Can I run faster at 34 than 17?

Thanks man! I've got an 800 on Aug 26th and a 400 and 200 on Sep 4th. I might also have an 800 on the 1st Sep and another 800 on the 29th Sep, but those are TBC.

Actually did manage to squeeze in 4 miles plus 100m and 2*150m sprints today. Whole thing was on the beach, so the sprints were about 20s per 100m - but was 100% effort. That means I hit 35mi for this week, which is a relief!

Was a serious runner from age 15 onwards. Ran my fastest 800m/1500m/3000m at 27 years old.

Despite having run the 3000m s/c since I was around 20, I did run very close to my best at about 34 or 35 (although my 800m was slipping by then).

OK

The 200m repeats I ran was in average between 30 and 31 but with a rather long break (around 1.5 seconds) and I couldn´t run more than 6 of them.

My 800m race time at that moment was 2:10 and my 200m time was mid 26.

I am certain you can become much better if you continue training seriously.

I think you should think about running long runs regularly in the winter season when still continuing doing some fast stuff. The long runs could be substituted by AEROBIC reps as done by the Ingebrigtsens but it is important not running the reps too fast.

Many people on this board think that you compromise your speed by running long runs but that isn´t my experience. I ran low 13 in the 100m in the same time as I ran 37 in the 10k and experienced a peak on ALL distances after running long runs.

"a rather long break (around 1.5 seconds)"

1.5 mins???

Too many factors go into this. Your age isn't a problem. What matters is probably your training program. And how serious you want to go after your old PRs.

For me personally i'm getting PRs at 44 in sprints less than 60meters, mainly due to the fact that I didn't do sprints from 1993 till 2015. I did distance and 400s. So sprints are new to me. And it takes a long time to build everything back up that I broke down during distance running from 1993 till 2015. So it's taken me almost 10 years to get faster in 60meters and below and jumps due to the fact that my muscles and brain aren't used to fast twitch muscle fiber training. Even thinking like a sprinter in the brain takes a very long time, well for me personally it has.

So it's pretty much just the training program (90 percent of the time) and what your used to. It's super specific.

But I would lower your mileage per week and focus more on speed training 1600 and below rather than the slow miles.

Update - very positive week.

Mon: 5.3mi easy (on beach)

Tue: 10 repeats of 120m (approx) steep hill. 5mi total (all non-hill running on beach)

Wed: 5mi easy (on beach)

Thur: 5k tempo in 22:29, 5mi total (on beach)

Fri: 5mi easy (on beach)

Sat: Off

Sun: 4mi easy plus 4*100m strides

Total = 29mi.

On holiday this week, hence all the beach running. The tempo was actually pretty good, despite the slow time - it was run on sand into a storm wind, and still was slightly sore from the hills, so just focussed on effort and accepted it would be slower. Ended up getting heart rate exactly right.

Then, today, I ran another 800m SB - 2:26.31. Pretty great race - went 70/71 for the first lap after getting out faster, then came back in around 75 flat. I think I might have had a little more in me - finished feeling tired, but recovered quickly. Very happy to have successfully sped up on the first lap without wrecking everything - the first lap has been a consistent issue, which should improve with more experience. Race execution felt perfect, but that indicates that I can go a little quicker. Got my last 800m on Sunday (I cannot find another one after for the life of me), so will aim to duplicate the first lap, and then push harder from 400 to 600 and start sprinting with 200m rather than 100m to go. That might not get me under 2:25, but it's worth a shot for the last race!

I've also signed up for 200m on the same day. Got a 2h break in between. No real goal for that, but ran 29.87 a while ago, so something closer to 29 flat would be nice, if the 800 doesn't wreck me.

After this Sunday, I'll train hard for another week, then take things very easy for 10 days (to coincide with a trip to Boston, and to prevent any injuries). After that, I'll start a 10-week block of training before a mini indoor season - there are open indoor meets on the 1st of Dec and 8th of Dec in the UK, and then I'm moving to Boston, so will try to sign up for the Greater Boston Track Club indoor open.

