Becoming an athlete?

G-Money

I've been watching the European Athletic Championships from Barcelona this week and found it very entertaining. I've recently started on the Couch to 5k programme to help me lose weight and get fit. I think it's quite motivational and inspiring to see these athlete's and I often envy their extremely high level's of fitness.

I don't know why but part of me kind of wishes I could be as fit as them and even compete at some sort of high level. However at my current weight (16 stone range) and age (33) I feel that competing at a high level in any sort of athletics such as running would be completely dominated by those in their twenties.

I know it's an extremely unrealistic possibility and I'm not even sure I'd want to pursue such a goal. But would I be right to think that competing at that level would not be achievable for me as I'd be starting training quite late (early 30's).

As I say I don't think I'm seriously considering this but I definitely found myself admiring the athletes and kind of wishing I could perform at their level too. I guess I'm wondering if anyone here has made that sort of transformation themselves or know of people who have.

Sorry for the random nature of the post and thanks for reading.

clonliffe 22

being honest i on't think you are ever going to make a major championships unless you where a very very talented as a schoolboy and gave up the sport.
Even at is you woud have to devote your life to the sport.
No offence but i don't think the average Joe Soap relises how much training and preperation goes int the sport.
aim for a short trm goal of loosing weight and pick a 5k and aim for a time.

shels4ever

clonliffe 22 wrote: »

being honest i on't think you are ever going to make a major championships unless you where a very very talented as a schoolboy and gave up the sport.
Even at is you woud have to devote your life to the sport.
No offence but i don't think the average Joe Soap relises how much training and preperation goes int the sport.
aim for a short trm goal of loosing weight and pick a 5k and aim for a time.

I don't think its all about making the euros or bene the best in the world. Once you get out there and run there are many events. You never know what can happen in the future i'm33 andhaving given up on running for ireland just yet ... it might take me until the masters over 75 but you've gota dream

clonliffe 22

I want to wint he lotto !!!

RealistSpy

grandmaster wrote: »

I've been watching the European Athletic Championships from Barcelona this week and found it very entertaining. I've recently started on the Couch to 5k programme to help me lose weight and get fit. I think it's quite motivational and inspiring to see these athlete's and I often envy their extremely high level's of fitness.

I don't know why but part of me kind of wishes I could be as fit as them and even compete at some sort of high level. However at my current weight (16 stone range) and age (33) I feel that competing at a high level in any sort of athletics such as running would be completely dominated by those in their twenties.

I know it's an extremely unrealistic possibility and I'm not even sure I'd want to pursue such a goal. But would I be right to think that competing at that level would not be achievable for me as I'd be starting training quite late (early 30's).

As I say I don't think I'm seriously considering this but I definitely found myself admiring the athletes and kind of wishing I could perform at their level too. I guess I'm wondering if anyone here has made that sort of transformation themselves or know of people who have.

Sorry for the random nature of the post and thanks for reading.

What is stopping you? Go for it you just never know how far you can go till you try.

Git101

clonliffe 22 wrote: »

I want to wint he lotto !!!

No need to be so negative.

Maybe the OP was a pi$$ take but everyone is entitled to goals & dreams.

I'm fairly sure that most posters here are never going to reach international standard but none the less compete week in week out with themselves.

For most athletes it's not about world records but training hard and trying for a PB

If somebody aspires to be their best try to help them or at least don't hinder them.

Ryder

RealistSpy wrote: »

What is stopping you? Go for it you just never know how far you can go till you try.

think thats the best advice youre gonna get. Pick short term (6 month/1 yr) goals and see how far you get. Who knows? Most of us here are in the same or a worse boat.

