Statute of Limitations

Its what you do that day, that race, or at most, that season. What you've raced in the past doesn't say what you will run coming up (although it is a good indicator). Its more psychological than anything.

It shall be thus:

2 yrs. for a marathon

1 yr for any shorter distance

96Owl, You SOB! Some of us older folks have trouble admitting that our best is behind us. No, I don't have some irrational thought that somehow I might pop a race near my college bests, but I do continually train 'to get better/faster' rather than training 'to keep from getting any slower'. You reminded me that my talent curve is sloping down and for that I curse you! Actually, I have wondered your very prose and think you threw out a very intelligent question. Good luck to you and I wish PR's your way.

Sincerely,

I WAS a 14:02 runner who IS a 15:43 runner!

Just the Facts

Actually, I was a sprinter/hurdler in college (not any good by this board's standards) who has recently started training for road races (again, not any good for "real" distance runners), at age 31. I will never get anywhere close to my PR's from my sprints but I should be able to get everything from the mile up by next year.

96Owl, Maybe that's the ticket. Start running new events where PR's haven't been established. Trouble is these old hamstrings wouldn't hear of such a thing as sprinting at this point in time. Good luck and a bit of advice: Keep working that speed so that it doesn't fade away. Have fun!

What if you were once fast (relatively speaking) and then got fat and slow and now you are not fat and not as slow?

Here's my deal (era - 5000 time - weight):

College in late 80s - 14:58 - 119

Two Years ago - 21:17 - 181

This Past Summer - 16:49 - 133

Develop a complex formula and corresponding table for weight/time conversion to calculate the detriment/advantage in performance per pound gained/lost. Put it out on the web as a conversion table, cross-referencing it to an age-graded table so that weight gain with age is taken into account. This should allow a virtually limitless series of ?PRs? as weights and ages change.

Did I read that right?... 119lbs, 181LBS, 133lbs. Yikes! What an amazing comeback! I know you mentioned the weight thing before, but I had no idea!

Actually, 21:17 with 60 extra lbs. is pretty good.

Hey Stepay, I did the same thing. Aren't you from Ohio?

College late 80's 14:39

6 years ago 237 LBS. 22:06

Last year 15:31

This year I've been injured: 18:08

I was more of a middle distance runner.

Late 80's college 15:15 132 lbs.

2001 21:00 165 lbs.

2002 16:47 145 lbs.

i always say, "i ran ____" or "i have run ____".

that way time can't erase it. my mile pr is from a year and a half ago, and i can still say, "i have run 4:13 for a full mile."

if i'm old, fat, out of shape (please, god, no), i'll still be able to say, "i have run 4:13"

seriously, unless it's mid-race, the chances are you aren't able to use "i am a" or "i run a"

it's in the past, treat it as such. i've seen plenty of guys nose dive from pr week to the next week. too many facters.

i was in shape a few months ago (as far as i could tell) to bust a 4:09- never happened. i have run 4:13.