At what age did you realize your PR was no longer achievable

I think you need to learn to adjust the older you get. The big difference for me is going slower on easy days and really relying more on aerobic. High end speed is gone, but I can put in more miles and need less recovery if I slow down.

For Gene Dykes, I believe that was at age 71.

Maybe not pertinent to you, but the "later in life" part you mention, along with some improvement you're showing, suggests that you probably have a good bit left in you. I agree about adjustments, and you really have to do what you can to maximize recovery when you're a master's runner.

I'm actually running my short intervals equal to or faster than I was 4 years ago. Its the 15-20 min intervals that aren't quite there. I run those at the end of the week and accumulation of fatigue is definitely the factor at play. Have to be SO much more deliberate around recovery.

For what its worth, I ran 2x20 at 6:02/6:06 and 3x12 at 6:12/6:10/6:18, both with 5 min jog between intervals and both on rolling terrain. Getting these longer sets below 6:00 pace seems like a stretch. I think I can pull off 1:18:xx with a taper and race shoes, but cracking into the 1:17s seems unrealistic. I have 2.5 weeks until I race.

I didn't start running "seriously", get down to racing weight and really start training until about age 29. I set PRs at all of the common distances at age 32-33. Then I got an injury that took me about eight years to figure out. During that time I did a fair amount of running, but I couldn't train hard. When I finally came back in my early 40s there was no way I was going to match the PRs from my early 30s.

I got my 5K PR of 16:31 (at 4500’) when I was 28 years old. I remember each week consisted of a 3-4 mile tempo and a track workout – usually mile repeats at target race pace. Most weekends, I would do some pretty intense hiking (Colorado mountains), but was only running 4-5x/week and probably only putting in 30ish mpw. No strength training, minimal stretching (however, I did have a solid aerobic base from ultramarathons and associated training 2006-2015).

This past year (36 years old on race day), I honed in hard on the 5k to nab this PR. I ran 60-65 mpw for about 5-6 months and followed the Jack Daniels 5k training plan-intervals, tempos and marathon paced runs. Even included some strength training. I thought I was going to blow my PR out of the water, but only ended up running 16:45 (also at 4500’). I think I could have nabbed it under perfect conditions but still, I missed it with very focused training and super shoes (which I didn’t have when I ran my PR). It was extremely humbling to cross the finish line and still be so far off that prior time.

Regardless, I’m going to keep pushing forward. I love the training too much not to. I’m still mostly optimistic-despite realizing that the odds are becoming increasingly stacked against me, I think I have until about 38 or 39 before my chances at PR’s are no more.

Would love to see some success stories come through on this thread.

Started at 39 peaked at 43(15:56/4:13). Injuries kept me from PRing in my late 40s.

Fifteen months 48-49 I made one more attempt at a 5000 PR. Training went great, then my old issues (PF and calfs) cropped up. Ended up hobbling thru a 16:45 on the track 4 months before turning 50. Right after that race I knew I was done PRing.

But wait there is more! I was not done running/competing. After 10 years if false starts but keeping semi fit I figured out how I could once again enjoy running/competing.

Restarted at 59, so far so good. Closing in on 68 and having a blast!

How? In one word? Wisdom

Wisdom comes from failure but only if you are willing to admit mistakes;)

I’m 46 and I still have hope that I can set PRs before I turn 50.

All my PRs are from early 30s but I never ran more than 40mpw consistently. My biggest week ever is probably 60 and that’s with 2 long runs (Sunday and following Saturday).

I’m about 30 seconds per mile off my PRs at the moment. My best PR is probably my 1:19 half, which is achievable for a fit 50 year old.

I think there's a very real phenomenon of athletes prematurely psyching themselves out over age, when at a younger age they'd review a dozen other performance factors, and then go forth without the mental block / potential nocebo effect of thinking "ah it's my age".

I've kept training logs back into my teens, and the number 1 benefit of doing so isn't so much tracking what worked through every stage, but that it provides insight on the niggles, recover issues, and external training factors from that period of my life. My memories often vastly differ from the reality. A common observation is that things often work until they don't.

Is it possible it's age related? Of course.

But sometimes, for whatever reason, you will see some slight variance in how you respond to training blocks. It may be what you did in the run up to the block, changes in diet, body weight, stressors - work stress, or an extra day in the office, or a few added flights of stairs per week that you didn't used to take - sleep etc. The risk is that you say "ah, I'm 41, it's clearly because of age" when at 25 you'd just have thought "ah, I'm slower here, what's going on".

jdroche135's experience above is an interesting potential case study. Could it be age? Perhaps. But at his level, at 36, with a radically different training programme, I'd be looking at plenty of other variables first.