Amazingly, a 14-year old (Devine Iheme) smashed the world record for the under-15 100m at the same meet as me today, running 10.30. I didn't see it as I'd left before, but it's pretty cool to have raced at the same meet.

Advice sought - training question for winter work.

Once races and rest are done, I'll train Oct and Nov to target indoor races in Dec and Jan. I've worked out the below plan based on the most convenient routes in my area.

Mon: Sprints (maybe 5*100m) - 4mi total

Tue: 5.5mi easy

Wed: Speed endurance track workout (e.g: 4*400m, 5min rest, 800m pace)

Thur: 5.5mi easy

Fri: 10*100m hills - 4.5mi total

Sat: Rest

Sun: 5k tempo - 6.5mi total

Aiming to improve all systems for 800m across 4 workouts (as the sprints aren't too taxing).

Main thing is this only comes to about 32mpw. Should I increase, and if so, how? Don't want to neglect mileage, but I'd rather err on the side of lower mileage if it means the requisite intensity is there.

This week:

Mon: 800m 2:26.31 (see above) - 4mi total

Tue: 6.3mi easy

Wed: 5k tempo 20:59, 6.5mi total

Thur: 4mi plus 4*100m strides

Fri: 4mi plus 4*100m strides

Sat: Off

Sun: 800m in 2:27.91, 200m in 29.97. 6mi total.

Total: 31mi.

Mildly annoying week. The 800m on Mon was great (see above). The tempo was irritating, started too fast (6:30/mi first half, 7:00/mi second half). Felt awesome on the Fri run, then the races on Sun were doomed by bad weather. 800m was run in 80F, which is HELL for a Brit. I ran 1.6 seconds off SB, which I think is the superior performance (SB run in approx 68F), but who really knows. Went 72/76. The 200m was ran into a -3.3 headwind, and was exactly 0.1s slower than last time. Based on a converter online, it's worth 29.61, which would have been a SB - but again, can't be sure. Honestly, it stabs at me a bit to have the season conclude in poor conditions, but guess it gives me an easier target to improve on in December.

Got a 400m and 200m lined up in 3 days, so we'll see what happens there. Think sub 65 and perhaps cracking 29.5 would be nice. Obviously will have to improve speed sunstantially to get much better at 800m - but with 2m of hard, dedicated training, I think it should be possible.

Also hoping to get 1:40 in upcoming 600m (1st Sep) by virtue of holding 400m pace for 200m longer - this might be relying on beginner's gains to an excessive degree, but we'll see what happens.

Are you me? I’m 26 and in March decided to pick up running again for the first time since HS with the goal of chasing my old mile and 5k PR. Our PRs were similar (60, 2:20, 5:11, 18:10).

Ran a 45:xx 10k the other week so not quite there but definitely seeing tons of progress each month

Good luck, man! Are you focussing on 10k or on 400m-mile? It's been a lot of fun getting back into it - enjoy!

3 races this week. Unfortunately no more until Dec.

Mon: 6.3mi easy

Tue: Off

Wed 400m, 200m in 64.56, 29.15 (2.9 wind). 4mi total

Thur: Off

Fri: 4mi easy plus 4*100m strides

Sat: 4mi easy

Sun: 800m in 2:28.3, 4mi total

Happy with the 400m and 200m. 400m is 0.75s faster than last time, 200m is 0.55s faster than my previous best once adjusted for the wind.

The 800m is disappointing - felt incredibly strong, had perfect conditions, and thought I was in 2:23-2:24 shape following the 2:27.8 run last week in 83F heat. Ran the race perfectly, finishing exhausted with perfect pacing, after tapering since Wed and feeling incredible all week, and ran 2:28.3 - one of the slowest races this year. Went 72, 76. Perfect race execution, but poor result.

That's likely my last race until Dec 1st. Pretty happy with first season back, although I do think I had a faster 800m in me. Will train hard for next 4 days, then run just enough to maintain fitness for 10 days (intended as post-season break), then will go into hard training for 8 weeks before 3 indoor races (2*600m, and 1 800m).

I think, assuming 2:24 might be my current fitness, breaking my 800m best-ever time of 2:22.3 might be possible in Dec. We'll see! Planning on inoroporating 8*30m flys until then to bring down to 200, the rest may follow from that.

