jamin wrote:
There seems to be a lot of resistance at the 14:40-15:00 level. Rare to see a post-collegiate who's at that level for years have a mini-breakthrough and go sub-14:30. I think largely because, if they aren't in the top 1% of talent, they need to do almost twice as much training, and are constrained by time, responsibilities, etc.
I assume you are talking about yourself here. Let's be clear- you don't have real time constraints and responsibilities. Any time restraints and excessive responsibilities are preconceived by yourself and are self imposed. You don't have kids. You work a lax office job. You aren't even in a relationship. I repeat, you do not have real time constraints or excessive responsibilities. Shift your normal and your expectations for yourself. Make it happen.
Another thing. Remove the misnomer that "if you aren't in the top 1% you need to do almost twice as much training." All of the elites are doing "the twice as much training." Nut up.
My hang up as a 2:18 guy from getting better? Focus and not over doing it which go hand in hand. I personally have no problem with the motivation of doing the miles or getting the workouts in, it's dialing it back when I get tired that's the problem. I train mostly by myself in order to have time to get my training in, rest in, spend time with my family etc. Having some more feedback from outside has been my limiting factor. That's why this year I am now working with a coach and ran probably the best performance of my life despite the time not showing it at Boston. The other part is staying focused. Not staying late at work. Screwing around on my phone instead of going to bed after I put my kiddo down. That sort of thing.
Ultimately, I think the hang up for each person is going to be very personal, but I think the biggest thing is that people need to shift their perspective on what working hard is and actually putting all your effort into running if that's what you want to do.