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Training is Cheating
By James Moreland
Rockville, MD
November 21, 2009
For the Washington Running Report
We all got dealt a particular hand. When it comes to running some of us are sleek racing machine, some hybrids, and some just plain knobby-tire clunkers. Anyone can run; few can run fast. Once we get past that silly hereditary factor, there are three ways in which we can see a difference in our pace. Remember that training is just bringing hereditary ability up to specification. No matter how well you train, you cannot surpass that point. Besides, training is cheating. It gives you an unfair advantage over the people who do not train.
First and foremost is enthusiasm. You have to think you can, think you can to get that little engine down the road. This is why everyone gets personal records when they get started. Once they establish a base line, they are eager to do better. It does not matter when you start - at age five or seventy five, everyone gets a boost in the beginning. It is generally conceded that this energy can give a runner continued personal records for between five and seven years. Normal is 10% the first year, 5% the second year, 3% the third year, and then smaller and smaller improvements as the years go by. It is extremely rare for a runner to improve at all in a second decade, even by switching distances. No matter how hard we train, we are what we are.
The second factor is something that we have the most control of and it may be the most important factor. Weight. Fighting gravity is a full time job all day long. It just plain takes more energy to move mountains than it does the bird-like waifs that are always pressing their breasts against the finishing line banner.
As we age, weight is harder to maintain. Some of it is enthusiasm; some of it is just the metabolism slowing down. Some of us just like to eat more than we care, with burning desire, to win the next race. In a head on collision such as with football, the lighter person always loses. In running, no matter how much you train, the lighter runner always has the edge. Look around. You will see lots of fast young runners and lots of fast lightweight, old runners but you never see heavy and fast old runners.
The third factor is age. Even though we have no control over it at all, once we have become adults, it acts as a brake on our pace. If you are faster than others when you are older, it is because of two possible things: You just got started (#1) or you just lost a lot of weight (#2). Do not believe that training will help. Besides, training is cheating.
Because it would hard to know exactly at what age a runner starts the charts below are based on age and weight. For the men, it presumes a solid runner at age 35 running a 35:00 10K. This is a better than average Ranked Runner time but not a champion. Such a runner needs to weigh about two pounds per inch of height. Elite runners are even lighter. Thus, at 5 feet 10 inches our model would weigh 140 pounds.
Men A G E
35:00 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
140 35:00 36:10 37:30 38:59 40:37 42:30 44:41 47:17 50:28 54:32
145 36:15 37:27 38:50 40:22 42:04 44:01 45:16 48:58 52:16 56:28
W 150 37:30 38:45 40:11 41:46 43:21 45:32 47:52 50:39 54:04 58:25
E 155 38:45 40:02 41:31 43:09 44:58 47:03 49:28 52:21 55:53 60:22
I 160 40:00 41:20 42:52 44:33 46:26 48:34 51:04 54:02 57:41 62:19
G 165 41:15 42:37 44:12 45:56 47:53 50:50 52:39 55:43 59:29 64:16
H 170 42:30 43:55 45:32 47:20 49:20 51:36 54:05 57:25 61:17 66:13
T 175 42:45 45:12 46:53 48:43 50:47 53:07 55:51 59:06 63:05 68:09
180 45:00 46:30 48:13 50:07 52:14 54:38 57:27 60:47 64:53 70:06
185 46:15 47:47 49:33 51:30 53:41 56:09 59:02 62:28 66:41 72:03
As the runner ages and gains weight, his times can be predicted by the chart. While a runner never gets younger, he can stave off some decline by losing weight. Naturally, there is a limit to gain at some point. Still, it is very rare for a runner to lose so much weight that his pace declines.
For the women, 41:00 at age 34 (the last age with an age factor of one) is a slightly faster pace relative to a Ranked Runner. We will use 35 as with the men (35 is the last age for men with an age factor of one. Such a runner needs to weigh five pounds per inch above five feet tall more than 100 pounds minus ten pounds. Thus, at 5 feet 5 inches our model would weigh 115 pounds. However, women traditionally are expected to drop off at a faster rate in the older divisions. Perhaps this is because in the past fewer women were running. Also, women runners tend to be more stable in their weight.
Women A G E
41:00 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
115 41:06 42:47 44:36 46:38 48:55 51:33 54:38 58:21 62:58 68:55
120 42:54 44:38 46:33 48:40 51:03 53:47 57:00 60:53 65:42 71:55
W 125 44:41 46:30 48:29 50:41 53:10 56:02 59:23 63:25 68:26 74:55
E 130 46:28 48:21 50:25 52:43 55:18 58:16 61:45 65:57 71:10 77:55
I 135 48:15 50:13 52:22 54:45 57:26 60:31 64:08 68:30 73:55 80:54
G 140 50:03 52:04 54:18 56:46 59:33 62:45 66:30 71:02 76:39 83:54
H 145 51:50 53:56 56:14 58:48 61:41 65:00 68:53 73:34 79:23 86:54
T 150 53:37 55:48 58:11 60:50 63:49 67:14 71:15 76:06 82:07 89:54
155 55:24 57:39 60:07 62:51 65:56 69:29 73:38 78:38 84:52 92:53
160 57:12 59:31 62:03 64:53 68:04 71:43 76:00 81:11 87:36 95:53