Do I have any talent?

Hard to say, but my inclination is no. But build up to 100 km a week if you are serious, and see what happens.

Ignore what the previous poster said about probably not having natural talent. Being able to run a low 20s 5k off of almost no training is far better than a majority of the population could do, so I would say you do have some natural talent. If you are interested in seeing the limits of your talent, you definitely do need to run higher mileage though.

When I was 15, I was much faster than you with similar training. My 5K PR was 18:45.

Good luck!

aussie wrote:

Hi, the other day i ran a 10Km race in 43 mins flat, I know this isn't a great time but this was my first 10K and the highest weekly mileage I had attained before that run was 12km a week (7.4 miles). My other PB's are 11:33 for 3K, 21:12 for 5K. I was wondering if I had any natural talent. Other sports I play are cricket and I played soccer when I was ten. BTW I am 15 years old.

Yes, it is a fair to decent starting point. How tall are you and how much do you weigh? Also, where do you live?

There are several good programs in Australia. I personally worked under Tony Benson and would say look him up without hesitation. He has experience taking people from the very beginning of their careers onto great things. And, he is not just someone who knows what he's talking about. He was an elite back before being elite was a relatively common thing:

Nyet wrote:

When I was 15, I was much faster than you with similar training. My 5K PR was 18:45.

Good luck!

Ha dickbag^. Kid, just keep running and see what happens. you never know. a friend of mine ran 20+ min 5k as a freshmen in high school and as a senior ran 8:58 in the 2mile and 14:50 in the 5k. another friend of mine ran 4:36 in the mile a 8th grader and now he doesnt run anymore and is a pothead. its not just talent, its about how hard you work too, at least to a certain point.

there is no such thing as talent. it's something you develop, not something that already exists within you.

horseshit!

body parts are nice wrote:

there is no such thing as talent. it's something you develop

so there is such a thing, then.

better get your story straight.

Thank you to everyone who replyed. I am 165cm's (5'4) tall and weigh 53kg's (117 lbs), both my parent's are quite small so I don't think I will grow much more. I intend on building a base over this summer perhaps about 100km's. I started running 20mins 4 times a week last week and as the weeks progress I hope to start running 7 days a week. I've been doing research into some of the famous coaches and their techniques ie, Lydiard, Daniels, Bowerman etc. Lydiard's methods seem pretty solid and I think I might buy one of his books.

I went from a 23 minute 5k when I was 13 off 65 miles a week. 4 years later, I was a 16:00 5k runner off of 85 miles a week. It doesn't matter if you're talented, just work hard.

jfklasdjf;lsjdfldsjf wrote:

I went from a 23 minute 5k when I was 13 off 65 miles a week. 4 years later, I was a 16:00 5k runner off of 85 miles a week. It doesn't matter if you're talented, just work hard.

You were running 65 mpw as a 13 year old?

b.s.

you only ran a 23 minute 5k off 65 miles a week?

b.s.

overtraining can be a b..

I had it the first years in another sport and was working to be really slow right now i am better and faster and seemingly talented then i ever was on one workout every other week.

jfklasdjf;lsjdfldsjf wrote:

I went from a 23 minute 5k when I was 13 off 65 miles a week. 4 years later, I was a 16:00 5k runner off of 85 miles a week. It doesn't matter if you're talented, just work hard.

I ran a half marathon in 1:29 at age 12 with only 60 miles per week. I winnnn

Ikke wrote:

overtraining can be a b..

I had it the first years in another sport and was working to be really slow right now i am better and faster and seemingly talented then i ever was on one workout every other week.

what are you going on about, trollbait?

how is that relevant in any way whatsoever? back to your bridge.

when i was 18, i ran a 27 second 200 in trainers and an xl t-shirt.

aussie wrote:

Thank you to everyone who replyed. I am 165cm's (5'4) tall and weigh 53kg's (117 lbs), both my parent's are quite small so I don't think I will grow much more. I intend on building a base over this summer perhaps about 100km's. I started running 20mins 4 times a week last week and as the weeks progress I hope to start running 7 days a week. I've been doing research into some of the famous coaches and their techniques ie, Lydiard, Daniels, Bowerman etc. Lydiard's methods seem pretty solid and I think I might buy one of his books.

Lydiard was a brilliant coach, but, he is kind of the father of modern training. In some respects, he still has the best ideas and successes out there. In other ways, things have advanced a lot since then. Instead of starting with Lydiard, again, I don't know if you can afford the Benson's program, but, he is a Lydiard disciple. I'm not trying to push this guy so he can money off of you. I just recognize that a moderately talented athlete can make amazing progress under a skillful coach. Unlike many athletes who hit or miss, you are close to someone who can literally help you get every ounce out of your ability that is possible. If nothing else, at least contact the guy and tell him your situation and see what he says. He may have someone he has trained close by to where you live or know of a better fit somewhere near your home. If you don't use a Lydiard based program, the best one to learn for yourself if Jack Daniels' second book. You can find it on Amazon.com. It's called the Daniels Method second edition. It will teach you about the basics of proper training theory and program development. Lydiard can make a champion out of people. But, it can also be very hard on runners, and, has a history of causing somewhat, but, not highly, talented runners to get hurt, sick or frustrated because it's hard work. One thing many people do not realize when they start Lydiard is that many of his "advanced" programs, i.e., the 100 mile weeks, were designed for pretty good runners who were already running a lot and were more than likely going to be okay when they started running a lot more. This is not likely your situation. You might start a new thread, if you are bent on Lydiard, and ask some of the folks on here how you would start Lydiard. Reference this thread so they don't have to ask you all the same questions over again. There are a few people who were coached by him who would have good insight into what you need to know. On in particular is named Glenn McCarthy. You may post a thread asking specifically for him or any other Lydiard folks to help with a new runner program. Hope you find a good program down any road you choose to go.

Any 15 year old who chooses to run a 10k race has "talent". If you didn't you either wouldn't start or wouldn't finish.

You will never know how much talent you have if you don't try. Some have the talent to run fast with little training. Some have the talent to train a lot. Some have the talent to find the right coach early on. Very few can put even these talents to work for them.