many people would pay you just to run around all day even if you ran well and made it to NCAA D1. A lot of top runners end up with office and corporate jobs and have to sit for long hours in front of the computer. Others end up running businesses.

Only the very best of the very best can make a living from running around all day, and even most of them will be struggling financially.

In a more optimal world, we'd all be running around as much as we want, but that's just not the way things are. You can't have your cake and eat it.

This was the answer I was expecting more of. Very surprised it took me 5 pages to find.

You can with the shtcoins

Lebron and Matt Damon and Tom Brady said it was possible

Not a good start in life: preeme, heart disease early childhood, cv system can't even handle giving blood, non supportive parents. Only started running to strengthen my heart enough to have a normal life. But still running at 70. Would've been dead long ago if I hadn't kept it up.