Are We Really Born to Be Champions? Genetics, Progress, and the Joy of Running
It can feel quite discouraging and might immediately make you wonder: what’s the point? Why train at all if we might not have been born to be champions in this sport? Maybe we should just get genetic tests done to check if we’re suited for athletics, and if not, give it up altogether?
It may happen that you train hard and consistently, in a smart way, having absorbed hundreds of books, yet in the end your progress looks meager. Meanwhile, someone else trains haphazardly, with no foundation of knowledge whatsoever, and simply runs better and faster than you. It seems they possess something that helps them excel in their workouts and results. And you don’t.
Scientific research has shown that genes do influence our athletic performance, and it might indeed be easier for some and harder for others. Fortunately, it turns out that these genetic variations do not have as large an impact as previously thought.
Just like certain favorable gene combinations, there are other external factors that influence sports results—factors we can’t do much about. First and foremost, there’s our biological clock, which ticks relentlessly, no matter how hard we try to hide our birthdate. We should remember, too, that if we start our athletic journey later in life, we have a lot of catching up to do—and our age makes that even more difficult than it might have been ten years earlier.
Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. Many factors remain within our control, and they are vital for achieving training results. The most important among these are sleep, nutrition, and recovery. We can live wisely, train wisely, and recover wisely. By doing so, we reduce the risk of injury—which could otherwise rob us of our painstaking efforts—and, of course, maximize the benefits of our hard work.
Returning to the studies: in the past, it was believed that genes influence sports performance by more than 50%. However, more recent research suggests that this impact is not that high. It may still be significant enough to keep us from, say, reaching the Olympics. But is that really so alarming? Probably not. Because ultimately, we should realize that the greatest satisfaction comes from every single step forward in our training.
It’s said that the biggest happiness comes in fleeting moments. Chade-Meng Tan, in his book Joy on Demand: The Art of Discovering the Happiness Within, wrote about the concept of “thin slices of joy”—the joy found in the small moments we experience every day. The idea is that we have a tendency to look for happiness in big events that might never happen, while tiny slivers of joy are quietly forming right under our noses (or “malutkie pajdki radości,” as the original text puts it), and all we need to do is learn to notice them.
Our everyday life is full of joys, but they’re easy to miss because they’re not very intense and last only a moment. They’re limited by time and place: they don’t last long and only occur in certain settings. So, if we change our perspective, we’ll know how to find them.
When it comes to running, is it really about waiting for that one special moment to bring absolute fulfillment? Is some distant vision of a difficult achievement enough to motivate our hard training and daily sacrifices? And doesn’t the worry that maybe we weren’t born with the “right” genetic variant overshadow such big, distant goals by reminding us how many factors are outside our control?
Perhaps it’s better to enjoy the small successes and joys that come with running, which—while not daily—definitely appear many times throughout the year. Maybe it’s during a workout that goes exceptionally well, or when we set a personal record by a few seconds. Or perhaps our reason to celebrate is simply the feeling that a few months ago, we struggled more with a particular hill, and now it feels easier.
It doesn’t matter if others call your pace “tortoise-like” when every forward step in that tortoise pace brings you joy. It’s about comparing yourself to who you were a month or a year ago, and seeing whether you’re progressing—not measuring yourself against others, which rarely delivers true fulfillment.
Seek satisfaction and joy within yourself and in those small steps forward. Learn to recognize the times and places where you can find these moments of happiness. Take care of every aspect of your training—both athletic and beyond—that you can influence. Then observe the results of your efforts. If you act wisely, progress will come. Even if genetics aren’t on your side, you can still move forward with what you have—and that can bring you great joy. Perhaps even more than if you were genetically destined for grand achievements.
On the other hand, if you battle against factors you can’t control and try to pretend you’re stronger than you are, your training will lose its sense of reason and you’ll face a string of disappointments. Worse yet, you’ll likely lose the ability to notice those small yet vital moments of happiness.
Genes and Elite Marathon Running Performance: A Systematic Review
If you want to elevate your running journey—regardless of your genetic predisposition—try the Good Coach App. With personalised training plans, progress tracking, and expert tips, you’ll be able to focus on what you can control and find the joy in every step forward.