Elite athletes don't want it bad enough

I didn't get the impression he's not willing to make the sacrifice. I got the impression he think's he's gone as far as he can go. I think Sells would be more than happy to make the sacrifice if he felt confident that 2-4 years down the line there would be substantial improvement. I got the impression he feels he's hit his peak.

We all know that feeling. You plateau for a long time and wonder, "Is this it? Is this as fast as I can go".

He'll likely have a breakthrough one of these days and get some confidence back.

It's easy to criticize for not making the sacrifice, but for most of us, truly putting our life upside down and changing it for the worse for our own careers is not feasible. So why would it be any different for an elite athlete?

Training as hard as possible is one thing, but changing the quality of life for it is something else.

none of the successfull americans of the past gave up everything for a ten year period. Shorter continued to go to school, others worked full time jobs.

how many would be willing to lower their quality of life and other opportunities (maybe a job, marriage, kids)for something 1) that is not financially rewarding, 2)is very dependent on natural ability, 3)is hit or miss--with the possiblity of injury due to increased training (many sports do not have this, to a certain extent), and 4)at times, is not that fun?

But Avg Joe how can he think that he's gone as far as he can go when he's only 24 years old??

Hector Matos wrote:

But Avg Joe how can he think that he's gone as far as he can go when he's only 24 years old??

You'd have to ask him that. But the history books are full of guys who peaked in their 20s and then never progressed. Many left the sport but not all.

For all the talk about how consistent training brings improvement, it's tough to have faith in that when you go through a 8 months, a year, 2 years without seeing much. And what if the "eventual improvement" you see turns out to be miniscule. Let's face it, sometimes when you've been killing yourself to make the same 5k time again and again for months, it seems impossible to run an entire minute or two faster.

Try it for 2 years, hell even 8 months before you bitch and moan. Seems the first guys to throw stones aren't the ones out there putting in the two a days, three workouts a week, and 22 milers on Sunday. Walk a mile in my shoes (or run 140 in a week) and get back to me.

Thank you.

Training wrote:

Try it for 2 years, hell even 8 months before you bitch and moan.

I'm not bitching and moaning and frankly I don't think Sell is either. At least that was the point I was trying to make, anyway.

Seems the first guys to throw stones aren't the ones out there putting in the two a days, three workouts a week, and 22 milers on Sunday.

Well I think Sell is working out more than three times a week. And do you really think he's not putting in two a days at that level?

Walk a mile in my shoes (or run 140 in a week) and get back to me.

Been there, done that. So I'm getting back to you now, if that's OK. Now it's your turn. Run 161 in a week and you can get back to me.

Aren't you impressed? Have I won the pissing contest? A pointless exercise, wouldn't you say?

But we weren't talking about me and we weren't talking about you. We were talking about Sell. Anybody can get discouraged. Nobody cares how tough you are, really. Try walking a mile in Sell's shoes.

Your full of crap . 140 miles a week , and your still some weeny on a message board. Don't you realize everyone on these boards pretends to be elite. Get off your high horse dip shit.

So Brian Sell leaves Pennsylvania, which he seems to like, to go Michigan and move into a sausagefest of a house filled with other guy's sweaty jockstraps to bust his a-- running 5-6 hard days a week, and he's NOT making a sacrifice?

Joseph McVeigh wrote:

So Brian Sell leaves Pennsylvania, which he seems to like, to go Michigan and move into a sausagefest of a house filled with other guy's sweaty jockstraps to bust his a-- running 5-6 hard days a week, and he's NOT making a sacrifice?

Joe I agree with your point that Brian is making the necessary sacrifices. But I am going to bet that you have never seen any of the three homes or the amount of room that each individual athlete has. You are probably not very familiar with the training area as well. You are normally a preety knowledgable poster. Stick to what you know.

JR Ewing wrote:

Athletes have to have all the new gadgets (cell phones--x box--cable tv-- a new car). American athletes see these things as mandatory and will work too many hours in order to afford them.

I might agree that some taleneted athletes seem unwilling to make teh sacrifices but this has always been the case and is the case in plenty of arenas outside running. I know plenty of good Engineers who seem unwilling to make the necessary sacrifces. Thats human nature!

Why do you assume athlets (in particular) stive to have 'gadgets' ?

In my opinion, this is absurd. Athletes (and distance runners) in particular are the among the most modest and humble people in the world. Thats what running does to you.

Most good athletes have standards of living comparable to that of the sociaety they live in. You can have a cell phone, an X box, and a reasonably new car, depending on the make, without having a huge income.

It's possible to train seriously while earning living. It used to be the norm for out of school athletes. A 45 minute run at 7am followed by an hour's commute followed by an eight hour workday followed by a 60-70 minute run followed by an hour's commute still has you home with the time and money to do a little game cubing, catch Sports Center, and get to bed in time to be rested for the next day, all while covering about 100 mpw. Doing this does require a bit of discipline and dedication, but you don't have to be Trappist monk to succeed as a distance runner, and you shouldn't be expected to.

wow, so just because the hansons provided a fair amount of room and nice houses for these guys to live in doesnt mean that they are training as hard as they can??, i guess you are right the only way to train hard is to live cramped up in a one room house in a bad area. sacrifice isnt about where you live, it is about the things that you have to give up to work hard and i think that running 140 miles a week and being away from your hometown is quite a sacrifice for a 24 year old

Classy critique (rare here), and point taken. And yup, I've never seen the Hanson houses. All the more credit to the Hanson Brothers for their efforts.

I am over 40 years old and was never good enough to be a part of the Hansons Program. I just don't understand the word "sacrifice" that everyone keeps throwing around. I don't see why training full time and travelling all over the country and some of these guys the world is a sacrifice. I did a search on Brian Sell and found that he has been to China, Japan, Belgium, not to mention all over the US just because of his ability to run. At 41 years old I have been to none of those countries and probably will not be able to afford to until after my kids graduate from college. I will be 55 years old then. I feel like I put my life (ability to travel the world) on hold to raise a family. Enjoy the here and now and quit trying to act like you are giving something up. I have about 8 guys from college that I still hang out with and every one of us wish we were still in college. It was the best 7 years of my life. However, while in college I couldn't wait to get out and start a family and be part of the work force. While in college I thought I was sacrificing so that I would have a better life. Little did I know that it doesn't get any better than that. Enjoy the opportunity of what you have right now. I wish I was Brian Sell and am envious of his lifestyle. I am a podiatrist in Fort Worth Texas. Good luck to all of you athletes and enjoy.

Sorry, that's just too easy to pass up....

hopefully grad school was included in the 7 years