i was surprised by the almost total lack of coverage about what happened at TRE a few days ago. anthony famiglietti (fam), 41 years old, only guy afaik to break 4min for the mile on a treadmill (and 2x olympian steepler) ran it faster yet in front of a pretty big and (over the last 200 meters) raucous audience (and a worldwide zwift audience). i hunted around and did finally find a vid of it (thank you to true communications and zwift) it wasn’t posted anywhere that i could find, so we posted it on our YT channel so i could embed it here. pretty cool.
i have a couple of intersecting ulterior motives for this, and you may note my post of a couple of days ago asking what the fastest treadmill is to run aboard.
how many cyclists were barely passing him during that mile and wondering: “wtf?”
zwift has an achievement for a sub 5 minute mile. who knew?
funny thing when you watch this vid a second or third time is the way the zwift community reacts (or doesn’t). as a seasoned and regular zwifter i wondered what it must have seemed like if you’re a cyclist, here’s a user, a.famiglietti, running 3:58 pace (then quickening to 3:40-something pace at the end). and it’s very clear on your “zwifters near you” inset on the right this is what’s happening. but the messages you see - “how did the conference call go?” - show you that people were either oblivious or dumbstruck. or disbelieving.
Or tend to not pay attention to the runners on the feed. I know I barely notice them.
Plus, a 4 minute mile is only 15 mph, so a pretty leisurely pace.
It is surprising this wasn’t publicised more. I’m sure he could have had a whole group ride or run built around it.
thing is, runners are well differentiated in the “zwifters near you” column. maybe it’s not as clear when you’re in cycling mode? i don’t know. i’ll look for that during my next ride. but when i run on zwift you see mph for cyclists in that column, but you see minutes per mile pace for runners. if i saw some guy running 3:58 per mile, whether running or riding on zwift, i’d notice. especially if i was riding 20mph and barely moving past a runner!
Very impressive. What was his cadence? Did they have to ‘calibrate’ the treadmill or anything beforehand to make sure it/Zwift was measuring the correct distance?
Very impressive. What was his cadence? Did they have to ‘calibrate’ the treadmill or anything beforehand to make sure it/Zwift was measuring the correct distance?
don’t know the cadence but it’s easy to get from the video. yes, i couldn’t find it in any of the video coverage but i saw, sitting on the ground next to the mill, a measuring wheel. for those interested, here’s what he ran in:
it appears the skechers gorun razor 3 hyper, 6.4oz in size 9.
and btw, fam has the distinction (i think) of running a sub-4 mile more ways than anyone: on the track, on the road, on a treadmill, and with a dog
So the other night you an I were having this debate about whether or not the treadmill is faster or slower than the road, and I think I found the answer, at least for this guys runs. Seems like this is not his first treadmill sub 4, and by all measures, he is not yet a legitimate sub 4 minute miler post 40 years old, and now he is 41. His PR is 3;55+ in his prime, and in this last race he did, he kept going for another 15 seconds after 3;55, presumably at 3;40 pace??
So I think we can safely say that at ultra high speeds, the treadmill is easier than the actual road or track. I had postulated not just the ease of gravity, but there is 0 wind resistance too. It looks to me that he got at least 5 seconds advantage over the mile, maybe a bit more as he kept going for another 15 seconds…Part of the treadmill conundrum when trying to get exact protocols to mimic road and track times…
So the other night you an I were having this debate about whether or not the treadmill is faster or slower than the road, and I think I found the answer, at least for this guys runs. Seems like this is not his first treadmill sub 4, and by all measures, he is not yet a legitimate sub 4 minute miler post 40 years old, and now he is 41. His PR is 3;55+ in his prime, and in this last race he did, he kept going for another 15 seconds after 3;55, presumably at 3;40 pace??
So I think we can safely say that at ultra high speeds, the treadmill is easier than the actual road or track. I had postulated not just the ease of gravity, but there is 0 wind resistance too. It looks to me that he got at least 5 seconds advantage over the mile, maybe a bit more as he kept going for another 15 seconds…Part of the treadmill conundrum when trying to get exact protocols to mimic road and track times…
Ya, I loved that mile he did with the dog, seemed like a fair fight!! And Just like every dog we have ever known(except Spike), they go out too hard and then just hang on to the end…
How slowman viewed or his disdain for the Nike sub 2 adventure is pretty much how I view anything zwift related. I think zwift is cool AF but it’s an indoor simulator.
How slowman viewed or his disdain for the Nike sub 2 adventure is pretty much how I view anything zwift related. I think zwift is cool AF but it’s an indoor simulator.
my problem with nike’s thing - and a lot of things - arises when the thing is confused or conflated with actual, contested, agreed-upon, outdoor sport norms. i don’t think anybody believes fam’s run is going to be listed by USATF alongside actual ground-covered miles when they publish their annual best times achieved.
but to your zwift point, if this causes you to pee in the cheerios, brooks, your head is going to explode when you learn what i have in mind
ha, we’ll i’ve got a squad of athletes if you need some beta testers…Nah I like zwift for what it can do, I still am “old school” enough to force my squad to ride outdoors as much as possible. But with the advantages, the time saved, the value of everyone’s life on the roads these days (probaly the biggest factor of going to indoor riding now); it’s like I semi seriously joke “we will be doing zwift triathlon here in about 15 years as our go to triathlon”…Zwift Kona baby!!!