Not much to report this week. Resting after the races finished.

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 5k tempo in 20:32, 6.3mi total

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: 4*100m strides, and 8*30m fly sprints with ~3:30 rest between each fly. 4mi total

Friday: Off

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Off

Total = 10.3mi

Tempo executed perfectly - heart rate good, pace consistent. Sprint workout was the first real sprint-specific workout I've done in a while, and left me with tight hamstrings for 2 days. Will include this once a week for 8 weeks after the rest period is over, but may need to ease into it a little more.

Plan is to rest another week (until Mon Sep 23rd), then have a week of easy-ish training (a tempo, some strides, maybe some hills, easy runs), go back to full training until the end of Nov, and race in Dec. This should clear up any potential injuries post-season. I used to train like this before (1 week recovery, 8 weeks hard training, 1 week easy, race, repeat), and it worked pretty well. Was my plan to keep up with SOME running during the rest, but currently in the USA for work, and will probably just take the whole week off.

Update W/C 16th Sep:

Entirely off this week to rest after races. That's 10 days off in total.

Tomorrow will be first run back. Will have a 75% intensity week first week back, then go into 8w of full training before Dec races.

Outside of running, passed PhD viva the other week and spent all this week meeting work collaborators and checking out neighbourhoods in Boston to live, so it's been nice recently.

Hopefully the 10d of rest will have removed the slight pain in my foot! I'm going to run around 25-30 miles a week for the main training block coming up, but 4 of those runs will be hard (1 sprint session, 1 hill session, 1 interval session, 1 tempo), so hopefully this will avoid overuse injuries while giving me bang for my buck over 800m. Considering lifting once a week as well, but whenever I do this it leaves me sore for 2 days after, so not sure if I'll be able to fit it in without compromising my other training.

Update:

Have started with a 12-day schedule. Started with 6.3mi easy on Tue 24th after flying back from Boston to England the day before, then completed this cycle today:

Wed 25th Sep: Approx. 5k tempo in 20:36 (watch went haywire) - 6.5mi total

Thur 26th: 6.3mi easy

Fri 27th: 8*30m flys with ~4m rest. Felt awkward. 3.5mi total

Sat 28th: 5.5mi easy

Sun 29th: 8*200m 90s turnarounds - 36, 35, 34, 34, 34, 35, 36, 37 (I think). 5mi total

Mon 30th: Rest

Tue 1st Oct: 6*800m 5min turnarounds - 2:53, 2:56, 3:00, 3:04, 3:00, 2:58.

Wed 2nd Oct: 5mi easy

Thur 3rd Oct: 10*0.1mi hills, walk rest. 5mi total

Fri 4th Oct: 5mi easy

Sat 5th Oct: 5*200m 5min turnarounds - 31, 32, 31, 32, 34. 5mi total

Sun 6th Oct: Will be rest

This comes to about 30 miles a week on average. The 29th workout was good, tied up in the last repeat. Same with Sat 5th, although surprised with how comfortable the 31s repeats felt. Thought about bagging today's workout as still tired from the hills - in future will definitely swap the hill and the 5*200m workout so the hills come after. Felt a slight oddness above the back of the knee today, so glad rest is scheduled.

I seem to be OK with a hard workout every other day, but might add a day of easy running into each half of this cycle and just turn it into 2 separate weeks I always alternate, to increase mileage and recover a little better. Strides after all easy runs.

Feeling good!

Update for last 12d cycle. Got a cold halfway through, so some workouts were worse than I hoped, but still did them all. Getting over it now, but still have some symptoms.

Day 1: 5k tempo in 20:28, hillier than normal. Watch might have been inaccurate (3:06 half-mile split at one point). Badly paced, started ~20:00 and slowed ~21:00 pace.

Day 2: 5mi easy, skipped strides as noticed small pain in foot

Day 3: 8*30m flys (approx), faster than last time, felt strong. 4mi total

Day 4: 5.5 mi easy - noticed cold around here

Day 5: 5*0.2mi at 800m pace on park path, 2m30 turnarounds (i.e: ~90s rest). 1:00, 0:58, 1:04, 1:04, 1:07. Imagine 1:00 would be about 800m pace adjusting for the slower course/dodging pedestrians, so this was a poor workout - affected by cold, I think.