Afaik, people have taken up sports like running/tris in their 30's and done very well....even to the point of national champs/team selection

paky

who knows, if it hasnt been done yet...

ecoli

I know a guy who never came close to 3 hours in the marathon. Trains away and is happy doing it. In his 50s he went to the World Fire Man Games and got 3rd in his age category. Guy was never going to be a world beater but yet he still has an international medal. There are so many avenues you can go down esp as you get older so i wouldnt be as dismissive of it as a pipe dream.
There are many of my club who were decent cllub runners in there hey day nothing spectacular who have gone one to earn green vests at the masters levels so just keep plugging away. Think of it this way you have two years to keep improving before you are even able to compete as a master loads of improvement before you even start that road.

Best of luck with it

G-Money

Cheers for the replies.

And no, my original post was not a p*** take.

RealistSpy

grandmaster wrote: »

Cheers for the replies.

And no, my original post was not a p*** take.

The first time I started Sprinting my pb was 14 sec this was like when I was 15 so I gave up. I came back 2009 season and I got me a pb of 11.50. Now I am going for sub 11 because I know I can do it.

I would recommed you should also join a club.

G-Money

I don't know why but for some reason I feel like I'd be more suited to middle distance running than any sort of sprinting. I'm not sure why I think that, I think I just don't feel like I'd have huge bursts of energy like that. I feel I'm more of a gradual wind-up type person. I don't know if that makes sense or not.

I was never good at PE when I was at school but to be honest I didn't like it and didn't try very hard. I was always a bit chubby and I was a very late bloomer (I think I was about 16 before I finally went through "the change") so by that stage I'd completely given up on exercise.

Krusty_Clown

There isn't much 'gradual wind-up' in middle distance. It may be long distance you're thinking of. If you're only starting out on your c25k, it's a little early to decide what your niche might be. Set short term goals and keep picking them off.

The satisfaction doesn't have to come from winning international medals (although it would be nice).

metamorphosis

Just some links to stories about people overcoming barriers to achieve something they wanted

http://runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--13500-2-1-2,00.html

http://runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--13561-0,00.html


There are plenty of people who have lost a lot of weight and gone on to become good runners. Sure, they might not become athletes but the thing is - you have nothing to lose and it's great to set yourself a challenge of seeing how much you can achieve.

MrCreosote

What about looking at triathlon? There's good competition at age-group level, and you're competing in 5-year groups. You'd can get to represent the country in a snazzy green trisuit! Choice of distances too from sprint through olympic to long distance, as well as duathlons.

It might make a nice long-term goal...

madon

grandmaster wrote: »

I don't know why but for some reason I feel like I'd be more suited to middle distance running than any sort of sprinting. I'm not sure why I think that, I think I just don't feel like I'd have huge bursts of energy like that. I feel I'm more of a gradual wind-up type person. I don't know if that makes sense or not.

I was never good at PE when I was at school but to be honest I didn't like it and didn't try very hard. I was always a bit chubby and I was a very late bloomer (I think I was about 16 before I finally went through "the change") so by that stage I'd completely given up on exercise.

You should join a club, there is county championships every year and you can qualify to all Ireland championship (I could be wrong with this but there was years ago when I threw the shott) I presume they still have this for Juniors and Seniors. Even if you never get to represent the country believe me to even qualify to all ireland for yourself and your club is such a great achievment.

thirtyfoot

Getting to a level like in Barca is probably impossible, let's be realistic. It would be like saying could you play like O' Driscoll or O' Connell even though you never played rugby. Achieving in master age groups is a different kettle of fish and anyone could get international vests and win medals as the standard is pretty average. Maybe aim for that instead of the superhuman stuff.

G-Money

Sorry for the stupid questions but can someone tell me what the masters is? Is it some sort of athletics tournament in Ireland? Or is it held elsewhere?

Krusty_Clown

Competition among those who are over 35 years of age (in various age categories). http://www.irishmastersathletics.com/

G-Money

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Competition among those who are over 35 years of age (in various age categories). http://www.irishmastersathletics.com/

Cheers, much appreciated.

multisport

As well as national masters, there's also the world masters games, held every 4 years. It's a multi-sport event hosting, track and field, badminton, hockey, kayaking, table tennis and much more.

