Will I be the future of U.S. distance running?

I run 12.7 second 100m, will I be the future of Jamaica? Bolt is my hero and I work very hard

Just being a d!ck as is usual here. Your times are pretty good, but not promising if you are seriously thinking of becoming a professional in the future. The main things to consider in light o this are:

1) how long you been running, and what has been your mileage progression

2) how much more your body will respond o training (this is hard to know, with 4-6 more years of hard training you could continue to progress and run 1:50/3:40/sub 8:00 or you might not even crack 4:15 and 9:20, you'll only find out by continuing to be consistent

Thanks for sharing! 1) I have been running for 4 years and my mileage progression has been 20 mpw freshman year of HS, 30-40 mpw as a sophomore, 45-55 mpw as a junior, 70-75 mpw as a senior, 90-100 mpw as a freshman in college. 2) I think my body will respond to many more years of training. I think the key to getting better is more speed work. My 400 meter pr is 58. I have a lot of strength, I run 15-17 mile long runs at 6:30 mile pace. I lack speed because at the end of races I have trouble kicking and passing people. Most of my workouts are aerobic and vo2 max based. What would you recommend to me to improve my speed.

The honest answer is, we don't know.

To many moving parts.

You are young, you might train too much an get injured.

You might get a girlfriend and that changes things.

You might be a father an that changes things.

If you do it right, stay healthy and keep running while getting a professional career of some kind, you might be a very good runner for a very long time.

Will you be the future for US distance running?

99.99% chance you are not the future of US distance running.

But whatever happens, we will watch.

Henbob22 wrote:

Thanks for sharing! 1) I have been running for 4 years and my mileage progression has been 20 mpw freshman year of HS, 30-40 mpw as a sophomore, 45-55 mpw as a junior, 70-75 mpw as a senior, 90-100 mpw as a freshman in college. 2) I think my body will respond to many more years of training. I think the key to getting better is more speed work. My 400 meter pr is 58. I have a lot of strength, I run 15-17 mile long runs at 6:30 mile pace. I lack speed because at the end of races I have trouble kicking and passing people. Most of my workouts are aerobic and vo2 max based. What would you recommend to me to improve my speed.

58/2:03 would indicate that you are a strength runner as slowing down by only 3 seconds per lap is impressive. However, I was a strength runner and ran 2:08/9:28 with a PR of 60, so either your 3200 or 400 PR is soft. I'm guessing you're capable of 56 or faster.

Most college runners train enough to maximize their potential so being a fanatic won't help you close the gap. My advice is to train at a sensible level, focus on improvement and not compare yourself to the top runners.

All good points, it is hard to say which PR is soft because in my 3200 meter PR of 9:40 I ran the last mile alone. In my 400 meter PR I ran 58 in a dual meet. I have always been a fanatic for running, it inspires me to read about other runners training and how they became great. Running has become an obsession.

Tips to improve speed assuming you stay in the 800-1500m distances:

A) raw sprint speed once very 7-10 days (short hill sprints, flat track sprints whether they're flying or front a start, both crucial. Long recoveries and all out efforts.

B) 1 session at least weekly of 100m strides (4-8) working from 800m to 600m pace. I've found these to do wonders for my speed

C) gym (back squat, deadlift, some Olympic lifts, push/pull up and bench press.) these aren't necessary to go crazy on like a sprinter would given a person could run a fast mile and even 800 on your incredible endurance, but lightly sticking to a basic schedule of these would be helpful for developing further speed

Henbob22 wrote:

What differentiates me from other runners is my motivation, work ethic, and discipline.

Thinking that your motivation, work ethic and discipline makes you special is a sure sign you're not.

Hopefully, one day you'll think that your efforts are all ordinary, that's the day you can call yourself a serious runner. When it's 6am, 35°, dark and rainy, and you are able to just go out and run without being compelled to broadcast it on twatter...you're a serious runner. When there's a foot of snow on the ground and you look forward to running in it...you're a serious runner.

To answer your question, "Will I be the future of U.S. distance running?" The correct answer is, "You're already part of it." To what degree that will be is unknown, and it's not worth your time to even think about it. Just focus on the things that you can control today.... tomorrow, next week, next month... and go for it.

Pssst, there are guys who ran the same times as you in high school who eventually ran faster than 99.5 percent of everyone who has ever posted on this message board. Are you one of them? Probably not. You might be. Only time will tell.

Henbob22 wrote:

Hello, I am a freshman runner in college. I graduated high school with PRs of 2:03 in the 800, 4:25 in the 1600, and 9:40 in the 3200. I know those are not great times, but I think I am capable of much more. My improvement has been linear each season. I am not the most talented runner, but my one talent is I can run high mileage without getting injured. I have run consecutive months at 90 mpw and even went up to 100 mpw for a week without any problems. I believe one day I will run a very fast marathon. What differentiates me from other runners is my motivation, work ethic, and discipline. I am inspired by Jim Ryun, Gerry Lindgren, and Cam Levins. I am willing to commit my life to running, and I will do whatever it takes to be great.

You have the makings of being the next Matt London - congratulations!

Henbob22 wrote:

Hello, I am a freshman runner in college. I graduated high school with PRs of 2:03 in the 800, 4:25 in the 1600, and 9:40 in the 3200. I know those are not great times, but I think I am capable of much more. My improvement has been linear each season. I am not the most talented runner, but my one talent is I can run high mileage without getting injured. I have run consecutive months at 90 mpw and even went up to 100 mpw for a week without any problems. I believe one day I will run a very fast marathon. What differentiates me from other runners is my motivation, work ethic, and discipline. I am inspired by Jim Ryun, Gerry Lindgren, and Cam Levins. I am willing to commit my life to running, and I will do whatever it takes to be great.

Millions have work ethic, motivation, and determination. Unfortunately, talent is the ultimate decider at the end of the day.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck and urge you to remember the following- failure or success at running does not define who you are as a person. Don’t forget to develop yourself outside of running. To misquote Fight Club: ‘You are not your hobby.’

Probably not.

That's just an easy answer to say as the chances for anyone to be the best are astronomically small. However, you can probably improve quite a bit. Since you aren't getting injured from the increase in mileage that's a real good thing. You do need to work on your speed so that you can be competitive on the track.

Good luck!