Day 6: Rest

Day 7: 6*0.45mi at V02 max on park path, 4min turnarounds (i.e: ~1min rest). Aiming for ~2m45 to simulate 6 min mile pace, but was well over 2:50 for all but one. This is about my normal tempo pace, so cold was affecting things here

Day 8: 5mi easy plus 4*100m strides during the run

Day 9: Hills. 10*90m hill (approx), jog back rest in ~45s. Felt strong, but like I had more to give. Stopped it at the planned 10, but might have kept going for 15/20 repeats if not for illness. Plan to either extend to 20 reps next time, or just find a longer hill.

Day 10: 5mi easy plus 4*100m strides during the run

Day 11: 5*200m off 5min walk turnarounds (approx 4m30s rest) in 31, 32, 31, 31, 32. Better than last time (31, 32, 31, 32, 34) even with illness, and think I could have pushed to all 31s, so a good workout. Would love to get this session down to 30s for all repeats by Xmas.

Pretty good training so far, and hopeful this cold will bugger off soon. Might sign up for an indoor 400m in Jan (either that or an 800m) - would be nice to see what these 200s translate to.

Will bump this once, as I'd like some feedback on my general training.

Currently hitting 20-min tempo, then 800m pace intervals, then max-V sprints, then V02-max intervals, then hill repeats, then 400m pace intervals, with easy running and strides or rest on the days between each workout. This comes to 30mpw.

Seem to be improving nicely on this schedule, but is it ideal training? It means I hit each system once every 12 days - is this enough to improve, or am I leaving it too long between hitting each system?

An alternative could be max-V sprints, a 20-min tempo, 10*45s on the hills, and a 400m-pace workout each week, with strides after all easy runs - trying to combine the V02/tempo and hills/800 workouts together.

Good week just gone.

Mon: 10*80m (approx) hill sprints, about 2 min rest (walk to start). Fell in jog home, landed on hip.

Tue: 5mi easy - no strides to avoid aggravating hip

Wed: 4*400m with 6 min turnarounds (e.g: 70 = 4m50 rest) - 71, 70, 71, 72. Fell again during jog home but OK.

Thur: 5mi easy with 4*100m strides during run.

Fri: 8*30m flys. Felt awkward, not as quick as last time.

Sat: Rest

Sun: 5*1k in 3:43, 3:43, 3:42, 3:44, 3:46. 5m30 turnarounds = about 1m45 rest, apart from after number 3, when I accidentally took an extra 30 seconds after getting math wrong. Fell again, but fine.

32mi total.

Encouraging workouts. The 4*400m session probably indicates I could run 2:22-2:24 for 800m in the same conditions (i.e: solo on track), so likely closer to 2:20 with competition. Very happy with that considering I was running 2:32 in July. May time trial 800 solo in a few weeks. Would be very nice to crack 2:20 in my indoor race in December. Happy with the Sunday and Monday sessions also. The latter was odd - sprinting as hard as I could, but felt recovered after 2 mins, so likely wasn't going truly flat out.

W/C 28th Oct:

Mon: 5mi easy plus 4*100m strides

Tue: 10*250m hills at 5% gradient, about 5:30 pace, jog back rest in just under 2m

Wed: 5mi easy plus 4*100m strides

Thur: 8*30m flys. Felt awkward again - hills had taken it out of me

Fri: 5k tempo in about 21:00 (watch went mad, ran about 3.15mi in 21:19).

Sat: Rest

Sun: 400m time trial in 64-mid, hand timed.

Total - 29mi

Decent week. The hill workout on Tue really zapped my legs - the strides and flys have felt slower than normal since. The 5k tempo is annoying, I seem to have been stuck at 20:30-21:00 for ages. Happy enough with 64-mid hand-timed solo for the 400. Best time last season was 64.5 in Sep, in a race, so running the same time solo, in the middle of a training block, with tired legs, might signify that I could run faster in a race. Could be wishful thinking though.