Running requires no skill

So how many distance runners have excelled at a sport other than running?

Why would you need to because running is the most important sport. Other sports are boring. Climbing is fun but as a hobby you do for yourself. I enjoy climbing trees and going up mountains. Swimming is fun if the weather is hot and water looks nice. I would mostly just paddle around so wouldn't care about excelling in it.

If someone's running economy got better over time, what do you think happened other than they got more skilled at running?

Or, how come the athletes from cross country skiing and cycling with record VO2 max levels are not that great at running? Could it be that they are not skilled at running so the big engine is not that useful?

This is so sad. People you cannot just redefine "skill" to mean any human attribute, then claim your activity requires a great amount of skill.

There is nothing WRONG with the fact that running requires very little skill/technique, it does require a tremendous amount of endurance, speed, and strength. All sports require more or less of those 4 components, the sports that require close to equal of all those are some the hardest, most difficult (wrestling comes to mind.)

otter wrote:

salted jock wrote:

I don't think I agree that running requires NO skill, but the skill floor to be a decent runner is a lot lower than other endurance sports like cycling, swimming, and XC skiing, let alone team sports like football and basketball.

Racing, for example, is a skill, or a set of skills. Technical stuff like adjustments to your stride, arm carriage, etc. also falls in the bucket of skill/technique. Fueling, if you run marathons and ultras.

Hate to break it to you and a little off-topic but running can and is a team sport. Cross Country is especially a team sport, but when I tell one of my runners that if they are not in at least 3rd place in a track event or the entire team will lose it feels like a team sport to that kid. That's for sure!!

Did you play any actual team sports in high school? Not XC/track, I mean basketball, football, soccer, baseball, etc. Just curious.

SlowFatMaster wrote:

Or, how come the athletes from cross country skiing and cycling with record VO2 max levels are not that great at running? Could it be that they are not skilled at running so the big engine is not that useful?

That's not really "skill."

They may have good aerobic engines, but they don't have any running-specific fitness. Their muscles are trained to ski, not run.

I recently starting swimming as a cross-training activity. I have a decent aerobic base from running, but no swimming-specific fitness, so it doesn't translate very well. I can do short repeats all day, but anything longer and my form breaks down. The muscular endurance just isn't there.

otter wrote:

salted jock wrote:

I don't think I agree that running requires NO skill, but the skill floor to be a decent runner is a lot lower than other endurance sports like cycling, swimming, and XC skiing, let alone team sports like football and basketball.

Racing, for example, is a skill, or a set of skills. Technical stuff like adjustments to your stride, arm carriage, etc. also falls in the bucket of skill/technique. Fueling, if you run marathons and ultras.

Hate to break it to you and a little off-topic but running can and is a team sport. Cross Country is especially a team sport, but when I tell one of my runners that if they are not in at least 3rd place in a track event or the entire team will lose it feels like a team sport to that kid. That's for sure!!

XC is not a team sport. But that's a topic for another inane thread.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

Kind of a meaningless thread. If true, the implication is that all distance runners are bad athletes which isn't true. I had teammates in HS that were all-stars in Little League and others that started for the basketball team during the winter. I heard that Frank Shorter was a power hitter in LL.

TRUE. Did y'all peep my man Centro's IG video on his bday where he was shooting Cornhole? -- jokes aside, he looked like a basketball player there. Cool, coordinated. Centro's an athlete.

Wow21 wrote:

SDSU Aztec wrote:

Kind of a meaningless thread. If true, the implication is that all distance runners are bad athletes which isn't true. I had teammates in HS that were all-stars in Little League and others that started for the basketball team during the winter. I heard that Frank Shorter was a power hitter in LL.

TRUE. Did y'all peep my man Centro's IG video on his bday where he was shooting Cornhole? -- jokes aside, he looked like a basketball player there. Cool, coordinated. Centro's an athlete.

I'd say that to be average at running you don't need to be athletic at all. But I do think the elites tend to be good athletes and could have been good at team sports.

DW wrote:

There's a lot of skill involved in technique and countless hours improving it. However, to the untrained eye it looks unskilled.

You could make the same argument for figure skating, saying all they do is skate around in circles. But, they've put in 1000's of hours improving technical aspects of their stride.

Thank you.

salted jock wrote:

SlowFatMaster wrote:

Or, how come the athletes from cross country skiing and cycling with record VO2 max levels are not that great at running? Could it be that they are not skilled at running so the big engine is not that useful?

That's not really "skill."

They may have good aerobic engines, but they don't have any running-specific fitness. Their muscles are trained to ski, not run.

I recently starting swimming as a cross-training activity. I have a decent aerobic base from running, but no swimming-specific fitness, so it doesn't translate very well. I can do short repeats all day, but anything longer and my form breaks down. The muscular endurance just isn't there.

Have swimming coaches watch you swim? They might have something to say about your swimming skills.

EZ10Miler wrote:

otter wrote:

Hate to break it to you and a little off-topic but running can and is a team sport. Cross Country is especially a team sport, but when I tell one of my runners that if they are not in at least 3rd place in a track event or the entire team will lose it feels like a team sport to that kid. That's for sure!!

XC is not a team sport. But that's a topic for another inane thread.

Bowling is a team sport. Perhaps not in as strong a way as football, but never-the-less it can be a team sport.

Wow21 wrote:

Wow21 wrote:

TRUE. Did y'all peep my man Centro's IG video on his bday where he was shooting Cornhole? -- jokes aside, he looked like a basketball player there. Cool, coordinated. Centro's an athlete.

I'd say that to be average at running you don't need to be athletic at all. But I do think the elites tend to be good athletes and could have been good at team sports.

So, golfers are also not athletic at all? Golfers are not fit? Bowlers have skill but no fitness?

These things are relative to the sport. Also if you walk all 18 holes in golf you could be considered very fit for

someone over 40 years of age. All of this is meaningless.

Precious Roy wrote:

Everyone naturally knows how to run.

No. EGAD no. Wrong wrong wrong! Typical slogger nonsense from this board.

Most everyone can learn to jog (some people can't even do that right) but NOBODY knows how to run fast right off the bat. They have to be taught, or at least spend a few years figuring it out on their own.

And no, it's no matter of fast-twitch muscles or strength or whatever. It's all the form, every last bit of it. Mo Farah didn't close a 10,000 in 52 on the explosive power of his stick legs.

Armstronglivs wrote:

So how many distance runners have excelled at a sport other than running?

Peter Snell is one of the best all-around athletes in history. He was a national-class tennis player as a teen, cleaned up in two Olympics as a runner, and went on to win the Superstars competition when he was pushing 40.

Some people love running and others hate it... the haters will never understand........ and that's fine, just stay out of our way when we're out there.

YMMV wrote:

Armstronglivs wrote:

So how many distance runners have excelled at a sport other than running?

Peter Snell is one of the best all-around athletes in history. He was a national-class tennis player as a teen, cleaned up in two Olympics as a runner, and went on to win the Superstars competition when he was pushing 40.

All true. But distinguished - in every way - by his rarity. I suggest very few runners would have his range of sporting talents.

Armstronglivs wrote:

So how many distance runners have excelled at a sport other than running?

Not Ed Eyestone. Due to his baseball coach cutting him from the team as a sophomore, it was T&F's, XC, and road running's gain!