Comeback in 30's

i was gong to say travolta, but i guess he was technically 40 when pulp fiction came out. winona ryder maybe?

I used to train with a guy who started running in his mid thirties, after being playing soccer as a hobby

Started off on 5/10km then dropped down to middle distances. Went sub 2 for 800m (1:57 from memory) at 40 and won European masters bronze at the distance

You need the desire and to try and avoid injuries

Jack Foster. Actually it wasn't a comeback as much as a come.

Ummm.... Ever heard of Adam Goucher?

Most people have about a 10-year improvement window. So if you started running in HS, you've already pretty much been to the mountaintop by 30. In your early 30s you are physically able to do what you did then, but the big gains have already come. I PR'd (a few seconds better than senior year state meet in HS) at age 31, but that was the last time. All goals since have been adjusted for age. Ever since 35, I can really tell the physical difference.

Of course, if you start running in late 20s or 30s, you can make all the gains that come from getting in shape. But that's not the same as a true "comeback."

I agree that it does depend on your "window of training." I ran track in HS, in the CO state meet in 800m and 1600m my senior year. Ran a few years in college but played BB too - so as a result, never tapped my full potential as a younger runner. My "youth" Pr's were about 2:17 800m, 4:35 1500m, 5K CC 17:53.

I took a few years off and got pretty out of shape after college. Came back and started fitness running at age 29-30. I was 33 when I ran my lifetime PR's 2:09 800m, 4:17 1500m, and 15:56 5000m. This was after three seasons of serious track training.

Since then, age does catch up and I have not approached those PR's. Training and recovery seems to change around age 35-36 for me - but honestly, I still think I could run a faster 800m and 1500m.

If you love the pursuit - and if your lifestyle can fit around it, go for it. It can happen.

I quit at 34, took about 18 months off, and came back. I did a little more speedwork when I came back, actually, as a shortcut to not having to pile on mileage. I did okay.

It also depends on which events you previously focused on versus the events you intend to run. If you were a miler in college I doubt you will find the time to get to the track and PB. IF you have shifted your sights to the 10k up you obviously have a lot of room to improvparticularly if you were not adept at those distances in college. Just up your mileage.

PS. I'm assuming you have done some running at a moderatlevel in the past decade, if not you are toast.

I'm too slow to call it a comeback, but I was a 1:28 HM and 3:07 marathoner in my late 20s (I was a 16:00 5ker in HS, quit for nearly a decade after that). Kids and injuries forced me to take about three years off from serious training until I was 33. A year later, and I'm currently a 1:22/2:54 guy. Of course, that also coincided with a move to altitude, which really helps as you get older -- more benefit from fewer/slower miles and all.

I've had lots of "comebacks." The biggest time away was probably from age 33 to age 40, during which time I did very little running and ran one race at some odd distance, like seven miles. When I was 40, I started back doing daily running and serious training for a year. I had a few reasonably good races during that time at altitude. My only sea-level race was a 2:28+ record-quality marathon when I was 41. I don't know how good I would have been if I had been training throughout my 30s, or if I had continued to train consistently in my 40s, but I have no regrets about getting away from hard-core running. I was never going to run faster than I had when I was younger, and I had no real interest in age-group competition.

I think my "comebacks" have generally been aided by my relatively stable weight over the years. If you've gained forty pounds, you're not going to run well until you've dropped at least thirty of them, and your risk of injury is much higher when you're trying to train hard with a lot of extra weight. My advice, for anyone who is returning to serious running after a long lay-off, is to be very cautious about doing anything fast too soon. Just run lots and lots of gentle miles on soft surfaces.

You may discover, by the way, that your body never quite feels the way it used to, no matter what you do. That's life. Contrary to the mantra of many, age is not just a number.

I have recently made a comeback of sorts after not running for eight years since high school. Back then I was a sub 2 800/sub 4:20 mile guy. After starting back from scratch last year, I managed to break 2 min in 800 and run close to 4 min for 1500, as well as a sub 9 min 3000m this summer.