The last ones were in Sydney in 2009. I went along as a spectator and got to see some of the legends of sport competing.

The next ones are in Turin in 2013.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Masters_Games
http://www.imga.ch/

RealistSpy

There you go grandmaster you have somthing to stride and work for let that be your goal and fire.

oldrunner

Tingle wrote: »

Achieving in master age groups is a different kettle of fish and anyone could get international vests and win medals as the standard is pretty average.

Thanks for dismissing the efforts of a huge body of masters runners. One man's "pretty average" is another's very good. OK, it's a lot easier to succeed than it is to be a world class senior but not so many Irish athletes can win international medals. To do this you need to be of the calibre of Barry Minnock and Paul Fleming, who were 1st and 2nd in the 0ver 35s 5000m at the recent Masters European Championships.
The first five in this year's Irish Master Cross Country were Peter Matthews, Ciaran O'Doherty, John Downes, Pauric McKinney and Mick Traynor. Hardly "pretty average" runners.
As the proud holder of a solitary Masters cross country international vest, I know how much work it takes. I regularly win National track medals in Ireland but would be several seconds outside the time needed to get an over 50 medal at the Masters European Championships. 2:05.80 took bronze in the 800m - my best this summer is 2:08.3. Sure that's average running by international standards but you have to age grade it.

Oryx

Just dont let a massive long term goal overwhelm you. Going from 16 stone unfit to medal winner is a big task, not impossible, but bloody hard. Mentally youd need to be very strong and dedicated. Set yourself a set of goals, like stepping stones, so that you can tick them off as you go and chart your improvements.

thirtyfoot

oldrunner wrote: »

Thanks for dismissing the efforts of a huge body of masters runners. One man's "pretty average" is another's very good. OK, it's a lot easier to succeed than it is to be a world class senior but not so many Irish athletes can win international medals. To do this you need to be of the calibre of Barry Minnock and Paul Fleming, who were 1st and 2nd in the 0ver 35s 5000m at the recent Masters European Championships.
The first five in this year's Irish Master Cross Country were Peter Matthews, Ciaran O'Doherty, John Downes, Pauric McKinney and Mick Traynor. Hardly "pretty average" runners.
As the proud holder of a solitary Masters cross country international vest, I know how much work it takes. I regularly win National track medals in Ireland but would be several seconds outside the time needed to get an over 50 medal at the Masters European Championships. 2:05.80 took bronze in the 800m - my best this summer is 2:08.3. Sure that's average running by international standards but you have to age grade it.

I disagree. Masters standards are very average. I am an average club athlete of masters age (O35) and would have won 3 golds at those Euro champs and probably a medal in 2 others if the timetable suited. Thats not a good standard as I am far from world class even in aged terms. But we are getting off topic.

tunguska

grandmaster wrote: »

I've been watching the European Athletic Championships from Barcelona this week and found it very entertaining. I've recently started on the Couch to 5k programme to help me lose weight and get fit. I think it's quite motivational and inspiring to see these athlete's and I often envy their extremely high level's of fitness.

I don't know why but part of me kind of wishes I could be as fit as them and even compete at some sort of high level. However at my current weight (16 stone range) and age (33) I feel that competing at a high level in any sort of athletics such as running would be completely dominated by those in their twenties.

I know it's an extremely unrealistic possibility and I'm not even sure I'd want to pursue such a goal. But would I be right to think that competing at that level would not be achievable for me as I'd be starting training quite late (early 30's).

As I say I don't think I'm seriously considering this but I definitely found myself admiring the athletes and kind of wishing I could perform at their level too. I guess I'm wondering if anyone here has made that sort of transformation themselves or know of people who have.

Sorry for the random nature of the post and thanks for reading.

Do not let anybody tell you that you cant do something. Go for it. I refer you to the story of Steven way.............

