What type of training does German Fernandez do?

age discrepancy wrote:

Does anyone know this kid's real age?

The IAAF site says that his birthday is 2/11/90. This would make him over 18.

http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/country=USA/athcode=240381/index.html

However, if you look at the results from a race he ran on 2/4/2007, it says he is 17 years old. If his birthdate is 2/11/90, he should have been only 16 for the Davis Stampede (which happened a week before his 17th b-day).

http://www.changeofpace.com/2007_davis_stampede_results.htmlhttp://www.changeofpace.com/race_times/2007/DS/hover.txt

Very confusing, but he's probably 18 or 19 years old.

Hey! I ran that race when German was only 8 years old! It was a NASTY day... pouring, temps in the 40s, and 20-30 mph winds!

I placed in the top 15, but I can't tell you what place EXACTLY, otherwise, you might be able to figure out who I was.

And that would NOT be good, because I'd have to kill you and EVERYONE else on this board who figured it out!

Sagarin wrote:

checker wrote:

Yes you have to have a bit of talent, but 90% of success is plain-ol guts.

Incorrect. 90% of success is plain-ol talent. The rest is guts and work. Some guys can break 14:00 for 5k off of 40-50 miles per week (I knew a few), and some will never get close even if they run 160 damn hard miles per week. Just as I would have never broken 4:00 (or 4:10 for that matter) for the mile (some guys could never break 5:00) no matter how hard I trained, though Alan Webb made it look easy in high school.

I think natural talent has a HUGE part in how fast someone is capable of running, but I think hard work, diet, training, etc. also plays into it.

The 1st mile I ever ran for time was in 9th grade and I pulled off a BLAZING 6:37! I was actually pretty proud of that, considering I wasn't a runner and I came in 4th place in my gym class out of about 40 or 50 guys.

I started running in 11th grade when my best friend dragged me out for cross country. After a whole 2 weeks of training we had our 1st time trial for 2.5 miles and I ran a 16:22. I thought that great, since I had just 2.5 miles at a 4 second per mile faster pace than my best mile!

I kept training and in my senior year I got down to a 4:25 1500 and a 10:22 3200. I was weighing about 160-165 at the time and was 5' 11"ish.

I went to college, gained 20 lbs or so and weighing about 183, ran a 4:13 1500. After college, I kept running and still weighing about 182/183 I got down to a 3:58 for 1500.

Even though that's not a world class mark and it took me about 8 or 9 years to go from a 6:10 1500 (6:37 mile) down to a 3:58, with an extra 20 lbs. It shows that with enough work, persistance, and luck (little to no injuries) you CAN improve VASTLY with just having normal/moderate natural ability.

So Halberg, after 5 years of hard work, got down to approximately what Fernandez is running now after 1 1/2 to 2 years of low/moderate mileage. I'd say there is definitely a very important talent factor.

Water Rat wrote:

So Halberg, after 5 years of hard work, got down to approximately what Fernandez is running now after 1 1/2 to 2 years of low/moderate mileage. I'd say there is definitely a very important talent factor.

that's a poor conclusion to arrive at. Halberg was using the Lydiard method - conservative, safe, outdated and slow..kind of. Fernandez was VERY active before/during running. This just may show how finding the right training style for yourself will make you excell instead of taking forever to get to where you want to be.

I've been running for 30+ years. I feel that I am quite well versed in T&F. I'm not saying that hard work won't make you a good runner, far far far from it. But to think that the only difference between Alan Webb, or Fernandez, or Ryun and your typical HS runner is good ol' hard work is delusional.

It's when you combine great genes with a great work ethic and training that you get to see special performances.

its impossible to get this good

without

PAAVO!!!!!

I am not going to say what percentage of different attributes lead to the highest achievement, but I have always felt that it involves 4 variables (1) inherent ability; (2) intrinsic motivation; (3) opportunity; (4) Direction (coaching or a training plan you follow). It is quite simple to show that inherent characteristics are important -- how hard would Shaq have to train to race a 10k with many normal runners? Or maybe better to ask if a 5' 92-pound girl (make it a 5' 92-pound guy if you wish) could hold her/his own in the NBA. If inherent characteristics aren't important, why do we have weight classes in boxing, wrestling, judo, weight lifting, etc? Also, in some sports females are just as good as males, but not in others, and that must be major genetic factors at play. As far as motivation is concerned, it must be from within, not from some parent or coach yelling that "if you just had some desire, you could be so great;" how often do you hear coaches yell, "If you just had some ability, you could be so great;" maybe they should be. How about opportunity? How would you like to be an aspiring Olympic swimmer if you lived in a town that had no pool or no lake or no body of water; or not enough money to get to reasonable training facilities. And direction is the final factor. The question is how do you measure that -- a great college recruiter gets the best talent to start with and in some cases just hopes they run in college as well as they did in HS. Or, some great coach may never be in a position to start with great talent and improving from 20:00 in the 5k to 17:00 isn't seen as doing a very good job, but going from 16:00 to 15:30 may be seen quite differently. So let's face it there are various factors involved in achieving success, and the relative merit of each probably varies from one individual to another. Live it up trying to determine how much each one contributes.

