Subfive wrote:
Who are the folks with "unlimited" talent?
You're obviously making no effort to consider the poster's intent in asking:
"At what point is a runner working hard enough to determine that he really has limited talent?"
There are clearly athletes that are "strong responders" and some that are "weak responders", meaning that two athletes subjected to the same training stimulus do not make equally advantageous adaptations. While no one knows for sure how fast they can get at any distance, every runner gets to a point in their career where they realize this is about as good as I'm going to get for the amount of effort I want to put forth.
I think "dad" is being pragmatic in asking how much training do you need to do in order to figure out whether you're likely to see much success. I just think he's being premature in asking the question. There are too many things happening physically, mentally, and emotionally in a kid that age that really prevents seeing his future achievements with any degree of accuracy.
I think he also places too much value on innate genetic abilities. There are true freaks of nature that have developed the right mental/emotional make-up and who also have the ability to physically respond quickly to training stimuli while remaining relatively injury-free. However, there are only a handful of those kind of athletes each year in scholastic athletics. My experience suggests that even at the top of the podium at most state meets you will not necessarily find the most genetically gifted athlete in the field.
Dad - my advice is to stop trying to predict the climax of the story with regard to your son's running career. The unpredictability of the journey provides the basis for all kinds of self-discovery that will serve your son well no matter what he does latter in life. It's important for an athlete to believe in their training, but it's more important for them to believe in themselves. Your question asks how much work is necessary in order to see his limits. My direct answer is that it's a lot more than he has done so far, but that asking that question is counterproductive to his search - it assumes limitations that are unknowable in advance. Both of you need to focus on enjoying the journey and his story as it is revealed.