Cici wrote:
I'm 13% body fat, no six pack, 6ft 156 lbs and I run a 4:34. Mile is also not my event. No excuses.
Well you have a 4:2x at a minimum in you if you clean that up. It's also possible your flat better than the OP, train smarter/longer, or a combination of the two. I'm sure an elite talent like a Hicham or a Kiprop could scare 5:00 even at 200lbs.
I remember one time out riding this guy showed up to ride with us and he was BIG, easily looked like he could have been pushing 90kg. We started hitting this 6 mile 9% climb hard, and halfway through he is still with us. I remember thinking to myself "jesus, this guy would be insane if he was lean". He cracked eventually, but only finished a couple minutes down, after having held close to 5w/kg for the first fifteen minutes or so. Well, he got lean over the next year and within a few years was riding WT.