I never expected to return to roughly the same level so quickly but put in time to build a reasonable base over the winter (something I never did in high school) and am now looking to build up my miles again this winter and run pbs next summer. Obviously I am only in my late twenties not early thirties, but I would still urge you to go for it if you have the time and desire. You might surprise yourself!

Good luck!

Herbert Steffny, marathoner from Germany. Was a somewhat talented teenager, ran 3000 metres indoor in 8:39,8 at age 17, stopped competitive running at age 19.

Started running again 1983 at age 30. 3rd in NYC 1984, won bronze at the 1986 EC, won the Frankfurt marathon 3 times.

Personal best 2:11:30 (1989 in Munich). Still holds the German NR for 10 Miles, 46:33 (1985).

Ran 2:18:38 and 1:05:40 at age 42.

Lance Armstrong

Started running in January 1999 aged 34, weighed 16 stone 8lb and started running to lose weight, by September 1999 ran 3:00:18 secs at Edinburgh Marathon and progressed my times to 2:47:23 in 2000 and 2:34:15 in 2001. Ran other distances but was always better the further i went. Got injured after that but felt that i was progressing well and felt at the time that ther was no reason that i could not have got my times significantly lower had i stayed injury free. I had been fairly useful in my teens but had not run at all for about 15 years prior to 1999 so it was a fresh start.

HH-A wrote:

I have recently made a comeback of sorts after not running for eight years since high school. Back then I was a sub 2 800/sub 4:20 mile guy. After starting back from scratch last year, I managed to break 2 min in 800 and run close to 4 min for 1500, as well as a sub 9 min 3000m this summer.

I never expected to return to roughly the same level so quickly but put in time to build a reasonable base over the winter (something I never did in high school) and am now looking to build up my miles again this winter and run pbs next summer. Obviously I am only in my late twenties not early thirties, but I would still urge you to go for it if you have the time and desire. You might surprise yourself!

Good luck!

Similar thing happened to me. 1:55, 4:29, 16:51 in high school. Didn't run in college. Started training seriously again in late 20's, ran 1:53.9, 3:57 (1500), 15:50 this past year. I'm 29, hopefully have a few more years of PR's in me.

gamecock wrote:

Most people have about a 10-year improvement window. So if you started running in HS, you've already pretty much been to the mountaintop by 30. In your early 30s you are physically able to do what you did then, but the big gains have already come. I PR'd (a few seconds better than senior year state meet in HS) at age 31, but that was the last time. All goals since have been adjusted for age. Ever since 35, I can really tell the physical difference.

Of course, if you start running in late 20s or 30s, you can make all the gains that come from getting in shape. But that's not the same as a true "comeback."

This "10 year window" is not correct. If you're basing this on your own experience, then fine. But it doesn't apply to "most people". Everyone is different. Everyone's high school experience was different, college was different, etc. Some people max out early, some never reach their full potential, and everywhere in between.

Don't call it a comeback....

I would suggest looking at the bios of Priscilla Welch, Jack Foster, John Campbell, and Carlos Lopes for inspiration.

1.) Priscilla was a smoker and didn't begin training until around age 34 I think, but made a British Olympic team and set a national record possibly (or was that a master's record?).

2.) Jack had a cycling background and didn't start "training" until around age 33 (lots of fell running in the hilly country side of New Zealand, short on organization it seemed). He ran both a 2:11 marathon at age 41 and got a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games when it really meant sonething.

3.) John Campbell -- a fellow Kiwi in and out of running over many odd years, but a comeback in his late 30's launched him into master's iconic status. Also a 2:11 marathon at Boston at age 41 and a sub-29 minute 10k I believe as a master.

4.) And finally Lopes. Similar story, perhaps more success on the international level at an earlier age and perhaps more injury-plagued. Gold medal at age 38. 27:17 10k on the track either the same year or a year before. WR in the marathon. Gold in IAAF cross championship too, if I recall correctly.

The "ten-year" rule may apply, but it may not all be over successive years between the ages of roughly 18 and 41. Of course, everyone ages slightly differently, depending on a multitude of factors, food intake being one of them. And my memory may have exceeded its ten-year peak, so don't quote me on any of this. Just use google.