dumb wrote:
Flagpole wrote: If you can't break 20 minutes (or really, some of them can't break 24 minutes) by age 18 after running up to 60 MPW in the summers, and you've been at it since the 7th grade, you're likely not going to be able to do it, and improper training isn't the culprit.There's a reason why some guys run the 400...that's what they are equipped to run.
I would have to see videotapes of someone running 60 miles per week for five years to believe that there is a teenaged human being who isn't obese, suffering from a serious medical condition, or disabled by an orthopedic injury/defect who could train like that and not break 20 for 5k
Yea, I also have to agree. I have yet to see anyone that does remotely near this fail to break 20. At least one of them that eventually broke 20 has a best 100m of 16.4s HT, and a best 400 of 76s...so you can garner about his level of athleticism.
Moreover, if you go to local roadraces and look at the guys running 21, 22, etc. they by and large do not look like runners. The majority have potbellies, which means at least 20+ extra pounds of weight, which alone is probably enough to go sub 20. I will also say I have rarely talked to anyone that runs over 20 minutes, and heard them say they do 50, or even 40+ mpw of workouts.
I don't know where the bar is that the majority of young, healthy males could not run even if they trained well for several years is; but I can't find a shred of evidence to indicate it's 20 minutes or higher.