First post on this thread, believe it or not.
Your point and post is well-taken, but the bottom line is you do or don't. The guy who busts his butt and does it gets credit for what you seem to think is no big deal. I know a lot of ex-college runners, decent runners for sure, who would have a hard time breaking 5 minutes at 45...it's not quite as easy as you imply.
Getting injured is of course, a big deal breaker, but it's more than that.
I'm a slug who ran a sub 2:40 in my teens. I was told by many prominent coaches (yes well known ones) in my area that I will easily run a sub 2:20 in my 20's...never happened.
Why, injuries over and over, bad luck with tendinitis. My point is do I get to say I could have ran a sub 2:20 just because I may have been capable? No I don't.
The trolls will rip my post apart, claiming I am bragging and talking about myself, not true as I am simply making a point.
The "average" runner who ran a 4:30 in high school, even if not over weight, cannot just start running and break 5 minutes in 9 months, if at all. I'm using 4:30 as a number, but I know 2 dozen plus who could not do it. Yes, some are out of shape, regardless they are not 100 pounds overweight and could admit that getting in shape to run four 75 second quarters in a row would be no easy feat.
I respectfully disagree. I give the guys who have done it a lot of credit. Your Steve Spence reference is not realistic. Crap, he's run a 2:12 marathon, still runs, so why would that be a huge stretch?
quote]Flagpole wrote:
No freaking way. So many of them don't even report. Steve Spence still breaks 5:00 every year. MOST college runners who turn 45 could train and break 5:00 if they wanted to. It's not that great a feat. I'm fat and 47 and I could do it in 9 months if I trained (and didn't get injured -- that part is unlikely).
USUALLY I think things are harder to do than people think, but not this time. Can MOST people do it or MOST runners do it? No way, but good runners who are 45 can easily do this, so WAAAAY more than 15. Not a big deal for former college runners with a little bit of training as long as they aren't starting at 100 pounds overweight.
We're not dead at 45 you know.[/quote]