You know its time to quit when

The time to quit is when you don't enjoy it anymore.

Not if what you enjoy about the sport is competing and winning.

Time to take up checkers.

dang it wrote:

Not if what you enjoy about the sport is competing and winning.

If it's about winning for you, I give you a 95% chance that you're in the wrong sport. every race, even track, has at least 90% losers, on average more like 99.9%, so chances of you ever making winning a habit are pretty slim.

dang it wrote:

It's not like I'm a rookie either. Starting running seven years ago...

You are, in fact, a rookie.

dang it wrote:

Not if what you enjoy about the sport is competing and winning.

So you started out at 18:30 for 5k and have now improved to 16:00? When exactly were you winning, and against whom?

And I'm assuming (since you are sure there are no improvements left to be had) that you are currently training at 110+ miles per week with supplementary cross training, intense speedwork, and long grueling threshold runs?

I honestly do not have a problem getting beaten by women. Maybe it is because I have trained with female Olympic medalists, but that is never something that would bother me. It doesn't really happen very often, maybe at a major marathon, but there are plenty out there that would kick my arse in a track 10k if I ever had the chance to line up next to them.

And I consider myself pretty good.

There are runners in my city ( 2 to be exact ) that are invincible on the local road racing circuit. They win 99% of the time.

They can run 14:30 if pressed.

I started at 18:50

Now I'm at 16:20.

I've done high mileage, intense speeedwork, etc...

The genetics are a limiting factor

What is high mileage for you and how long have you been doing it?

Much more than likely you have reached your training knowledge limit rather than your physical talent limit.

This is the case with most all runners.

What are your under-distance prs?

edumacator wrote:

So you started out at 18:30 for 5k and have now improved to 16:00? When exactly were you winning, and against whom?

I was running 18:30 as a freshman in high school and was winning races... because despite being top 7, my coach wouldn't let me run varsity. He wanted me to get a taste of winning, to learn how to race from the front, and to not get discouraged. Once I learned how to race with a winning mentality, and I moved up to the varsity the following year, I bombed some early races, but I eventually learned to balance running aggressive and running smart. We ended up making the state meet as a team once, and I made it individually one other year, and ran 16:30 by the time I was a senior.

tl;dr, you can win races at 18:30 and improve to 16:30 and stay in because you enjoy winning.

up to 120 miles a week for consecutive years,including doubles

2:10 for the 800

4:36 for the mile

10:00 for the 2 mile

dang it wrote:

Not if what you enjoy about the sport is competing and winning.

That is some circular logic.

If you enjoy competing, then you enjoy running (even if you are losing).

If you no longer enjoy competing, and subsequently don't enjoy running, then you stop.

dang it wrote:

up to 120 miles a week for consecutive years,including doubles

I don't believe you

dang it wrote:

ATLEAST 50 women in the nation can beat you in a cross country or 5K road race.

I still can't break 16:00 for 5K, and besides getting third overall at my local Santa Shuffle, I'd get beat by national-class women as well.

It's not like I'm a rookie either. Starting running seven years ago, improved by 2.5 minutes in the 5K and 11 minutes in the half-marathon but now I'm just sitting still.

The talent, bro, it just ain't there.

You are running for all the wrong reasons. You never should have started running in the first place.

Quit. Go away from the sport. Leave it to those who love it. You will be better because of it and so will we.

Everybody wins.

dang it wrote:

up to 120 miles a week for consecutive years,including doubles

I'd suggest laying off the 120 mile weeks, drop to 80 for awhile and see if you feel better. You might be able to pop a fast race just because your legs will be a lot fresher. I know I don't have any speed (our mile and 800's are actually the same) but Ive also found through trial and error that 75-85 is pretty much my ideal training volume. Just because you don't have speed doesnt mean that high mileage is the answer. Good Luck.