The article isn't in reference to Bekele, I never mentioned Bekele - so what exactly does he have to do with it?
Would I "dig" around to find out your coaching credentials? I have as much interest in who you are as I do in Hep C mate.
And if you think "being registered" on the Letsrun message board means anything at all with respect to track and field knowledge you are tragically deluded my friend.
The article isn't in reference to Bekele, I never mentioned Bekele - so what exactly does he have to do with it?
Would I "dig" around to find out your coaching credentials? I have as much interest in who you are as I do in Hep C mate.
And if you think "being registered" on the Letsrun message board means anything at all with respect to track and field knowledge you are tragically deluded my friend.
It was me who mentioned Bekele and yes I agree with you that these posters should not be questioning Nick Willis's words of wisdom.
I was trying to point out to people like the person you are arguing with just how little they know about distance running.
This statement shows your limited intelligence on the sport. Lets break this down by math. A 12.0 is a 24.0 200m, a 48.0 400m, a 1:36.0 800m. Let that sink in. Jim Ryun's close in his last 1200 of a 1500 is still the best in history IMO. Matt Centrowitz closing in 50x during a 3:50x 1500m. Nope, 50x and 48.0 are still night and day. Please pardon the slight sarcasm but if Bekele was an athlete that could close in 12.0, he'd be a 48.0 athlete and please tell me what a 48.0 400m 2:01 marathon Bekele would be for the in between distances....I would genuinely like to hear.
No, you don't know what you are talking about. Bekele is a long distance runner, not a middle distance runner. Bekele's fastest 100m splits were 12.5 seconds. How can you claim to be an expert and not know the difference between different types of athletes?
It was more like 13-mid. I think people confuse the end of the exchange zone (90m to go) with 100m due to the larger turns and shorter straights on the Brussels track.
I clocked him at 26 seconds for the last 200. Do you remember back in 2009 when a certain poster was insisting that Bekele ran sub 12 for the last 100m in the World Championship 5000 when it was actually 13.4? Someone even changed the Wikipedia page at the time to make that ridiculous claim.
Definitely crazy talk here. A 100 fly should never be a requirement for a 4 minute miler, and I couldn't imagine anyone running slower than 12 for a 100 fly. As far as I know, the slowest 400 meter time possible for someone that is in shape to run a 4 minute mile is around 54-55 seconds. If anyone can show me where a sub 4 miler ran slower than a 55 second 400 I would be greatly interested to see.
There isn't a single guy who can only run 54 and broke 4. In fact, It's probably not possible or very, very, very rare to go sub 2 with 55 speed. If you had a 55 second 400m runner, the fastest they could run for the 8 (if they had extremely good endurance) might be mid-high 1:57. And no one can run sub 4 off of 1:57 800m
Curious how many people have checked of Nick Willis's basic requirements for a sub four runner and have or have not run sub four.
From a tweet of his, if you can run a flying 100m sub 12.5 and run a four mile tempo in 20 minutes, you have the basic bare bones of a sub four miler.
Obviously these seem things that many highly competitive runners can do without even being a sub four miler but am curious how many people are on both sides of the camp with these kinds of metrics.
(Personally i can currently run sub 12.5 in flats with really sh!tty form but my endurance currently sucks and i can only run a half mile at 5 flat pace)
Does anyone have advice on how to get to a flying 100m faster? I have always had great endurance even when I was younger, but the fastest I've ever gone in a flying 100m (though not all out - probably slightly faster than 400 effort) was 12.9. But I have run a 4 mile tempo in 19:40.
Definitely crazy talk here. A 100 fly should never be a requirement for a 4 minute miler, and I couldn't imagine anyone running slower than 12 for a 100 fly. As far as I know, the slowest 400 meter time possible for someone that is in shape to run a 4 minute mile is around 54-55 seconds. If anyone can show me where a sub 4 miler ran slower than a 55 second 400 I would be greatly interested to see.
12.5 was Bekele's top speed in his track running prime. Nick Willis knows enough about running to make these comments without ridicule.
I know this is 3 years old, but you really think Bekele's top speed was 50 second 400m pace?
Bumping this thread as I have the aerobic endurance but not the leg speed. I have only hit a flying 12.7 as my fastest flying 100 after a rest day, but most of my strides have been around ~13.3 after an 8 mile easy run. I've also run 4 mile tempos in 19:45 and a 1:54 800. Is it possible for me to get under 4 this indoors? I think I could run ~52 in a 400 but have never trained specifically for it
Bumping this thread as I have the aerobic endurance but not the leg speed. I have only hit a flying 12.7 as my fastest flying 100 after a rest day, but most of my strides have been around ~13.3 after an 8 mile easy run. I've also run 4 mile tempos in 19:45 and a 1:54 800. Is it possible for me to get under 4 this indoors? I think I could run ~52 in a 400 but have never trained specifically for it
When I was in 4:05 shape I could hit 23 as a fast 200 at the end of a cutdown set of 200s. I could have run under 20 for 4 miles, but it wouldn't have been a tempo for me (probably 22 min. or so would have been about tempo pace). What the original thread was getting at is that there is a combination of fitnesses at a certain level needed to break 4:00. This mix can differ by person.
For what it's worth, I think I could have run 4:03 in a better paced race. I also had 49/50 400 m. speed and could run 1:49. There are plenty of guys with slower 800 ability than I had that have broken 4:00, though (or who have equivalent 800 ability and ran way under 4:00). I wouldn't limit yourself--see how you continue to improve and work on what you need to work on. For me, the two great "what if" questions about my training are "what if I had taken my in-season recovery days easier so I didn't get overtrained" and "what if I had incorporated more tempo and 5km pace workouts?" I think it could have made a difference. It's all about finding the right mix of training at the right time.
You have to read into what he is saying, which is that you need to develop your all round abilities. So a 400 time is misleading in that regard, hence the flying 100 requirement and the tempo, which would be a general training run suggesting sub 31 minute 10k ability.
You have to read into what he is saying, which is that you need to develop your all round abilities. So a 400 time is misleading in that regard, hence the flying 100 requirement and the tempo, which would be a general training run suggesting sub 31 minute 10k ability.
Since when is a 4 mile run at 10k pace a 'tempo'?
Standard HS tempo🤣seriously should be around 30mins for a 10k with that tempo. With all this stuff there are exceptions. Only run 12.8? Better be a 28:00 10k guy. Have a 49s quarter? You can get away with being a 31:00 guy
Yes I can do both, the sub 12.5 would probably be a tighter finish, can easily run a sub 20 four mile tempo. Could race four miles in about 18:30. My mile PR is 4:04... So I don't think that's the formula for breaking 4. And actually, I can name a few guys that couldn't break 25 in an 8k race (so a tempo would be nowhere near 5 flat pace) but they could easily break 4 in the mile.
I don’t think anyone “easily breaks 4” in the mile. Takes talent, effort, and years of training