This does not really fly in the face of any knowledge about elite level distance running.

I know the article is written for the common man, but I wish it had emphasized the difference a little more between elite athletes and common men. Some friends were trying to change my ideas about running after reading this article.

I had to explain to them that elite distance runners more or less do this already.

Examples (from my own experiences and witnessing it in countless friends/teammates)

Mark recommends long hikes for the everyman. a sub 30:00 10k guy could run for 60 to 90 mins at the same level of intensity an everyman could hike.

Mark recommends hard intervals divided by rest. an elite miler or 5k runner could run 8×400m’s on the track under 60 clicks and recover by running 800m’s (.5 miles) in 4:00. a common man would have to run much slower and probably walk or completely stop to achieve the same effort.

The point is (coming from an elite distance runner), Mark is correct. If you do not have the natural talent and years of training as an olympian, you should not mimic the work load you read about that olympian doing in Runner’s World, even at slower paces. Most likely he/she will be putting forth about the same effort as you would doing Mark’s prescribed workouts.