Running in your 40s is a shxtshow

42 years old and have slowed mostly due to injuries and weight gained. Currently 5'11" - 165. Ran 15:40 for 5k in college and was able to run 7:30 pace yesterday for a 5 mile run. I'm not in shape yet as I'm averaging only about 15 miles a week. If I were you I would go to a doctor and get blood work. You may have some deficiencies.

Wait until your 50's! Now THAT'S a treat!!

Bruinboy wrote:

Wait until your 50's! Now THAT'S a treat!!

This, x1000.

I'd pay major bucks to be able to do regular training miles at 8:00 pace.

uh, anything wrote:

Bruinboy wrote:

Wait until your 50's! Now THAT'S a treat!!

This, x1000.

I'd pay major bucks to be able to do regular training miles at 8:00 pace.

Haha, just wait until the 60's, it gets even more frustrating

Get used to it.

It's basically all about managing your expectations.

If you were pretty fast in your youth your PRs are set.

Now you can go for age group PRs.

Enjoy every race. You probably will never be faster then in the last one.

And it's all not that bad if you are healthy and still can enjoy running.

Go in for a checkup. You shouldn't be slowing down that much between late 30s/early 40s.

But you will need to make some adjustments, both mentally and with training. You'll need to be more deliberate in your training. You'll need to run consistently year-round rather than getting out of shape, and the number of weeks in your buildup for getting into shape may decrease. Good weekly mileage is still doable, and if you've been getting by as a low-mileage runner, you have at least one place to look for new fitness. Learn to be lazy when it comes to workouts: how often to schedule them, how much to recover, how deep you dig. Maybe you have to be competitive in the local 5K/10K instead of the big city race, or stick to age group competition. Also, stalk some old guys on Strava and watch what they do.

Yep right at 40 or 41 was where this happened to me. At first i'd write it off to a bad race, been working too hard etc,. then it was apparent, a real change has happened.

Like posters above me said, it will only progress from here. Not to be pessimistic

I think the reason you see guys in their 50s cranking PRs is they maybe started later in life.

Also I think this is why so many masters runners move to ultras. Brag about how far you ran instead of how fast.

If you can get out there and not be filled w self - hate while running, keep doing so and remember how lucky you are !

Of course you're going to slow down as you age. With that, modify your approach and the attitude that goes with it. I recognized that the older I got, I was more prone to possible orthopedic problems. I switched to running on a treadmill for 80% of my mileage. Plus, I incorporated various supplements which made a difference as well. I still run 7-9 miles per day, because I LIKE IT and IT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD.

Early 40s are not a big deal. I was doing 70-90 mpw in my early 40s. Only adjustment was allowing myself to jog easy on off days without worrying about pace. But races were good and workouts were good. As you get closer to 50 than 40, you do have to make big adjustments. You will need to migrate to doing just 1 hard effort a week, add some sort of cross training in the place of easy running and make sure you are doing regular strength training. Also, you need to be ultra cautious with injuries as they take forever to heal when you are 45+.

well, there is a big part of me that looks forward to no more PRs. Only running when i feel like it, how i feel like it. I can spend more time lifting weights. run a few times per week just for fitness. maybe once in a blue moon hit a good training cycle for a far out race I decide to sign up for. but only expectation will be avoiding embarrassment on age group level.

I am 38, btw, so I know this day is coming soon!

old owl. wrote:

uh, anything wrote:

This, x1000.

I'd pay major bucks to be able to do regular training miles at 8:00 pace.

Haha, just wait until the 60's, it gets even more frustrating

If you think that’s bad, kiddo, just wait til your 70s.

Drastic slowing down and reductions in endurance are a sign that you have been trying to run too fast, too often. This has been said a million times, but runners refuse to listen. When you are older, your system looses its spring, but not suddenly. So don't blame it on age. Trying to repeat previous PR's with rushed training - or infrequent training - results in overtraining, end of story.

Precious Roy wrote:

Early 40s are not a big deal. I was doing 70-90 mpw in my early 40s. Only adjustment was allowing myself to jog easy on off days without worrying about pace. But races were good and workouts were good. As you get closer to 50 than 40, you do have to make big adjustments. You will need to migrate to doing just 1 hard effort a week, add some sort of cross training in the place of easy running and make sure you are doing regular strength training. Also, you need to be ultra cautious with injuries as they take forever to heal when you are 45+.

agree early 40's are fine-I found that I bounced back from a late 30's slide (when busy with work, young kids, coaching sports put a dent in running), to running well from 40-46 years of age. the key was running consistent miles and avoiding injury; The past 2 years I found that I need at least one day off a week and cross-training and needing more recovery time after workouts. Little "kinks" that would get better after a few days take a week or so now. Now running gradual warm-ups and avoiding too much "running streaks" are really important keeping injury-free and consistent....

Good luck!

Bruinboy wrote:

Wait until your 50's! Now THAT'S a treat!!

Truth!

I ran and raced reasonably well up until I was 47. I ran my marathon PR at 45 (3:02 nothing special), I ran a couple of 1:20 halfs at 43 & 46, I was still able to break 18 in the 5k.

But the last 2 years have been brutal. Can seem to find the faster paces and even regular running in a chore.

paul72 wrote:

. Now running gradual warm-ups and avoiding too much "running streaks" are really important keeping injury-free and consistent....

Good luck!

great point too. I used to just blast out the door. Now I give myself permission to run as slow as I need to for the first mile.

I got faster from 40 to 53, then started going backward. High 2:40's marathons. Maybe I'm a late bloomer, but I'll lie to myself and believe I could have been fast. Gaining weight, getting injuries and dropping mileage will slow you down at any age. If you're doing everything right and you start slowing, well... that probably is Father time (or an underlying condition). Might want to check the latter.