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Comment by bcook | Hacker News Reader

Regarding "some people are naturally better..."; it took me ~4 months, "running" 4 days a week, to be able to jog a 3 mile (~5K) run in ~30 minutes. My age then was 28.

My friend, who never worked out in any way, woke up with a hang-over and decided to join some friends for a competitive, cross-country 10K... he came in first. He was 22 years old, IIRC. His father is a dedicated marathon runner (qualifies for Boston Marathon), so that partly explains it.

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”Seven years ago Steve Way weighed 16 1/2 stone and had high-blood pressure, a 20-a-day habit and an addiction to takeaways and chocolate. So, like many other people, he began running to get fit. Only he didn’t stop. And 26,000 miles later – more than the circumference of the globe – and at the grand age of 40, he has been selected to run the marathon for England at next month’s Commonwealth Games.”

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/may/31/great-britain-c...

Now apply that to software and interviewing. Its mind blowing to think of an interview being like that cross-country 10K and your group of friends being in it and being judged against the guy who came in first without trying. Life sure is funny.

Well, something I quickly learned while running; I am trying to improve my life directly, not by comparison.

I am not a conquerer of worlds. :) Strange that being "average" is virtually a sin... Life is funny (or fucking awful, depending).

Absolutely! I can only be as good as the best I can be. I suck at some things, average at many, and unfairly good at handful. I love it because it never gets boring. :)

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