Tag: talent

Baby, Were You Born to Run Fast?
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huskiesBy now we all know that running talent only goes so far and that, with hard work, smart training, and a lot of patience, most of us can become pretty darn fast. But no matter how hard we work, our genetic talent does dictate the absolute upper limit of our potential. That upper limit is the best we can possibly be if we perfectly trained and did all the ancillary stuff we should do.

Most of us reading this, even if we had access to the best coaches and training facilities, and did everything right, could never compete with the world’s best runners. Sure, many of us could become very very very good runners, but we could not be among the very best. At that highest level, that’s when talent makes the difference. But what is running talent? Read more >>

Advice to My Teenaged Runner Self: Fixed vs. Growth Mindset
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cross-country-960330Pick any classic New England fall Saturday between 1988 and 1997: cold, crisp air, blazing foliage, the smell of woodsmoke, and a mass of nervous teenage girls in polyester singlets that never lose their funk, standing twitchily behind a chalk line on a muddy field.

I stand with the few other girls on my cross-country team, hopping from foot to foot and trying to ignore the dread roiling my stomach. There were so many thoughts in my mind at any given time that it’s hard to distill them down, but they were usually something like:

Ugh. Does my hair look stupid? Running makes my hair look stupid. Also it’s so annoying to be so slow and I hate it that I always start out too fast and my hair is so stupid.

I could already feel the way my legs would turn to lead and my mood would tank by 10 minutes in. Sure enough, I’d start with a seven-something first mile before slowly disintegrating into a jogging, self-pitying mess, crossing the chalk line again in 24-whatever and never getting any faster.

Despite a lack of any apparent talent, and my aversion to races*, I always loved to run: cross country and track in middle and high school, more cross country in college. Of course, as Ginger has explored, you can’t know how “talented” you are until you actually try. Looking back I realize I never found out whether I could have run faster, limited by my belief that you either could run fast or you couldn’t. The speedy girls running 18 minute 5k’s in high school? I had no clue that they were as angsty as I was about running, that they worked hard for their wins and, in some cases, suffered hard with eating disorders, anxiety, and depression. Stunningly oblivious for a person with so many A’s on her report card, I figured they were just lucky to be fast while I missed out on the speed genes. Read more >>

Is Running Talent Nature or Nurture?
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Where do you stand?

Nature vs Nurture. The debate has made its rounds in psychology circles for ages. Early on in the debate (see: Victorian Era) it was believed that our abilities and successes in life were primarily a result of nature; that with which we were born. Physical illness, mental illness, intelligence…physical fitness?

Nowadays many scholars agree that our abilities are measured by a combination of the two factors. The debate on the origins of running talent are plentiful on boards like Letsrun: Does hard work breed talent? Are Kenyans the only one with the ability to run really really fast in the marathon?

If you ever feel like you weren’t “born fast,” or wonder if you can overcome your genetics to become a better runner and cultivate your talent, I’ve got a story that might encourage you.

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