hey,
What can I say - I read the article, and thought of three races off the top of my head that were better than those listed, Sydnee's WR and my own AR ... if we are looking at winning the race and a record. I added my time, as I needed a pat on the back for the day. Thank you for the encouragement of "humble" title.
Regarding vo2 - I was treadmill tested from 1989 through 1997 by Dr. David Martin in Atlanta, Georgia. HE is the formost authortity on reading treadmill tests and applying to how you can train better: In my opinion. Example:
On May 1, 1992, my sustainable vo2 max was 70.0 and the highest reading 75.3. That's approaching the normal range of runners. How did Dr. Dave help me? He said that I needed to continue to raise this number, throughout the summer, which meant continue to do my long runs (90 mins), and add a track workout of 800's in 2:30 or miles in 5:00 instead of a speed session. The Olympic Trials are June 22, 26 and 28th finals for the 1500m run - what do you do? You know that a 22-year old Steve Holman can run fast by then ... Terrance Herrington won the 1500m the year before at the USATF/New York on a kick.... Joe Falcon ran 3:49. in 1990. You know in your heart that you have to do speed work ... and yet, if you trust in the numbers, you know he is right. I decided to add this workout weekly: May 19: 2x1000 254.9, 2:54.2; then 800 221, 1000 255; 800 220; 1000 255 and similar workouts. I even did this type of workout on September 1 before Reiti 3:33 1500m on Sept 6: 3 miless in 15:22 while Marcus O'Sullivan ran repeat 200's. I felt I needed to continue to bump up my vo2, as you can only work as a % of this number. Dr. Dave said the highest he had ever tested was 91% of vo2 (threshold).
I was tested again in September post-season, and had raised my sustainable vo2 to 75.5, thus getting a good grade on my report card from Dr. Dave.
In 1993 I was tested, and I too am blown away by the results: sustainable vo2 85.2 with the highest range 88.3.
For trainig that year, Dr. Dave said - "pile on the speed work. If you can raise your threshold to 90%, you will be awesome."
So maybe nr is 85 right now, but is this sustainable or the high number... my guess, is that it is the high number. If he is 81 sustainable, maybe he could race 13:38 right now on the track. But that is not his goal - Cross-country and what's between the ears is. I met Brad Hudson on a plane after the Oly Trials, and reading into his thoughts, this is information that he is light years ahead of others, and how he plans his workouts. What nr has going for him is his age. He thinks he can win, or, he knows he will run well. That's the stuff that Dr. Dave can't measure. When I raced post age 31 (1992-1996), it helped going to the line thinking: "I know I am fit and will race well, I just don't know how well." When you toe the line, and Morcelli, Komen, or Kiptanui is going for the WR, it was hard for me to put myself in their class. Self-defeating, you have to focus on your race. Mike Durkin, my coach and 2x Olympian said in 1992: "Tell me who won the race, when you hit the finish line." What he meant was, be in the race at the finish, that as soon as you cross the line, you could point to the winner. If you knew this, rather than being told later who the winner was, then you had competed. This took the pressure off, and letting me focus on my race.
js