The race between age and improvement.

I am 46, and am wondering about this question, too. My story is similar to yours. I took up running late, and I contunue to improve, but your improvement, in my view, is nothing short of phenomenal. Do you mean that you ran a 1:26 half after running for only six weeks--period? If so, you clearly have talent, as some work for years to break 1:30. To me, six weeks is amazing.

I have made some progress, but yours blows away mine...1:17 at age 42 or 43 is nothing to sneeze at. I would say that you should continue to improve, at least for a fews more years.

The 1;26 was after 3 months of swimming 4 times a week where I think i got my fitness from, and then I started running to break the monotony of staring at the bottom of the pool and raced 6 weeks later. At the moment the battle is between mileage and injury and building base.

I started running in my 30s and got down to 2:47 marathon/1:18 half in my early 40s. I am about to move up an age group and have really had a hard time getting any improvement. I have seen other masters runners (whether long time runners or late bloomers) really take a pretty steep dive between 45 an 50. I have also seen a few who were able to hold on to some decent times. But have not seen anyone who was running well improve significantly after 45.

I think you have some serious talent. A 1:16 on 40 mpw is solid stuff for a 41 y.o. From experience, (not really doing serious mileage (60-70mpw) until I was past 40 years old), I emphasize some old "saws" that I've collected over the years, mostly from Tim Noakes (and the like). and in order of importance:

1. Your most important workout is the next one. IOW: take it in easy training and don’t leave it all out there. Each workout is part of an entire plan/big picture.

2. Do not get injured. Err on the side of caution, better to under do it than over do it. IOW: if you get injured, you not only lose valuable training time, but because you are older you are losing training opportunities which will never exist again.

3. The above ties into very solid advice from Derek Clayton, which is that consistency builds strength and strength brings more consistency. IOW: the more you can train, the more you'll be able to train. Sounds ridiculously simple but it's easier said than done.

It’s also great to have tried and true training plans/schedules, and for years I had “the Self-Coached Runner” as my guide. It may seem dated now (30 years old) but what worked then still works now.

I was never anything special, I only wanted to get a BQ (which I did) but I think a 2:3x? Marathon is in your future.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies, compliments and tips. The not getting injured seems to be the real key as I build a base and make the best use of borrowed time. I wish I had enjoyed the training when I was younger but beer and cigarettes were far more appealing to 17 year old me. Now I am loving the training too much and have to constantly keep myself in check. Enjoying seeing how far this can go.

MarathonMind could not be more right. Err on the side of caution, and train reasonably.

I was thinking the exact same thing: if you train smartly, you are looking at 2:3x.

All the best to you.

Taking up running later in life, or restarting after a long layoff might not be so bad. I started racing at 16 and was pretty much done at 34. I've continued to train sporadically the last 28 years since, but my body doesn't respond anywhere near the way it used to. You would expect that with age, but I also believe most people have a certain number of high quality running years. If someone starts at 40 they could have success as a master, but someone like me would have years of wear and tear to deal with. One last thing: do hill intervals. Nothing like it for leg strength that is diminished with age, not to mention the anaerobic threshold value.