Who is more Fit: The Miler or the 10K'er

Define fit

There are three Warrior Skills:

800m

ultramarathon

javelin

A warrior has to be able to finish an ultra. It doesn't really matter how fast, as long as you can march 50k a day or so.

A warrior has to be able to throw a spear.

And a warrior has to be able to run 800m fast to either flee or pursue a fleeing enemy. A commander won't let his troops pursue much farther than that because they lose cohesion as a unit and break the battle lines.

Bad Wigins wrote:

A commander won't let his troops pursue much farther than that because they lose cohesion as a unit and break the battle lines.

That makes zero sense. If they all go the same speed, then they won't lose cohesion.

Bad Wigins wrote:

There are three Warrior Skills:

800m

ultramarathon

javelin

A warrior has to be able to finish an ultra. It doesn't really matter how fast, as long as you can march 50k a day or so.

A warrior has to be able to throw a spear.

And a warrior has to be able to run 800m fast to either flee or pursue a fleeing enemy. A commander won't let his troops pursue much farther than that because they lose cohesion as a unit and break the battle lines.

Good post but perhaps they should replace the javelin with the AR-15. I mean, how many guys on Seal Team 6 are any good with a javelin?

ytt wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

A commander won't let his troops pursue much farther than that because they lose cohesion as a unit and break the battle lines.

That makes zero sense. If they all go the same speed, then they won't lose cohesion.

They aren't all going to go the same speed. Some are going to more fatigued than others, and some will have more natural speed. The only way they can go the same speed is if they all go the speed of the slowest runner. But that's a really bad way to run down the enemy.

ytt wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

A commander won't let his troops pursue much farther than that because they lose cohesion as a unit and break the battle lines.

That makes zero sense. If they all go the same speed, then they won't lose cohesion.

When they are pursuing an enemy, discipline breaks down and they scatter to the four winds. The Saxons lost England because of that fact. The Norman infantry ran away, many Saxons broke ranks and pursued them, and the hidden Norman cavalry mowed them down before they could reorganize and defend themselves.

Fake Justin93_the_real_one_1 wrote:

The only way they can go the same speed is if they all go the speed of the slowest runner. But that's a really bad way to run down the enemy.

Why is that a really bad way?

ytt wrote:

Fake Justin93_the_real_one_1 wrote:

The only way they can go the same speed is if they all go the speed of the slowest runner. But that's a really bad way to run down the enemy.

Why is that a really bad way?

Well, I guess that's why they say "your mileage may vary". If they're getting good mileage they may still catch up. But overall, I'd take my chances with the speedier guys.

Bad Wigins wrote:

And a warrior has to be able to run 800m fast to either flee or pursue a fleeing enemy. A commander won't let his troops pursue much farther than that because they lose cohesion as a unit and break the battle lines.

Any experienced commander would just wait at the start finish line.

warriors is definitely a better topic than just miles and 10k's.

slow and "will not stop, ever" wins the contest, every time

I'm a 52 year-old 5:30 miler and Chris Solinsky is fitter than me.

What about other aspects of fitness - thats just cardiovascular fitness.

Speed? Power? Strength? Endurance? Balance? Co-ordination? Flexibility? Reactions?

Even as a distance runner, I still consider professional boxers the best athletes of all - try fighting for 10 rounds on end.

The x-fiters are the the most fit. Everybody should know that!!

Crossfitters are good at doing Crossfit. That's all. They're not very good runners. They're not very good cyclists. They're not very good weightlifters....

Thesmallcheese wrote:

I still consider professional boxers the best athletes of all - try fighting for 10 rounds on end.

The spear is what sets man apart from apes. Apes can hit each other but they can't grasp spears well enough to use them as weapons.

A warrior does not go into battle with his fists. He brings his spear. Javelin is the art of the spear. Though you should also learn the stabbing spear in case some ape dodges your javelin.

A basic definition of fitness is 'the ability to meet with the demands of the environment'. So it can be hard to compare across different events and sports because a soccer players environment is different to a javelin throwers or a motor racing drivers. I think that's why a lot a people hate cross fit (including myself, I think its sh!t!) because it doesn't get you specifically fit for anything. Of course there's a general state of fitness that you need to go about your daily lives which is what most people probably debate when asking which athlete is fitter, a miler or 10k'er etc.

Having said all that, I remember a UK study done years ago by some sports scientists that tried to find the ideal/fittest sportsman and their result was that Dwain Chambers was the fittest sportsman in the UK!

The average miler is better at the 5k than the average 10k'er. But the average 10k'er is better at the marathon, even after college when both move up, and lets face it, after college the marathon and half are the only races that matter.

Usually milers and 800 guys tend to be better overall athletes than guys that are best at 10k+.