My road to Rio

So, the journey begins...

Im sure many others have been inspired by the british athletes this olympiad, everyone has their idol/hero, mine is Mo Farah, to emulate what he did is my dream, my destiny, my journey.

I begin today a path that I hope will take me to the pinnacle of any sporting career; Olympic Gold. This is no small feat, you need dedication, perserverance, determination and ability, all traits I believe I possess and are required to reach the top.

My running career is short but I am only 18, I always believe you are never too old to achieve your dreams, stick to it and don't let anyone bring you down.

Seb Coe, I salute you, you have inspired a generation, you have inspired me.

What is my dream? To achieve Gold in the 5k and 10k, and goddamn I am determined to do so, and I won't let anyone tell me otherwise.

Bring on Rio!!! 

£5 says you're already too late to qualify.

glad to see you are p[osting your short and long term achievable goals..................

If this dream is ever to become a reality, at some stage or another you will be dealing with UK Athletics.

...ANOTHER GOOD REASON TO JOIN A CLUB.

mike rushton wrote (see)

My running career is short but I am only 18, I always believe you are never too old to achieve your dreams, stick to it and don't let anyone bring you down.

In which case............

I'll see you in those finals in Rio, Mike!

Mike, last thing we said on your other thread was to pick some attainable short term goals...

instead you've gone the other way and picked an even sillier target. Surprised you didn't add, smash the world records as well!

mike rushton wrote (see)

I won't let anyone tell me otherwise.

Bring on Rio!!!

Good luck to you then and there's nothing wrong with having a dream but there'll be times along the way people tell you things you don't want to hear.

JH, i think that bet is very safe...sub 18 by the end of the year won't be a stroll...

Hi Mike - nothing like a bit of enthusiasm! How about doing a blog to chart your progress? If you do win your medals you could perhaps make it into a book which I'm sure will sell really well! But you might wish to aim for 2020 - Mo is 29 and to be fair started a bit earlier than you so maybe 2024 for the double would ba a safer bet?

Alex Vero wants to update his website, where he calls himself an athlete. According to his Po10 profile he's not raced since 2007.  Or does he only run ARC sanctioned races these days? 

Bear in mind that the Alex Vero route will require a period of heavy drinking and getting Mike's weight up to 16 stone before the training can begin. That's a lot of pressure on top of picking up two Rio golds.

MR - has the 5k thread been killed off then ? I hate to say it but - starting when you're 18 quite patently is too late. Your enthusiasm is admirable but you slightly run the risk of becoming a figure of ridicule stating these frankly ridiculous goals.

I could come on here and say I'm planning to train to run a sub 2.30 mara as a 45 year old next year. It's a lovely thought but it ain't going to happen

Perhaps you'll prove me wrong but I suspect you won't

I like the ambition however overambitious it may be, but four years of training, physio, coaching, travel to races etc don't come for free. I may be wrong, but I'd say unless you are in contention for club races now, at 18, then 2020 is too close.  

Athletics may be about hard work, but natural ability is important.  There are doubtlessly athletes who work just as hard as Farah but don't acheive the success. At that level, tiny differences mean the difference between success and failure. Ali Brownlee when asked about decreasing his 10k time from 29.07 to that which Farah won the 10,000m in said something along the lines of that 90 seconds (from 29:00 to 27:30) is far harder to gain than the three minutes from 32:00 to 29:00.

If you do it, I'll be the first to cheer.