Hi,
I am new to forums but thought that if I am going to get any opinions, they may as well be from people who know what they're talking about.
I've always been very interested in trying and possibly competing in sprinting, but have never really pursued it, in part due to there not being an over-amount of opportunities to do so aside from school, which I have graduated from, or track and field clubs whose memberships are currently for me, prohibitively expensive. I have always thought based on my body type that I would make a good sprinter though so I was hoping I could get some feedback on whether my instincts are way off or not.
About me:
I just turned 24 and keep in reasonably good shape. I work outdoor, manual labour type jobs so they have always kept me from living a sedentary lifestyle. However it has been quite a while since I trained seriously for anything. I did cross country in high school and was moderately successful (went to regional championships in 3 consecutive years though never took any titles there), but I never got to try sprinting.
Here is why I think I might make a good sprinter
1. I am 6ft 0 inches, with most of that length being in my legs. I have a very small torso in relation to the rest of my body, as I have been told on more than one occasion be people fitting me for suits and stuff.
To me that would mean the ability to take long strides, combined with the advantage of not having much else mass-wise to carry.
2. I weigh 135 lbs. I stopped growing around the age of 16-17 and have not gained a pound since. Once, years ago, because I was a bit self-conscious about how skinny I am, I attempted to body build and for about 8 weeks I went on a high protein diet combined with creatine and beta alanine supplements and did resistance training every second day. I adhered to both of these very, very strictly and did not gain one pound. After that I decided that there was no point in trying to fight nature and gave up on it.
To me this means not only am I very light, but I could theoretically have an extremely high caloric intake to provide energy for explosive running without risking gaining weight.
3. I have very narrow feet, to the point that I am only able to wear running shoes. A sales rep at Foot Locker commented on this, and it seems true as I cannot wear skateboard shoes or flip-flop-style sandals because my feet are so thin I just walk out of them.
Since the laws of physics dictate that energy exerted through a smaller surface area increases power, I think I would have a very powerful stride if I were to focus more on building leg muscle.
I was thinking that my physiological attributes, combined with the proper training might enable me to run 100m in less than 11 seconds, but knowing next to nothing about the subject I have no idea whether I'm just totally off in my guesses. It would be very exciting to perhaps get competitive in sprinting, however far I might be able to go with it, if it is at all plausible. Any advice or opinions anyone might be able to offer would be great.
Cheers