Ive thaught about it, did research and I was wrong previously. I found that

Genetic talent is THE limiting factor. You can train to, and hypothetcally reach your max capability (via perfect training diet, motivation etc), but your max capability is dictated by your genes ie; talent.

Someone who possesses an IQ of 100 is never going to be as good in Math Olympics as someone with an IQ north of 150, I don't care how much time they spend studying or learning shortcuts. It just is. Kind of like, I'm never going to be the lady killer that Brad Pitt is, even with make-up, plastic surgery, and an immaculate diet. It just is. All we need now is for Gerry Lindgren to chime in with his steady diet of 250 mile weeks.

glad to see you come to your senses- and honored to have jtupper post a reply.

checker

glad to see you come to your senses- and honored to have jtupper post a reply.

oh- somone asked about "Ez10Miler"

I dont train ez all the time. I workout like everyone, tempos, track work, long runs, even the occational series of 2 a days.

The name came about when discussing my morning run with a collegue. He asked what I ran this AM and I said I did a slow easy 10 mile run, not meaning to be cocky or anything. He gave me the sarcastic "Easy 10 miles???!" I guess it's a term only a runner can really understand.

whats the big deal wrote:

face reality guys wrote:

there is no magic workout or program that separtes German from guys running 9:30 and 4:20. It's his natural born talent that is brought out by hard work.

no, there is no magic workout, but it's not just hard work that's making him good - it's smart, effective, efficient work (indicated by his massive improvement in short time). That's why we're wondering what he does - What is his smart work? So of course he is doing something different than the 930 or 420 guys. Could just be consistency, but it could be something about his training.

Shhhh..It's those pinto beans from El Pollo Loco

To reach your potential

#1 Avoid injury

#2 Stress the body parts and functions that need improvement

#3 Know the purpose of every workout

#4 Be optimistic

#5 Learn from your mistakes and from your successes

#6 Be consistent

#7 Eat well

#8 Get adequate rest

#9 Enjoy the trip along the way

#10 Be honest

Who knows if anyone reaches his/her full potential, and certainly each season's potential is influenced by life's daily challenges

oh my god 5:41!! that is crazy, you must have been like "it is gut check time" with a lap to go. i can see that being a big inmprovement if you are five or 100 years old, but man it is easy to talk a big game on the internet.

"Believe in yourself" f*** off

You're an idiot. If everyone and anyone could break 4:00 then it wouldn't such a fabled time.

I disagree with just about everything said in this post. Put away Without Limits for a While and accept that talent is not a myth.

checker wrote:

You guys all talk about talent. Yes you have to have a bit of talent, but 90% of success is plain-ol guts. The problem is most runners havent learned how to push themselves and hurt; and how to train effectively. If more kids got away from the TV and accepted pain, you would see Americans competeting wit the the Africans. The Africans can accept pain and tolerate it due to thier lifestyle.

Training- Too long to explain, but kids need to put it on the line in practice more, stretching, vitamins, good diet, medetation etc.

Honestly.. wrote:

You're an idiot. If everyone and anyone could break 4:00 then it wouldn't such a fabled time.

when's the last time you devoted 4+ entire years to serious, smart training? that's one of the hardest things about getting good times in running. It takes consistency and patience and lots of sacrifice.

you can only train as far as genetics will allow you. that's why there is only one alan webb or bernard lagat. if 100% devotion would make any one as fast as them well then our sport would be a lot more interesting

it's true that if you have optimal training and diet and recovery than you will reach your max. however your max potential in this sport is certainly not ryan halls or webbs.

what im trying to say is guts, the will to win, and proper training can only get you so far. It can bring on very impressive results, but not everyone is genetically capable of being an elite athlete, that's why they're called elite.

i would +rep you if i could

jtupper wrote:

To reach your potential

#1 Avoid injury

#2 Stress the body parts and functions that need improvement

#3 Know the purpose of every workout

#4 Be optimistic

#5 Learn from your mistakes and from your successes

#6 Be consistent

#7 Eat well

#8 Get adequate rest

#9 Enjoy the trip along the way

#10 Be honest

Who knows if anyone reaches his/her full potential, and certainly each season's potential is influenced by life's daily challenges