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1268756/Steve-slimmer-beacon-Brits-Mara-Yamauchi-finishes-ash-cloud-London-Marathon.html

Do you think this guy let anybody get into his head and tell him he couldnt run a sub 2:20 marathon or even compete at a high level? People will always tell you that you cant do this or that or such and such is impossible. Its all nonsense. Steven way went from a 16stone kabbab eating smoker to running sub 2:20 in the London marathon. And the latest update on him is he has now been chosen to represent Great Britain in the Toronto waterfront marathon in september.

http://www.bournemouthathleticclub.co.uk/news/news_250610.htm

G-Money

Great reply tunguska, thanks. I guess one advantage I might have over that guy is that I don't smoke.

I'm not sure why but watching those European championships had me wanting to compete in some sort of athletic competition wearing an Ireland jersey. As I say, I don't know if I'm going to pursue this and it could just be a phase I'm going through. But it definitely does appeal to me.

airscotty

Well let us know how your getting on and any races you plan to do if you decide to do a bitta running

shels4ever

tunguska wrote: »

Do not let anybody tell you that you cant do something. Go for it. I refer you to the story of Steven way.............

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1268756/Steve-slimmer-beacon-Brits-Mara-Yamauchi-finishes-ash-cloud-London-Marathon.html

Do you think this guy let anybody get into his head and tell him he couldnt run a sub 2:20 marathon or even compete at a high level? People will always tell you that you cant do this or that or such and such is impossible. Its all nonsense. Steven way went from a 16stone kabbab eating smoker to running sub 2:20 in the London marathon. And the latest update on him is he has now been chosen to represent Great Britain in the Toronto waterfront marathon in september.

http://www.bournemouthathleticclub.co.uk/news/news_250610.htm

Thats the exception that proves the rule. While anything is possible to go from unfit to european cham would either take a huge amount of talent and a lot of work , or an amazing amount of work.

But you never know unless you try.....

MisterAdam

When Haile Gebrselassie ran the Berlin marathon in 2:03:59 to set the current world record he was 35 years old. So in theory you've two years to catch up.
But that took years of training. To reach his level, the best strategy would be to quit your job tomorrow and devout yourself entirely to building a time machine. Once the temporal displacement device is complete, you would then travel back in time to the eighties to convince your teenage self to forswear weekends and burgers and ladies' bosoms. You'd have to convince the lazy sod to train five days a week. But that wouldn't guarantee you any talent. For that, you might want to travel further back in time, to nine months before your birth, to try to convince your mother to sleep with a Kenyan.
This is hilarious. I don't think anyone has really emphasised what a silly idea it is. It is impossible. The thought of someone with no history of running deciding, in their thirties, that they want to become a professional athlete is fantastic - fantastic as in the stuff of fantasy.
I don't want to be mean. And I'm nothing more than an intermittently enthusiastic amateur myself. And your efforts so far are admirable. And there's more to running than competing on a world stage. And go for it and all that.
However, in all honesty, this is hilariously naive.

tunguska

MisterAdam wrote: »

When Haile Gebrselassie ran the Berlin marathon in 2:03:59 to set the current world record he was 35 years old. So in theory you've two years to catch up.
But that took years of training. To reach his level, the best strategy would be to quit your job tomorrow and devout yourself entirely to building a time machine. Once the temporal displacement device is complete, you would then travel back in time to the eighties to convince your teenage self to forswear weekends and burgers and ladies' bosoms. You'd have to convince the lazy sod to train five days a week. But that wouldn't guarantee you any talent. For that, you might want to travel further back in time, to nine months before your birth, to try to convince your mother to sleep with a Kenyan.
This is hilarious. I don't think anyone has really emphasised what a silly idea it is. It is impossible. The thought of someone with no history of running deciding, in their thirties, that they want to become a professional athlete is fantastic - fantastic as in the stuff of fantasy.
I don't want to be mean. And I'm nothing more than an intermittently enthusiastic amateur myself. And your efforts so far are admirable. And there's more to running than competing on a world stage. And go for it and all that.
However, in all honesty, this is hilariously naive.

