Sports Gene: Indiana HSer Daniel Kuhn runs 1:50 and wins state on absolutely ZERO training

It is kind of funny that the story says he couldn't comprehend how fast a 1:54 800m time was when he ran it at an outdoor meet in April.

Because there is a youtube video of him running a 1:54 indoor 800m split in March.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8S9zxO7jFY

Also another video from this winter of another 4x8 relay, that one a 1:56 split.

Also a couple of indoor 4x400 videos.

He looks strong and his form looks good. I suspect whoever was putting him on the relays had a pretty good idea of what they were getting.

Peter Snell was a great athlete who could have played any eye-hand coordination sport. Hope this kid turns out similar.

We've debated in various threads what talent means in track. Whatever definition one uses for talent this guy has it. I've heard of football players going out for indoor and spring track who run sub 50 with "no" training. Running a 1:50 800m is on another level. Really incredible athlete.

He's obviously a gifted athlete. At 6'3" most HS athletes don't have either the speed or endurance to run that type of time. Hope he keeps improving at a decent school.

I played high school baseball and have coached track at 3 different high schools, and I have never seen or heard of any sort of running during HS baseball practice that could really be considered "training" for anyone with a running background. Maybe a handful of sprints from time to time, but I'm talking a very minimal amount.

To the person who said they know of a HS baseball team that would run 10x400...I am not saying you are lying, but that seriously blows my mind.

I'm not saying that there aren't programs out there that run, but I don't think it is the norm and to simply assume he's getting any sort of benefit from running at baseball practice could be flat out wrong.

Baseball is definitely a sport where you don't HAVE to be in shape. Sure, like with anything else it will help, but it is definitely not a requirement, especially not in high school.

How hard is it to believe that a kid could run 1:50 (or close to) on almost no training. I have a pr of 1:53 and after my college career I stopped running for awhile. I spent a year after track working on a real career and eating fast food every day. Overall, my weight dropped 10lbs, but I gained a significant amount of fat. I no longer had a six pack and was almost letting myself go. One day, about a year after I stopped running, I decided to hop on the track for fun and I pulled a 1:59 out of my ass. I did this on literally no training. Now if I can run a 1:59 on no training, it's probably safe to assume that someone with more talent (and there are many people more talented) could run a 1:54. Let's now get that kid in shape (baseball might not be the same fitness level as track, but the kids still in shape at the time) and he can probably run a 1:52. Throw in a few speed workouts and some races under his belt and you're looking at a 1:50 guy. I know it seems improbable, but it's not impossible. It may crush your egos that some kid who doesn't care and doesn't really train is better than you, but it's the truth. It may make our sport look weak, but it's the truth. It's entirely possible. The statement that he has no training is misleading, but it's not too far from the truth. His accomplishments are ridiculously impressive.

yeah, take a look at professional baseball players like David Ortiz, and it'll be obvious that they really need to be in shape

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/gallery/fat_baseball/

once a running wrote:

How hard is it to believe that a kid could run 1:50 (or close to) on almost no training. His accomplishments are ridiculously impressive.

Your comments are ridiculously stupid. NOBODY in history could run 1:50 on no training. It just isn't possible. This guy probably did some secret training and then everybody falls for this no training b.s. You can bet he did some sprints. No doubt.

The kid is obviously gifted, but the article refutes the "no training" part. No FORMAL training during track may have been more accurate, as he clearly had a cross country base and ran races in the spring at various distances in addition to long jumping. So, he did have a base, he did at least some, however marginal, racing himself into shape, and he essentially ran 1:51. Still, pretty impressive.

I would say this kid is equally impressive with a 1:51 as a 16-yr old mostly off his soccer base. Did his MLS career pan out?

Kanye North wrote:

Are we seriously citing baseball as proof of training for the 800? Woo they run a couple 90' sprints a few days at week! And maybe they jog a 12 minute mile! The baseball "training" almost certainly did nothing for his 800.

90 minute sprints are impressive!

Maybe that's the secret to running fast 800s.

some of you people are really nitpicky when it comes to defining "no training"...he did run cross country but most other stuff was baseball. A few interval workouts and no base/mileage is pretty amazing for a HSer running 1:50

Take some journalism classes please...

Or change the title from zero to limited/minimal.

Or both. I recommend both.

I did some reading on how baseball players ought to train, and every article that came up said that the traditional and wrong way to train is to increase aerobic ability by jogging/distance running, around the baseball field. They advise against that, because baseball is an anaerobic sport primarily, and that both the anaerobic and smaller aerobic component can be worked on by short sprints at high intensity and hill repeats, both with limited rest to increase VO2 max. So, yes, he probably did quite a bit of running for his baseball team, and it probably consisted both of easy jogging and short, hard sprint intervals.

www.nsca.com/education/articles/methods-for-training-baseball-players/

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/sports-training/should-pitchers-run-long-distance/

someone had to do it. wrote:

once a running wrote:

How hard is it to believe that a kid could run 1:50 (or close to) on almost no training. His accomplishments are ridiculously impressive.

Your comments are ridiculously stupid. NOBODY in history could run 1:50 on no training. It just isn't possible. This guy probably did some secret training and then everybody falls for this no training b.s. You can bet he did some sprints. No doubt.

You clearly missed a good chunk of my argument. I didn't say he could run a 1:50 with no training. I said he could do it with minimal training and it wasn't impossible.

jjjjjjjjj wrote:

every article that came up said that the traditional and wrong way to train is to increase aerobic ability by jogging/distance running

So, yes, he probably did quite a bit of running for his baseball team, and it probably consisted both of easy jogging and short, hard sprint intervals.

Make up your mind.

Two Minute Thousand wrote:

yeah, take a look at professional baseball players like David Ortiz, and it'll be obvious that they really need to be in shape

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/gallery/fat_baseball/

He's a pro player, so by some posters' logic he should be able to run at least 1:47 from all that pro baseball training.

another BS story of someone running well with no training.

basketball is a lot of running and is as hard as any track workout or most. especially if you are a player that runs both ends of the floor.

and of course this guy was doing other stuff too.

still 150 is an amazing time without any specific work track work.

screwed up on my post, thought he was doing basketball,

but he's a baseball guy.

in any event, it would be interesting to know what he's really doing.

longjack wrote:

screwed up on my post, thought he was doing basketball,

but he's a baseball guy.

in any event, it would be interesting to know what he's really doing.

No, you didn't screw up. The guy runs cross country. lol.