August 29, 2005
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I have been an athlete my entire life-exclusively stop and go sports like basketball and soccer. Now that I'm 35 I want to become a distance runner and triathlete. I am in good shape and can still do anaerobic activities for hoursBbut I can't run! It drives me nuts. I see overweight people running five miles and I can barely run one. Is it possible to re-train my body and lungs to be a distance athlete?
— Rachel
Bristol, Rhode Island
 For good or bad, genetics can play a significant role in determining the sports we excel in. As children, we (hopefully) get a chance to try out a lot of different activities. For most of us, the ones that we end up spending more time with and enjoying are the ones that we tend to be better at. In your case, because you have been a sprint-type athlete for over three decades, it is likely you have selected those sports, consciously or unconsciously, because you have a genetic predisposition to them. Your success in high-power, intermittent-intensity sports may be due, in part, to the distribution of fast and slow muscle fibers in your body.
Type II fibers ("fast-twitch") are the ones that enable us to sprint; they're very powerful, but can't use oxygen very well for long-lasting activities. Type I fibers ("slow-twitch") aren't as powerful, so they aren't very useful for short bursts of energy, but they have a great capacity for utilizing oxygen for endurance activities.
Everyone has a mixture of both types of fibers, but people have varying balances of "fast-twitch" and "slow-twitch" fibers. In your case, if you are predominantly
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"fast-twitch," endurance activities such as middle- or long-distance running and swimming may not come as easily as they would to another individual with a lot more "slow-twitch" fibers. You can't really change the percentage of fiber types you were born with, which is one of the reasons why it is often said that "elite athletes are born and not made."
This does not mean, however, that you can't train yourself to compete in aerobic sports, such as triathlon. Your saving grace will be the TypeIIb muscle fiber. These fibers are "fast-twitch" fibers that have the ability to increase their capacity for aerobic work. As you continue training as an endurance athlete, these fibers will progressively adapt to provide more power aerobically.
For most of us who aren't elite athletes, we can compete successfully no matter what kind of fibers we have. In your case, you may be having trouble right now with your running simply because your body isn't used to that kind of activity. As with anything, you need to start out gradually and give your body time to adapt to the demands of your new sports. Be patient. Remember that it took you time to gain the fitness and learn the skills necessary to compete in basketball and soccer; it's the same with running, swimming, and cycling.
Chris Carmichael
Founder, CEO, and president of Carmichael Training Systems, Chris Carmichael is the personal coach to seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. In 2004 he was awareded the USA Cycling Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in May 2003. He's been honored as the United States Olympic Committee's Coach of the Year and athletes under his tutelage have won 33 Olympic, World Championships, and Pan American Games. He is the author of the New York Times Bestseller "Chris Carmichael's Food For Fitness: Eat Right to Train Right" and "The Ultimate Ride," and co-author of "The Lance Armstrong Performance Program," with Lance Armstrong. Carmichael coaches a host of elite athletes including Discovery Channel rider and four-time Olympian George Hincapie and World Record Swimmer Ed Moses.
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