Anyone walk away from running after PR?

Herb Elliot

My son won state in the 1600 and hasn't run a step since.

Just cut your miles down lol

College! For those who dont run in college, HS is the end of competitive running sometimes. Ran 40:05 for a 10k a week after HS track was over, huge PR, never ran competitively again. College trackers/XC always looked depressed to me. Im sure they were not, but man that looked tough. Bored with running, try Tri? Or maybe take a month off. See if you miss it.

Lots of us walked away from track running after college or high school, many times having run a PR in our last race

Just because your 10k time indicates a 2:21 Marathon does not mean you can actually run that.

But I wish you the best of luck for trying it.

It sounds like you are at the tail end of your high performance running career. A lot of people stop running and get heavy and grumpy. Others keep running on a lot lower level and just be happy with the PRs they got in there prime years. Probably not everybody has the choice for both options. Some might be just too worn out.

Late 50s here and still competing in a few track meets every year. Every year presents the opportunity for a new PR because I am a year older and have never raced at that older age before.

I likely wouldn’t hit my goals if I did that. I’m focusing on the marathon. Ran 2:25 earlier this year off 80mpw. Two months after that I ran 30:38 in 10k. So low 2:20s is definitely within reach. I don’t want to do the exact same training that got me a 2:25 because I want to run faster. I’m willing to do the high mileage for now, but it sucks and I couldn’t sustain it from cycle to cycle. I’ll hopefully grab a PR this fall and feel like I reached my potential. I can’t imagine training any harder or any more than I am now. It just would feel weird quitting after a best effort. So I was just curious if anyone else did the same thing

Don’t quit running if you’re healthy! Running is awesome. Quitting racing after setting a mildly impressive PR at that age would be a baller move though. Go for it!

Many people have "quit" running after PRs. Usually they come back to it at some point. You don't have to decide to quit forever, right now, because you don't know how you're going to feel, or what you're going to want to do 1, 10, or 30 years from now. But it's clear you're fatigued, mentally and physically and need a break after your next marathon PR, or even if you don't PR.

Take a break, and make it as long as you need. It might end up being a week, a month, a year or permanent. But you don't need to put a label on it like "quit," "retire" or "forever."

Take a break. Decide what your priorities are going to be. And decide what you're going to do next, after you feel mentally and physically refreshed.

Id just say keep training hard tell you hit your goal and then decide what you next goal is. If you run your pr and are satisficed with it then maybe switch your goal from running a certain time to maybe lets say to maintain a certain form for physical and mental health. I think you should go all in at, some point the grind wont be worth it but it sounds like at this point it is worth it to you. but personally ive never just walked away after hitting a pr, i usually train harder to just get injured and start all over lmao

I did although it wasn't planned out. I ran a "PR" for a 15 mile race, which lets be honest, how many 15 mile races are there...but I did in the snow and ice. I came into it with about 8 months of various injuries, and left with the same. Decided to give my body a break and now it's been years.

After my senior year in college, PRing in my last race, I never ran competitively again. I halfway trained for a bit, dabbled in triathlon, and now cycle full time where I don't have to compare myself to old running PRs.

If you run low 2:20s then you'll have no choice but to recover and start training for OTQ. If Kipchoge can run world record in late 30s you can run an OTQ, get your BALLS together man and GO DO IT

The first time I ran 60mpw I was tired all the time, few years later the first time I ran 90mpw I was tired all the time. My last two stints at 90mpw I didn't really get tired. I would guess that going forward you will not have issues with 80-100mpw because your body adjusts. So it will not be as much of a negative side effect of training.

Anyway, I have heard of a local(regional?) runner going sub 4 and immediately stepping away from running.

PR'd in my last race of college at D2 Nationals after a couple years of struggling with injuries. 1:50.69 in the 800. Graduated and started a career. Always wished I would have continued another year or two. Still do some recreational / masters races when feeling motivated.

My first year coaching (spring 2000) I had a kid take 4th at states in the 1600 and as far as I know has not run since.

Sort of. Winding up college, hadn't run for the team in a year, but was in shape. Ran a fast 5K at a summer open, set a PR, in a faster time than anyone on the team had run in years.

Coach came calling, but my foot hurt at the end of the race. Took a year to start getting better, and I'd graduated by then. My 5K PR was set that day, never ran faster in any event.