I think it's more than likely he simply responded better to his previous training programme (including the lead up to said training), for whatever reason. The 'intense hiking' may have provided a better strengthening effect than the bit of weight training he did for his previous race, the aerobic base he built in the 9 years prior + the aerobic effect from the hikes may have been potent. He may simply have responded better to lower volume, for whatever reason. Or perhaps the track session provided a higher intensity stimulus that worked for him, or the tempo runs were more effective because he was comparatively fresher going into them. It could literally be dozens of factors.

And then there's the factor of potential age related changes you need to make to your training, whilst still having the capabilities to PR. This can even simply apply to training age: in OP's case, maybe the workouts he's 'slightly better' on are affecting his recovery going into other workouts, for example.

If you're close to - or even beating times set a few years ago - I'd keep at it. Play around with volume and intensity, & definitely consider recovery if you feel it's declining.

It's going to depend on the distance and years of running. A runner coming up through the high school, college, and pro system is not going to PR at 5K or under into their 40s. Marathon or half marathon maybe.

For me (did not run in high school but did in college and beyond) I ran all my PRs from age 24-33. I probably kept it going a couple more years but took a research assistantship in the American Outback at 34, where I had 6 month winters, and for the rest of the year I was working 60 hours a week in the field with odd hours, while lugging gear and hiking on rugged terrain. That first summer I got my 10K time to 40 seconds off my PR, with just three months 40 mpw (compared to 70-80 at peak/age 25). With a less rigorous lifestyle I think I could have PRd in 10 mile and up into my later 30s. But the opposite happened and I kind of started falling apart at 35-36. I was never a very good runner.

I realized this at 22, when I finished college. For me, I would never again have the coaching, teammates, trainers, and most importantly, time to train and sleep.

I can see how if you start at 30, for example, you never had all those resources, so your PRs are more attainable.

I am realizing that now. I didn't run from 18 to 33 and missed out on my prime years of development. I am glad to have what I have now but my window to break 3:20 in the full is closing. And it may never happen and I quite possibly have to accept that it's my best time. Some of it was injury- and luck-related. But I'm going to keep trying.

Hey, we're in almost the exact same boat... I'm 41, my PRs came in 2019 (4:41 mile, 16:42 5k, 1:18 HM, 2:48 marathon).

I'm not giving up yet. Physically, I know I still have it in me. It's the environmental part... I've had some struggles with life stuff that has interrupted prior cycles. And I also moved away from a place that was VERY conducive to training. I've got my life in order now and I'm trying to move back there (NYC). So I'm still hopeful that I can hit these times again.

It will take a lot of work, but I know it's possible.

At age 33 (in 2020) I was getting within a minute of my HS 5K PR off no speed training and doing solo races, so I think with a little more focused effort I could have at least got very close at that time. Later that year I almost died of leukemia so it’s been a long journey back and I’ve had to accept I won’t get back to that shape again and now I just enjoy being able to run at all. I stopped running after HS and restarted when I was 24 and was really hard on myself for not running in my early twenties and thought I’d missed my peak years. Then when I was 27 I got back into decent shape finally and really knew my peak was behind me. Then I chilled for a few years and then ran consistently and without injury from 31-33 and my times were getting close to my HS PRs and I realized I was still hypothetically in my “peak era” but I just had to work much much harder. Then the whole cancer thing happened and now I’m just happy to run and coach.

It depends, but generally based on my observations.

1)If PR achieved under optimal training : 32yo for any distance under 10k. 40yo 10k-Marathon.

2) If PR achieved under hobby jogger training : 40yo for any distance under 10k. 45yo 10k-Marathon.

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By optimal training I mean if you started running in your teenage years, and always followed a rigorous program consistently.

By hobby jogging I mean if you trained for at least 1 year consistently, but started as an adult.

Kipchoge broke the marathon WR at 42 years of age and you guys really think that you can't run a 1:16 half marathon because you are 36 years old? Please.

Kipchoge I am not.

Inspiring post, no sarcasm. It really gives you a great perspective. Running is a gift!

Cool you got to witness this (as Kipchoge is currently 39 yo)

He's 44 now.