I heard this great story on NPR about Jamaica’s sprinters. They were trying to discover why a little country like Jamaica has produced so many world class sprinters.
There were a number of theories suggested.
1. Coaching – Not really. The primary coach at the world class training facility in Jamaica was trained in America.
2. Diet – Sprinters in Jamaica eat a lot of yams and green bananas. But so do other countries who do not have such speedy runners.
3. Genetics – Nope. There is no key genetic sequence that differentiates the fastest sprinters from the slower ones.
4. Doping – Well, there isn’t any evidence of this.
5. Attitude – Perhaps. In Jamaica, sprinting is a national sport and gets lots of attention. The entire country follows the sport. From the time they are little kids, Jamaicans are brought up to love sprinting. This might explain it.
Of course, if it is just attitude that would suggest that anyone could become a faster sprinter than they are now. I have a hard time getting faster and it is probably the result of my attitude.
Running at an 8 min per mile pace feels comfortable. A 7 min pace feels a bit painful. A 6 min pace really hurts! If I had a stronger desire to be faster, I’d be able to run through that pain.
I just don’t and I’m ok with that.
Joggle on.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Yes speed is in my head during every training session. I’ve settled into a routine.
Monday is my speed day, I give 90%-95% effort. 3.25 miles outdoors and then I go to the indoor track and run 6 250 meter sprints with 250 meter walking in between. The sprint section is the only thing I don’t do joggling.
Wednesday is my hill workout. I take it a little easier, but have two major hills to climb. 3.5 miles outdoors ( I love Google Earth’s elevation feature)
Friday is my long run day. I joggle 6.2 miles on a treadmill, but I might start increasing that has by legs get stronger and if my shin splints don’t come back.
I don’t have time to joggle more than that per week right now and I don’t think I’m in shape to do more. I started out 3 months ago with a BMI of 28.3 and I’ve lost 18 lbs since then. I’ve still got 7 lbs to go to get out of the overweight category.
But every run I keep telling myself that I need to push a little harder, joggle a little faster. I figure I’ve got to do a 5k in 23 minutes or so just to be an “average joggler”.
I recently discoverd the McMillian Running Calculator and am trying to convince myself to slow down a bit and run closer to his recommendations. However 2 months ago a 10 minute mile was in the painful category you had above. Now I’d say the 8 minute mile is in the painful category.
Nice training schedule Robert. If you stick to that you’ll be doing sub-23 joggling 5Ks in no time.