If this record were to count, it would have to be from a dead start. My prediction then would be ~4:15 . Still impressive effort, thats how you are supposed to finish… dead on the ground!
ha, we’ll i’ve got a squad of athletes if you need some beta testers…Nah I like zwift for what it can do, I still am “old school” enough to force my squad to ride outdoors as much as possible. But with the advantages, the time saved, the value of everyone’s life on the roads these days (probaly the biggest factor of going to indoor riding now); it’s like I semi seriously joke “we will be doing zwift triathlon here in about 15 years as our go to triathlon”…Zwift Kona baby!!!
i just don’t think that’s “old school”. when i was a (reluctant) coach or advisor for IM athletes i really only had 2 kinds of rides that were mandatory, that is, you could ride whatever you wanted, get in the miles however you wanted, but you had to do these 2 specific kinds of workouts and X number of them prior to your race: 100+ mile rides; and specific indoor structured training rides. this second type, these weren’t long, maybe 45min to 1hr. but they were important (to me). this was back circa 25 and 30 years ago, so, i guess you’re right, it’s old school, if you go back so far that there were no computers nor were there stationary trainers.
but even in the “old old school” days there were rollers, and roller races. nothing replaces riding outdoor. or running outdoor. no argument from me on that. but from my own tenure as a competitive runner, which began in 1970, and as a competitive cyclist, which began in 1977 or thereabouts, there has always been some attempt to make stationary less mind numbing.
my only caveat is that most people don’t have a “squad” on which they can rely for more than the occasional get-together, and stationary allows for the most precise, no-flat, no-red-light, quantifiable drilldown to a specific goal. there is no easy outdoor cycling analog to running intervals on a track. that’s what makes stationary a pretty good tool for that specific purpose. in fact there’s a session at Endurance Exchange upcoming on that very topic.
Ha I didn’t think you were going to go all philosophical as my comment was more tongue in cheek with today’s “everyone is riding indoors”. But to prove that I’m not all stone age, this was our weekly Wed ride. 1 of 4 are zwifting (kickr), 2 on dumb trainers, 1 on kickr only.
(nvm i can never ever add a pic for the life of me, and it’s just 1 random image but apparently “too large”)
Ha I didn’t think you were going to go all philosophical as my comment was more tongue in cheek with today’s “everyone is riding indoors”. But to prove that I’m not all stone age, this was our weekly Wed ride. 1 of 4 are zwifting (kickr), 2 on dumb trainers, 1 on kickr only.
(nvm i can never ever add a pic for the life of me, and it’s just 1 random image but apparently “too large”)
photoshop is your friend. your expensive friend, that i’ll grant!
I worked with Fam while at adidas. It’s great to see him still running fast. There were too many bigger things in running to talk about then a guy running sub 4 min on a treadmill. Nike NXN, Russia Ban etc. Or on You Tube everyone was jumping to be first with the new running shoes from TRE.
The question I have for you and the Zwift people. Look around, do runners run on the same roads as cyclists? Cyclists have a reputation in the running community of “Not sharing the road†On the coast highway here in San Diego North County, cyclists (Triathletes included) appear to try to get as close to you the runner as possible without hitting. Runners sometimes wave to each other from across the road. The only triathletes or cyclists to ever wave to me while I was running are the ones I know. I’ve had more flip me off then wave to me. So my question, is it possible running is not growing as fast as Zwift would like it to because it’s one game with cyclists and runners?
The more simple terms is that runners are “cheapâ€. They know the only thing they need is a pair of shoes (Women of course need a second item). If they need a treadmill (Expense of the treadmill or the gym membership) and a foot pod (treadmills are not catching up on Bluetooth yet, it will take years gyms don’t replace treadmills too often) and then a Zwift membership are you asking the runner to do too much? Running is simple, safe and still the least expensive mode to staying fit. I have always compared the cost of anything in running to a pair of shoes. A Garmin watch was two pairs of shoes. Marathon race entries are a pair of shoes. Try to be an apparel company selling running shorts to men. Anyone, How often do you buy new running shorts?
Ha I didn’t think you were going to go all philosophical as my comment was more tongue in cheek with today’s “everyone is riding indoors”. But to prove that I’m not all stone age, this was our weekly Wed ride. 1 of 4 are zwifting (kickr), 2 on dumb trainers, 1 on kickr only.
(nvm i can never ever add a pic for the life of me, and it’s just 1 random image but apparently “too large”)
photoshop is your friend. your expensive friend, that i’ll grant!
