3 ms·

gym teachers love to express the same set of beliefs I think that’s orthogonal. The SAS aren’t looking for Olympic level athletes in any given sport. They’re l

by gaius 8y ago

gym teachers love to express the same set of beliefs I think that’s orthogonal. The SAS aren’t looking for Olympic level athletes in any given sport. They’re looking for people who will keep going in the face of exhaustion beyond anything any athlete will ever experience. That’s a test of will and character more then anything physical. Like, Usain Bolt and Meb Keflezighi are amazing athletes, but neither of them do anything like Test Week or Hell Week in training.

barry-cotter 8y ago
> They’re looking for people who will keep going in the face of exhaustion beyond anything any athlete will ever experience. You should talk to some ultramarathon runners. A woman I know did a 100K and slept for seven minutes en route. She didn’t win. The people who do go faster and sleep less.
- joelrunyon 8y ago
  A 100k isn't that long in the scheme of ultra running. Most finish in 12-18 hours - so it's just a long, long day on your feet. The 100 milers are the ones that tend to be 24 hour+ endeavors for non-winning runners (even though some of the elites run it much, much faster). However, ultra runners are insane and now they're launching 200+ mile races where the winers only sleep a few hours. Source: am an ultra runner.
  - logfromblammo 8y ago
    Sounds like a research project to see if any humans are capable of the dolphin trick--sleeping with only one half of their brain at a time.
    - jacobush 8y ago
      I've heard that people start dreaming (hallucinating) while running. "Just ignore the leprechauns, keep running..."
      - joelrunyon 8y ago
        This is true. Lots of weird stuff happen when you go too long without sleep.
- gaius 8y ago
  You should talk to some ultramarathon runners. A woman I know did a 100K and slept for seven minutes en route. She didn’t win I know and train with plenty of ultra-endurance athletes in our MilFit group, and they’ll tell you the same thing - not least because several are ex-SF ;-) I’ve done the Fan Dance (with weight) and the last thing I’d want to do is a similar event the next day and the next and the next, culminating in the Long Drag. I almost certainly physically could do one more - but I can’t face it. The mind breaks before the body. That’s what separates endurance dilettantes like me from those what have what it takes to just keep going, which is what they are filtering for. Fitness per se is necessary but not sufficient. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_Dance_(exercise) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_Dance_(exercise)

by gaius 8y ago

barry-cotter 8y ago

> They’re looking for people who will keep going in the face of exhaustion beyond anything any athlete will ever experience. You should talk to some ultramarathon runners. A woman I know did a 100K and slept for seven minutes en route. She didn’t win. The people who do go faster and sleep less.

joelrunyon 8y ago
A 100k isn't that long in the scheme of ultra running. Most finish in 12-18 hours - so it's just a long, long day on your feet. The 100 milers are the ones that tend to be 24 hour+ endeavors for non-winning runners (even though some of the elites run it much, much faster). However, ultra runners are insane and now they're launching 200+ mile races where the winers only sleep a few hours. Source: am an ultra runner.
- logfromblammo 8y ago
  Sounds like a research project to see if any humans are capable of the dolphin trick--sleeping with only one half of their brain at a time.
  - jacobush 8y ago
    I've heard that people start dreaming (hallucinating) while running. "Just ignore the leprechauns, keep running..."
    - joelrunyon 8y ago
      This is true. Lots of weird stuff happen when you go too long without sleep.
gaius 8y ago
You should talk to some ultramarathon runners. A woman I know did a 100K and slept for seven minutes en route. She didn’t win I know and train with plenty of ultra-endurance athletes in our MilFit group, and they’ll tell you the same thing - not least because several are ex-SF ;-) I’ve done the Fan Dance (with weight) and the last thing I’d want to do is a similar event the next day and the next and the next, culminating in the Long Drag. I almost certainly physically could do one more - but I can’t face it. The mind breaks before the body. That’s what separates endurance dilettantes like me from those what have what it takes to just keep going, which is what they are filtering for. Fitness per se is necessary but not sufficient. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_Dance_(exercise) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_Dance_(exercise)