HaileUnlikely wrote:
4:30? Most of the refs could run a 4:30 for goodness sake. The runners for whom a 4:30 takes serious training and dedication are not athletic enough to play soccer at a high level. (My PR is 4:36. I freely admit that I am not athletic enough to play soccer at a high level.)
About a quarter of the varsity soccer players on my *high school* team, which was not very good, probably could have beat me after a single season of track training. Our track team stole 3 benchwarmers from the soccer team my senior year. The slowest of the three ran about 4:45. The fastest ran under 4:20. They weren't World Cup caliber players, they were 3 benchwarmers on a bad high school team.
With all due respect.... running a sub 4:30 mile takes specific "track" training, fast natural leg speed, and a solid aerobic base for all but the most extremely talented. Most of these soccer guys need to keep substantial amounts of "fast-twitch" with adaptation for quick, deceptive, often side-to side movement, in many ways this compromises the strength-based training approach to mile running that most distance runners have. These soccer guys can't afford to completely deplete their legs in an extended base phase to build up their aerobic capacity like a distance runner can.
Klinsmen does emphasize running/sprinting mechanics and drills very heavily. He seems to also believe he emphasizes endurance training, but I don't think people in the pro soccer world have as good a grasp of aerobic development as they believe.
Given the training, I bet there are a few guys who could run sup 49 400m, a few who could run in the 1:55-1:58 range for 800m, and maybe(unlikely) one or two that can run 4:20's. I'd say the vast majority of them can run sub-5:00 in the 1600m, and sub 2:05 in the 800m, and sub-53 in the 400m.