Recently heard of the paper Linear increase in aerobic power induced by a strenuous program of endurance exercise from Alec Blenis, who has managed to run some respectable times despite not being weak.
The paper is pure comedy, but also fascinating.
High-level overview: eight relatively untrained individuals (2 of whom had been sedentary for years) ages 20-42 who worked in the lab volunteered for the study. They trained for maximum intensity 70 straight days (alternating 40min max distance runs and 6*5min @Vo2max on the bike 3x a week, followed by a Vo2 max test). Only one was injured (for weeks 5-7 where he couldn't train hard), and the average pace for the 40min run went from 7:24 to 5:54/mi, in just those 10 weeks!
Any thoughts?