BILL SLOWSKY wrote:
Started running at 28.3 years of age. That was 7 months ago. Started out at a BMI in the "obese" range so a lot of the first months was cutting weight. I'm 40 lb lighter now running every day since July built up from 20mpw to currently running 35mpw. Still about 30 above an ideal race weight but I'll probably only drop another 10-20 then start lifting again because I want to still be muscular and strong.
If I keep running consistently, training hard and smart, what age should I expect to peak before age starts to slow me down?
I'm expecting around 34-36 might be the peak for me, then a gradual decline unless I'm injured or quit. I know this is impossible to answer, just wondering about best guesses or factors to consider when thinking about this.
The answer is, it depends.
Masters running is just about the only thing in life, where it pays to have been a slacker, earlier in life.
Most of us never reach our true physiologic limit. Let's say that your true bodily limit, if you trained like a pro, was a 2:20 marathon, at the age of 32. Then, you lose a minute per year. So by 40, you're at a true limit of 2:28. Then by 50, 2:38. You've hit your limit, now you're declining.
But what if you never trained hard enough to get anywhere near those times at 32?
Like most people, you probably only trained to a point somewhere below that potential, since you had other things in life you want and need to do. Maybe at 40, you run a 3:10 marathon. If you had trained like a pro you could have run 2:28 (but your never put the work in, and didn't).. Does that mean you can never improve antdthat you're going to decline by 1 minute per year, for life?
Not necessarily at all. You've left a huge amount of your physiologic potential, untapped. You'll never hit that 2:20 you could have (but didn't) at age 32. It will be your max, and you'll decline, if you keep your sub-maximal, sub-potential training at age 41, 42 and so on. But if you train harder, run more, get your weight to a healthier BMI, do more miles, speedwork and races, you may hit 3:00 by 40. Or even 2:50. Maybe you even go all in an hit that 2:28, which is your limit. Does it matter that your "peak" was at 32?
TLDR version: The rule "you must get slower and can't improve after age 40" only applies to people, that reached their absolute maximal potential earlier in life, like elites, and probably a few sub-elites. If you're like most people, you can continue to improve at older ages, if there's still room between your current performance and your absolute current potential peak performance.