So you, with all your vast experience and knowledge of athletics and training, are telling somebody they cant become a great athlete???? You have no idea what Granmaster can or cant achieve. One things for certain though if he listens to opinions like the one one you expressed above, he wont even try. And that would be a tragedy, allowing somebody who doesnt really have a clue, to tell you what your limitations are.

ecoli

MisterAdam wrote: »

This is hilarious. I don't think anyone has really emphasised what a silly idea it is. It is impossible. The thought of someone with no history of running deciding, in their thirties, that they want to become a professional athlete is fantastic - fantastic as in the stuff of fantasy.
I don't want to be mean. And I'm nothing more than an intermittently enthusiastic amateur myself. And your efforts so far are admirable. And there's more to running than competing on a world stage. And go for it and all that.
However, in all honesty, this is hilariously naive.

No one mentioned becoming a professional athlete. While London or goals like that may be bit of a pipe dream alright there is not reason to say that grandmaster cant be competitive on a national level in the likes of masters or other avenues such as this.
I know a variety of people who pick up running late and manage to pick up medals and prizes in there age categories and i know people who have come from a worse background regarding weight and lifestyle who have gone on to run competitive and even international in areas such as masters.
Often in masters it is people who dont come from a long running background who do quite well as there are many people who are forced to give up the sport due to years of wear and tear etc. As a result it gives people (provided they commit to there training) a chance to compete who might not have been able to compete at the senior level.
My club for example has seen a womens group who started out as nothing more than a fit for life group develop into medal capable athletes at the older age groups.

The main thing is get out and enjoy yourself and the rest will fall into place

MisterAdam

grandmaster wrote: »

As I say I don't think I'm seriously considering this but I definitely found myself admiring the athletes [at the European Athletics Championship] and kind of wishing I could perform at their level too. I guess I'm wondering if anyone here has made that sort of transformation themselves or know of people who have.

I'm not an athletics expert. I know very little about what it takes to run at an elite level. And there are many times I would not feel comfortable voicing my opinion. For almost all questions of high performance I am not experienced enough to comment with any authority. However this is not one of those occassions - this question is easy.
It involves a man in his early thirties with very little history of running, sitting at home watching the European Athletics Championship and wondering if he could ever compete at that level. The answer is no. The answer is obviously no. It is impossible. To say otherwise is ridiculous. For most events he is already too old to compete. And for the remainder, he would have to have been training for years already to stand any chance of being successful. We don't live in a magic fairy land where anything is possible if you just believe in yourself. This world is called reality and somethings are impossible here.
As for whether he could compete in a masters category, I don't know. I accept your word that it's possible. But that's beside the point - it wasn't the original question.
I'm not being entirely negative though - I think Grandmaster would probably be shocked by the amount of improvement he can make relatively quickly and easily. And, in my opinion, running at any level is rewarding.

RodSteel

Tingle wrote: »

I disagree. Masters standards are very average. I am an average club athlete of masters age (O35) and would have won 3 golds at those Euro champs and probably a medal in 2 others if the timetable suited. Thats not a good standard as I am far from world class even in aged terms. But we are getting off topic.

Well done in the above. What distances did you compete in and what sort of times got gold medals. I am not looking for exact times, just roughly as I'm interested myself to see what the standard is.

Oryx

@MisterAdam. This is what the op said:

grandmaster wrote: »

..part of me kind of wishes I could be as fit as them and even compete at some sort of high level...

The answer to this question is yes, he absolutely could change himself to compete at some sort of high level. To tell him no at this point is doing him a disservice, you have no idea what kind of determination he has. Will he make the european championships? In all likelyhood no. But could he get to a winning standard in some area of athletics, running or whatever? Totally, yes.

I guess I'm wondering if anyone here has made that sort of transformation themselves or know of people who have.

