41 year old chasing sub-4 mile

Speaker wrote:

Reminds me a bit of Alex Vero.

Just casually decided he was going to run a sub 2:15 marathon and make the GB Olympic team.

Shock news: he didn't.

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/training/are-you-inspired-by-alex-veros-ambitions-or-slightly-insulted/101396.html

Alex Vero devoted himself to running and went from being a fat non-runner to a 1:13 HM runner. He got injured in the end, but was looking good for a 2:30 marathon time before that, no joke time.

I bet this guy gives up in less than 6 months having never broken 5:30.

With a good endocrinologist and an unlimited supply of testosterone and oxygen boosting drugs, who knows what this guy can do.

pah... lightweight, 18 ounces or you've no self respect

It is bad that we are even spending time talking about this. It is utterly delusional. I suspect he might be able to break 6. He should have maybe tried that first before trying to claim he could be one of the top 5 masters milers of all time. I doubt he gets under 5:30. He will probably just injure himself and forever lament what could have been (in his delusional mind).

Meh...seen this before -- like the guy who started running in 2008 and set his sights on breaking the 5k world record in the 2012 Olympic final.

My take: go for it. People who set out to do these things clearly have a lot to learn. I really hope they learn something about themselves through these sorts of endeavors; things like the value of hard work, the thrill of self-improvement, and the importance of setting thoughtful goals.

Good luck, Paul. Stick with it!

Over/Under:

6 months of training

6:30 mile

LRC Participant wrote:

Over/Under:

6 months of training

6:30 mile

Seems about right. That's what I'd put the 50% mark at. Say maybe 10% chance he gets sub 6 in the next 6 months.

Reminds me of a convo with an odd guy:

"I'm going to run the 2017 Boston Marathon."

"That's 4 years away. But uh, okay. What's your PR?"

"PR?"

"Haha - personal record. In the marathon."

"Oh. I don't run yet."

"..."

LRC Participant wrote:

Over/Under:

6 months of training

6:30 mile

That's being too generous. It'll take at least a year and a half for him to hit 6:30 or below.

I honestly believe that if this dude even has sub-5 in him, it'll take 5+ years.

Sub-4, though? Wow. All I can say is that daydreaming is fun.

The US press love this sort of stuff as it goes to the heart of what a lot of American culture is about - The American dream; overcoming the impossible; bad turns good; daring to dream; average Joe does good; small town guy becomes hero; inspirational etc. etc.

This sort of stuff is all very well and good in Hollywood but in reality it is about as insulting as the phrase 'in God we trust'.

The reporters should be fired for putting this to print as less than about 1 hour of reserach on the history of the mile, would be enough to dismiss this guy as the buffoon that he is.

He really would have more chance of going to the moon.

Advisor wrote:

Speaker wrote:

Reminds me a bit of Alex Vero.

Just casually decided he was going to run a sub 2:15 marathon and make the GB Olympic team.

Shock news: he didn't.

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/training/are-you-inspired-by-alex-veros-ambitions-or-slightly-insulted/101396.html

Alex Vero devoted himself to running and went from being a fat non-runner to a 1:13 HM runner. He got injured in the end, but was looking good for a 2:30 marathon time before that, no joke time.

I bet this guy gives up in less than 6 months having never broken 5:30.

The "41 year old" has no respect for the sport. I read some of his other blog entries/articles and he started his training by running one mile in 8:45, then was so sore he could not run for a week.

On the other hand, Vero had total respect for the sport. If any LRCers have not seen Vero's documentary, "Running To The Limits", it is worth the time. The premise of the movie is that there is a perception that British marathoning is a shadow of what is was from the 60s to 80s due to lack of commitment. Vero was an overweight (but still relatively young) documentary filmmaker who wanted to see if he could he be competitive with people from the Golden Era if he totally immersed himself in the sport. He made progress pretty quickly and, as a previous poster wrote, got injured.

Less than 2 months into it he's already running 1.6 miles in 15 minutes on a treadmill. The 4 minute mile is just around the corner.

Reading his blog (

http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/callinganaudible-chasing-the-dream-the-four-minute-mile/

), he's already full of whining and excuses and minor injuries. The guy is annoyingly full of himself.

But hey, it worked. This thread wouldn't exist if he hadn't announced his ridiculous quest.

Someone posted this on his twitter:

"Every runner is a Sub-4 miler. There are 2 kinds..toughness on the track, who run under 4:00 and toughness on the mind - who grind"

Anybody have any clue what that is supposed to mean?

This guy is a bozo. I doubt if he could even break 5 minutes in his prime, let alone 4 minutes at his forties.

No idea but likely someone who is happy to listen to his BS.

I wrote a fairly long comment outlining exaclty why it is impossible for him to achive this but it's pending approval. Wonder if it will get published.

This guy seems very similar to the Rossi mindset. If they talk about it enough, they may actually start to believe it.

Why rag on this guy? Its great to have one more runner chasing a time, not just a finisher medal.

Nerp wrote:Why rag on this guy? Its great to have one more runner chasing a time, not just a finisher medal.

And also cash! He seems to mention quite a bit about money being involved likely I guess due to him thinking that if he makes it then he can sell his story.

He also mentions (jokingly) about his favourite beer company providing him with sponsorship.

But yes, overall, it's about his ego. Anyone with sense and dignity would work away quietly under the radar, do their research and find out if this was remotely possible. If he was a guy who had some sort of pedigree to work from e.g. a sub 17:00 5K or even had run lots of 10K's etc, he may be taken more seriously.

The arrogance of this guy is beyond belief. Just wanders onto a treadmill (at least 25 lbs over weight) runs just over 1 mile at 8:00 + / mile pace and then thinks he has a chance of getting near 4:00 for the mile. He obviously cannot do maths either since his 100m interval times were all 20s + which is just another indication of how far off he is from this.

And his whole writing style is just so typical and lazy in his approach that in all honesty I'm suspecting mental illness. He is supposed to be a lawyer (yeah I know) so we must assume a reasonable level of education. Yet he is just so misguided about the very basics of running.

This pipe dream will die the death by Xmas I'm predicting or at least, it will be changed to something more realistic once the penny eventually drops - "hmm I can't run 1 x 100m at 15s, how can I possibly run 16 x 100m back to back at that pace - I'm screwed"

Anyone able to deduce who his "coach" is? It is a former college mile champion (I am assuming that means indoor?) who now coaches NCAA cross country. (Sullivan?) But then he says that the coach ran "close to 4:00 in the mile" and Sully ran quite faster (3:50)

Also they must live in the same town because they are talking about meeting up for drinks.

Sleuths, figure this out!