How hard is it go sub 2:05 for 800m in your 40s?

40 vs 49 probably makes a HUGE difference re: the achievable time

i do think your training plan is the right thing to do though. i'm running 800m quite well in my 30s with near zero easy running but lots of exercise biking, sprinting, thresh mile repeats

I’d recommend looking into the Norwegian singles method. It’s a much safer way to training and a couple of old dudes have run very quick miles and 800s (sub-4:30/2:10) off of the method. If you have not sprinted since your 20s the likelihood of you getting injured by training like a 4/8 guy in your 40s is extremely high.

I worked my way down to 2:06 last year at 47 from fat and out of shape (probably 3:30+ at 44). The key for me to get back into running fast was learning to avoid injury. For me at least, the key to staying healthy was adding lots full range of motion lifting (ATG front Squats, full cleans, negative deadlifts, etc...) to my strength training routine. And having a backup sport that I enjoyed doing, which for we is rowing.

Your case is a bit of a wild card if you haven't been training for 20 years. However, 2:05 is not a difficult goal given your background if you've stayed fit. I would think you can get there within a few months of consistent training.

The first month will be the most difficult because you need to establish your new daily routine. If you're consistent, you'll be very surprised at the results. I would sort of get the first month in, then do a time trial and evaluate from there.

You don't need to be planning for a year out - 10-12 weeks of training goes a long ways, and you can build to a peak in that time then reset and start again.

i have never been 40 so if the risk of "pulling something" or whatever greatly increases then sure...

in regards to overuse injuries however i am currently the least injured i have ever been in my life since i'm not doing the same thing every day.

if OP cares about 800m and nothing else, NSM is a lot of pounding on the legs for something very not specific

Top end speed will most certainly be your limiter. Go run some 200s and get back to us.

At over 40 I can't imagine even getting within 20 seconds of my 800m PR. I can't even run 100m at my old 800m pace.

Thanks for all the replies.

I was kind of shoved into the distance program in college, but I think I was actually more of a 400/800 guy talentwise( I split a 47.5 the same year i ran the 1:49). I thought this would be a fun experiment to try a lower mileage approach (albeit 20 years too late to be competitive).

I’ll definitely work up to sprinting very gradually, which is why I was thinking 12 months.

The Norwegian single method sounds great for someone going more towards the 1500/3k side of things, but I purely want to run the 800, and maybe even a coulple of 400s.

Reading about the training of people like Keely Hodgkinson and Cooper Lutkenhaus made me realize you probably don’t need to be banging out 50mpw to run a decent 800.

Probably depends on how fast you could run an 800m in your 30's, or what you can do now before all that. If you could run a 2:15 right now before doing all that then I'd say ya you can run 2:05 after many months of training. But if you're jogging it in at a 2:30 right now I'll say no.

1:49 is pretty fast and is a better story than running a 2:05 in your 40s. The average mid-life crisis marathon seems like a better choice.

Trying to replicate the training of Cooper and Keely for somebody in their 40s sounds like a horrible idea. Especially if you haven’t run fast in decades. The name of the game at that age is staying healthy.

2:05 would have finished 4th at the 2025 USATF Masters 40-44 champs and would have won the 45-49 division by 3 seconds. So it's definitely a challenging goal.

I definitely won’t be copying and pasting their training schedules, I know a 40 something washed up runner’s body can’t take that. It’s just interesting as a proof of principle that an 800 runner can perform well off a low mileage program.

I went to college in the ‘Running with the Buffaloes’ days, when we would go out and crank 8-12 miles on non-workout days thinking that’s what made you faster no matter which event.

It’s proof for principle for two athletes who are among the most talented of all time, and still young. If you can’t train at the same intensity as they are, running low mileage won’t lead to success. If you try to train at the same intensity as they are, as a 40+ year old, you will get injured.

Most people will reject this becaues it isn't how they were taught to train, but you can just run an all-out time trial once every 4-5 days and it will get you near your potentiall with minimal risk of injury. You have to run them as hard as you can.

OP, please dont let these plodders discourage you.

OBVIOUSLY you weren’t going to straight up copy the Texas A&M 800m program or whatever.

Lifting, avoiding pounding pavement day after day, and staying powerful will leave you healthier and happier whether the 2:05 goal is reachable or not.

Don't believe the injury scaremongers. Your risk of injury increases when you do stuff that you don't normally do, too hard, or too soon if you're building up to it.

1:O8 HM and 1:59 800 PRs late in grad school at age 28. Hip injury going all out at running a fast 'thon at 30 killed my desire to compete in my 30s. BUT I got healthy & played a ton of basketball, kept lifting, and never stopped sprinting/jumping, and running for fun. Got itch to compete again in late 30s, 2:06/4:39/15:38 for 800/mile/5k at 40. Can still grab a basketball rim, and do flying 100s/200s at the same speeds when 28. For me, I feel it's the speed endurance that has gone away - ability to *hold speed* doesn't feel the same. But the whole "you're gonna get hurt/pull something" mindset around sprinting is garbage (if you build up to it, are consistent with it, and do proper "prehab"/strength training to protect vulnerable spots - hammys and calves for me).

Are you gonna be slower? Yeah. But I personally enjoy this type of training, and only running 30-40mpw. I'd be miserable doing the "midlife crisis marathon" slog that someone else suggested you do. Go for it, life is too short not to.

Been there done that. 2:05 at 44, progressing from a 34 minute 10k at 40 to a.55.9 400. Big Aerobic base for years followed by more of a Clyde Hart type approach. A lot of it was mindset once I committed to less volume and more speed. The twist here is that my college PR was 2:07 when I ran a 2:38 marathon. It was hard as hell but I enjoyed every bit. One key was to get into some slow heats of Dll/lll meets, although my PR was an all comers meet with pacing help.

Now at 69 I'm training 400/800 after 20 years away, though I have stayed fit and injury free after a big Achilles injury at 50.

I think it is definitely realistic and your approach of focusing on strength and speed is good. Using age grading as a rough guide shows you at 93% in college so you should be able to get close to 90% with some good training to build your speed back. A 2:05 at 49 years old would be around 90%. I also think the injury thing gets played up too much but I would take even minor injuries seriously and take time to identify any problem and treat it before moving forward.