There are stories throughout these boards of people who have turned their lives around fitness wise. Just read the logs, if you dont think so. Some people earn medals and their names in the papers, others just gain the personal prize of achieving something they didnt think they would ever do. Either way there is satisfaction to be gained, noone here who trains is ever sorry they began, medals or not.

That is what I think the op is looking for, to be told that yes, there is a point in starting to train for something like that, and that it isnt a fools goal.

Go for it op, see how far you can take it.

metamorphosis

Go for it i say. See how far you can go and do it in steps. Have a list of goals and tick them off as you go along. Get a peice of paper and write down how you feel about goal one and the effort involved to get there. When you reach goal one - look back at what you worte down and see how different you feel. I was almost 6 stone bigger than now and lost the weight and never in a million years thought i could run a half marathon, let alone a marathon and here i am now - almost forget what it was like before. I couldn't walk a flight of stairs before without been breathless and now i get pleasure out of every bit of training i do. Achievment is tangeable.

Don't listen to those who say you can't and go do.

jb-ski

hi grandmaster,

there are some interesting replies so far, and all true and valid opinions despite the contradictions!

it is improbable (impossible?) that you will compete at high level for Ireland in Athletics from where you are now, but ............


what is a certainty though is that if you have the courage to complete the C25K programme and continue from there, the pleasure, joy you will experience finishing your first 5k, 10k, 1/2 mar, Mar, will be no different from that of Derval crossing the line for her Silver medal.

and in 2012 when we're all watching the Olympics, you will be even more impressed than this year, when you realise what an incredible achievement it is just to compete at that level.

(from a relatively recent recruit to the running world,now 42;))

opinion guy

Grandmaster I remember hearing that many top triathletes are in their 30's. Granted many are ex runners or ex swimmers or whatever, but I've heard its sport where being that bit older is more normal. And from what I can tell its a thriving sport/community in Ireland at the moment.

thirtyfoot

RodSteel wrote: »

Well done in the above. What distances did you compete in and what sort of times got gold medals. I am not looking for exact times, just roughly as I'm interested myself to see what the standard is.

I said 'would' not did as to have done would have required working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce. Anyone who is at the early stage of master age groups and still competing to a respectable senior club level would have done well and probably won gold in any event, the short ones I looked at and the times were average enough for a 35+ year old, high 49, 1:57. Any guy in his 20s running those times now could easily run them when 35+. Presume the other standards are of a similar set.

oldrunner

Results from the European Masters Championships are at http://evacs2010.fidalservizi.it/iscritti/Index.htm

Generally, the o35 section is not representative of the effort required to win medals in other categories. Many athletes don't believe that Masters begins until o40. the o35 group gets a mixed bag with some events very competitive but others not as much.

To win a medal in most categories, you would need to be capable of producing a time at better than 92% of the world best (see http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/agtimes.php for an age graded calculator - they calculate the percentages in reverse e.g. if world record for event is 2 minutes then 50% is 4 minutes).

The fact is that Masters competitions are based on self-selection and having the time and money available to compete. They are also in 5 year age brackets. So, overall, winning a medal is far more realistic than in Senior international competition. Whether you can do it being "pretty average" is really a matter of semantics. I would argue that performing above 92% of the world's best for your event and age group is well above average. Tingle would see it otherwise.

For Grandmaster, one of the joys in running is that every event is your own European Championships, your own Olympics. Its about meeting and beating your own expectations and competing with rivals of a similar standard. If that means you improve to international standard (in whatever category) then great. If it means you break 50 mins or 40 mins for a 10k for the first time then great. The vast majority of runners have no chance or expectation of competing at anything other than average levels but get phenomenal reward anyway. So go for it.

Gringo78

tunguska wrote: »

Do not let anybody tell you that you cant do something. Go for it. I refer you to the story of Steven way.............

