44 year old slob goes down to local track and runs 6:17 mile

San Marcos Mike wrote:

I have a really, really difficult problem with this type of logic. Throughout my life, I have always been judged on something about my looks and so bringing appearance into running is about as petty as one can be.

First of all, let me be one of the many who is not sympathetic to your tears of woe for being shown up since those tears are about as crocodile as you can get since your depth of character is about as shallow as the everglades.

You seriously judged someone purely by their looks and then purported to establish their ability by those looks?

In 2001, When I was 5'8" and weighed about 183, which is similar in BMI to your guy, I was assisting in a track and field class and took the group out in what would amount to a 6:15 mile at a true 400m track at a high school campus.

Furthermore, as I am still at a BMI around 27, I was able to put a 5:57 first mile split into a 5K race at the age of 41 in 2015. That race resulted in a 19:35, a time of which I am very proud. I am not skinny. I am not slender. I currently weigh 168 pounds on a 5'8" frame. When I raced the 19:35, I weighed 5 pounds more than that.

If running needs to be reduced to a shallow pithy judgment sport by you, then you are don't need to do this sport. I hope, for the love of god, that this will be the last time you -ever- judge someone's running ability by their looks.

I really have nothing else to say to you. I wish you nothing.

Mike

Stunned wrote:

So here's the story. One day we were at work lunch talking about life insurance. There is this add that says if you can run an 8:00 mile then you qualify for a discount. There were 4 of us at the table. I am the only runner who trains about 45-50 miles per week. Of course I can do it. Two are completely out of shape. One is a 44 year old hobby jogger. So the hobby jogger starts talking trash. He runs just a couple of miles a day claims he can "easily" run the 8:00 mile and "probably" a 7:00 mile. I made a bet with him that there was no way in hell he could do a 7:00 mile. He is 215 lb and 6'1" and literally has a belly. So that Son of a b!tch goes down to the track and runs a 6:17 mile. I timed it on my watch and he timed it with his God Damn iPhone in his hand. WTF??!! I asked him how this was possible that he ran that fast. HE LITERALLY HAS A BELLY. I know it's not "fast" but for this guys it's like a WR or something. He said he only runs "quality" every day. In high school and college he says was a good runner and ran high mileage. If he had to do over that he would run less volume and more quality. This dude is a masters Clydesdale and he just ran that fast. So I am wondering now what is a good mile time for an average 44 year old?

San Marcos Mike wrote:

I have a really, really difficult problem with this type of logic. Throughout my life, I have always been judged on something about my looks and so bringing appearance into running is about as petty as one can be.

First of all, let me be one of the many who is not sympathetic to your tears of woe for being shown up since those tears are about as crocodile as you can get since your depth of character is about as shallow as the everglades.

You seriously judged someone purely by their looks and then purported to establish their ability by those looks?

In 2001, When I was 5'8" and weighed about 183, which is similar in BMI to your guy, I was assisting in a track and field class and took the group out in what would amount to a 6:15 mile at a true 400m track at a high school campus.

Furthermore, as I am still at a BMI around 27, I was able to put a 5:57 first mile split into a 5K race at the age of 41 in 2015. That race resulted in a 19:35, a time of which I am very proud. I am not skinny. I am not slender. I currently weigh 168 pounds on a 5'8" frame. When I raced the 19:35, I weighed 5 pounds more than that.

If running needs to be reduced to a shallow pithy judgment sport by you, then you are don't need to do this sport. I hope, for the love of god, that this will be the last time you -ever- judge someone's running ability by their looks.

I really have nothing else to say to you. I wish you nothing.

Mike

Stunned wrote:

So here's the story. One day we were at work lunch talking about life insurance. There is this add that says if you can run an 8:00 mile then you qualify for a discount. There were 4 of us at the table. I am the only runner who trains about 45-50 miles per week. Of course I can do it. Two are completely out of shape. One is a 44 year old hobby jogger. So the hobby jogger starts talking trash. He runs just a couple of miles a day claims he can "easily" run the 8:00 mile and "probably" a 7:00 mile. I made a bet with him that there was no way in hell he could do a 7:00 mile. He is 215 lb and 6'1" and literally has a belly. So that Son of a b!tch goes down to the track and runs a 6:17 mile. I timed it on my watch and he timed it with his God Damn iPhone in his hand. WTF??!! I asked him how this was possible that he ran that fast. HE LITERALLY HAS A BELLY. I know it's not "fast" but for this guys it's like a WR or something. He said he only runs "quality" every day. In high school and college he says was a good runner and ran high mileage. If he had to do over that he would run less volume and more quality. This dude is a masters Clydesdale and he just ran that fast. So I am wondering now what is a good mile time for an average 44 year old?

The fat one wrote:

San Marcos Mike wrote:

I have a really, really difficult problem with this type of logic. Throughout my life, I have always been judged on something about my looks and so bringing appearance into running is about as petty as one can be.

First of all, let me be one of the many who is not sympathetic to your tears of woe for being shown up since those tears are about as crocodile as you can get since your depth of character is about as shallow as the everglades.

You seriously judged someone purely by their looks and then purported to establish their ability by those looks?

In 2001, When I was 5'8" and weighed about 183, which is similar in BMI to your guy, I was assisting in a track and field class and took the group out in what would amount to a 6:15 mile at a true 400m track at a high school campus.

Furthermore, as I am still at a BMI around 27, I was able to put a 5:57 first mile split into a 5K race at the age of 41 in 2015. That race resulted in a 19:35, a time of which I am very proud. I am not skinny. I am not slender. I currently weigh 168 pounds on a 5'8" frame. When I raced the 19:35, I weighed 5 pounds more than that.

If running needs to be reduced to a shallow pithy judgment sport by you, then you are don't need to do this sport. I hope, for the love of god, that this will be the last time you -ever- judge someone's running ability by their looks.

I really have nothing else to say to you. I wish you nothing.

Mike

Humblebrag of the year Michelle !

Get back to us when you can jog , chubby .

San Marcos Mike wrote:

There is no reason to expect anyone who does not fit a "beautiful people" mold to do anything worthwhile or productive.

This is clearly because many of wish to see the world populated with people who you want to sleep with, or who will find you people to sleep with, exclusively.

However, real life is not like that. Welcome, Mr. Juvenile, to real life. Real life is not simply populated by doctorate theory, nor is it simply an academic argument.

Empirically, there are people who defy the odds against appearance every single day of your life, and it does not need, nor require, a dissertation to display this.

Having said this, there is every reason to expect someone of any build to do anything that they can prove that they are capable of. If, in fact, you do possess an M.D., Ph. D, or Psy. D. degree as you represent, then you would know that research has extraneous variables and/or controls. What should this tell you? Trends are just that...trends. It is not consistent when you think of something like running.

As for losing the weight "I want to," I have not represented that I wish to lose weight. I currently am at 170 pounds and it works well for me. In addition, I am still capable of good times, as I timed at 33:52 for an 8K on a cross-country course less than three weeks ago. Sure, I am a bit faster than when I did this same course at 35:34 when I was 34 and 10 pounds heavier, but all it is, is time. It is not a byproduct of expectation.

I entreat you to stop judging people by what you think they can or can't do, both you and the original poster, and just judge yourself by your own running. Stop the competitions that mean nothing. Stop. Stop. Freaking Stop.

Mike

MD PHD PSYD wrote:

Mike, there are no good reasons to expect any 215 pound 6 foot 1 guy with a gut could run a 6:17 mile

You are just an oversensitive fat guy who can't lose the weight you want to.