What spelled your demise and were you surprised?

Good post.

For me, I suppose it was a combination of things. First, even with relatively unlimited time to run during the daylight hours as a college student, I did not improve as much as I wanted to. I was one of those guys who put in 80-90 mile weeks, did everything to the letter as far as speedwork, and still only managed to run 16:40 or so on my best day.

Second, eventually I graduated and got a job Doing speedwork at 5 a.m. on a dirt trail proved a little more difficult than my 3 p.m. afternoon sessions. During this time I kept up my mileage but performance declined.

Add a baby to the mix and my ability to train declined further still. Running just did not seem as important. Inconsistency lead to REALLY bad performance, and now I'm a hobby jogger.

It makes me very sad sometimes, but then I remember that, even when doing everything I was supposed to be doing, suffering greatly and sacrificing a lot to train, I wasn't that good anyway.

It also doesnt have to be all or nothing. So you take 6 months or a year off from running. who cares? take whatever time you need to be ready to go at it, and if that time doesnt come, screw it. Or, just run 30 miles a week for fun. Bottom line is do what makes you happy.

I have only one thing to add. Does anyone ever worry about long term consequences of pounding your body? Thats my main concern at this point. Sometimes in the middle of an 80 mile week I just think "man this can't be good for me". I dont wan't to be miserable in twenty years because I destroyed my body trying to break 15 minutes for 5k. Just doesn't seem worth it.

maybe there is something to this but i think the opposite is truenothing bad can come from getting in better shape, being light and lean and having a strong heart can only help you later onbest you can do i think is keep doing what you are doing and do your best to take care of injuries and try to run on soft surfaces

yeahok wrote:

I have only one thing to add. Does anyone ever worry about long term consequences of pounding your body? Thats my main concern at this point. Sometimes in the middle of an 80 mile week I just think "man this can't be good for me". I dont wan't to be miserable in twenty years because I destroyed my body trying to break 15 minutes for 5k. Just doesn't seem worth it.

I was a so-so college walk-on type who really enjoyed racing even though I was rarely a winner. I was also a heavy partier, and the latter caught up to me well before my running potential was exhausted. By the time I got my shite together, I focussed on more important real-life things for a long time. I was in my late 30s when I decided to start running again and it was clear right away that what little ability I might have once had was gone. I had not gained too much weight, but had back and joint issues and hadn't been treating myself all that well. Now I'm 50-60 seconds per mile slower than I was at 20 at pretty much every distance (except marathon, but that's because I had no patience for proper marathon training at age 20). So now my whole goal is trying not to slow down. I've learned enough about training and what works for me over the years that I've managed to maintain surprisingly consistent times. It's a small thing, but, as stated above:

"Find something you love and go for it, nobody cares about your times except for you."

Everyone has ebbs and flows. After 15 years of hard training and a decade of solid/consistent racing performance (for a "citizen racer"), my ebbs came on at about 35-39 (kind of a continuous decline), and then again at 42-45. These were precipitated by sort of getting tired of pushing the envelope and backing down on training levels (from 50 - 70 mpw, with a dozen or more races a year, to 20-30 mpw and not much racing), followed by injury, some weight gain, and years of struggling to kind of get it back.

Even though I've lost more than a few steps, I'm actually happier when training consistently. Jogging 20-30 miles a week just isn't that fun. But training 45 min to 1 hour a day, with a longer run on weekends just feels right. I don't do super hard interval training anymore, in favor of threshold training and fartlek. Now in my late 40s I'm enjoying my 4th comeback year and have no desire to back down. This is all for fun and fitness.

48 - How can I so thoroughly love something I suck(ed) at so much. Sidelined (indefinitely?) by stiff toe. I still have running hallucinations. "boo hoo"