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1268756/Steve-slimmer-beacon-Brits-Mara-Yamauchi-finishes-ash-cloud-London-Marathon.html

MisterAdam wrote: »

It involves a man in his early thirties with very little history of running, sitting at home watching the European Athletics Championship and wondering if he could ever compete at that level. The answer is no. The answer is obviously no. It is impossible. To say otherwise is ridiculous. For most events he is already too old to compete. And for the remainder, he would have to have been training for years already to stand any chance of being successful. We don't live in a magic fairy land where anything is possible if you just believe in yourself. This world is called reality and somethings are impossible here.

I think you should read that article about Steven Way. The guys a great chance to run the marathon for Britain in 2012 Olympics...he's a fat guy who caught off the couch in his 30's and is not at international standard. Using words like 'impossible' is ridiculuos after you read that.

I think the OP's best shot at international standard is in the marathon. The training required, the risk of injury etc and the fact that it is not a young mans sport (rather athletes who survive into their 30's without burning out thrive at it) hence the pool of talent is smaller and hard work closes the gap much more than at say 800m.

International standard at triathlon is possibly tougher if you have no swimming background as it takes a little longer to develop the technique.

Theres a belief that you need 10,000 hours or 10 years at something to reach your absolute peak. Many people never get the chance to do so and in your 30's injury will stop most people from hitting the massive miles required to play catchup compared to those who were running since their teens. But in Cork I see many examples of runners finishing in the top 5 in races who came to it late and improved slowly but surely over 6-7 years. I see far more examples of runners who ran for 2-3 years and then gave it up again for whatever reason....Same in triathlon, I think Tunney said the average life of a triathlete is 3 years before something else gets in the way. When I was 23 and single I put in probably 3-4 years worth of the training I do now in 6 months and got to a point it will take me another year or 2 now to reach. My body probably wouldn't stand up to that quantity of training now and my life committments certainly wouldn't allow it but if I was entirely single minded and committed, it could be done. Highly unlikely yes, impossible, definitly not.

RayCun

There was a discussion a while back, I seem to remember, about "can anyone run a sub 3 marathon?" IIRC the consensus was that almost anyone you meet on the street is physically capable of doing it, but most people would not be prepared to dedicate themselves to the task.

Steven Way might just go from mid-30's on the couch to Olympic qualification, but how many people are prepared to train like he did? To be honest, I think it's silly to set a target that far away from your current situation. It's like walking into a music shop, sitting down at a piano and thinking about the concerts you're going to give at Carnegie Hall.

Dutchie

Hi Grandmaster, for what it's worth i was a professional athlete (not athletics, a water based sport)
I first represented Ireland internationally when i was 16. This was after 7 years training. At 16 i was training twice a day most days with one rest day a week.
I competed internationally both at worlds and Euro's up until i retired in my mid twenties.
To compete at international level the comittment was phonomenal. I had a training coach, dietican, bio-mechanic coach, sports psychologist, stength and conditioning coach etc. There was no such thing as drinking alcohol for 11 months of the year. It is a very selfish, self-centred existence, but i wouldn't have changed it for the world!

To answer your question i think it is highly unlikely you would be able to compete at an international elite level competitiion for the simple fact that your body is not "programmed" to run as fast as these athletes.
Set yourself achievable goals, get good advice, train smart and the best of luck.

P.s the reason i'm on this forum is that i have decided to do the DCM. My question is whats the best way to run up inclines/hills?!

opinion guy

Ok grandmaster you can compete internationally if you pick and obscure enough sport. Cool-runnings style. I mean just pick some random ass sport in the winter olympics and go for that. I don't think we have any ski-jumpers for example do we ?

Git101

Dutchie wrote: »

P.s the reason i'm on this forum is that i have decided to do the DCM. My question is whats the best way to run up inclines/hills?!

With a positive attitude.

G-Money

Regarding the Masters competitions, how do those work? Do you have to be in a club and get selected or something? I'm guessing the competitions aren't just open to anyone to just compete in? Do you need to be in a club and qualify for Ireland selection or something?

Sorry for the newbie questions, I'm just wondering how it all works.

airscotty

Any update on how the runnings going?