Ex collegiate runner..11 year layoff..comeback at 32

I did not take off that long but did for a couuple of years. Peak year for me was 35 (will vary from person to person), but have been able to hold on to that peak for quite a while now.

You may also get a few more replies from some other running forum for more mature runners as this one has a lot of kiddos posting.

what kind of fiber supplement do you endorse, thoner? we kiddos need to start taking preventative measures against colon disease now, so that we never become irritable, single-minded pieces of shit like yourself. peace in the middle east.

I never quit completely - in college I did mid-distance, then I switched to road racing after because open track meets were few and far between (are you listening, Craig Masback?). Did that until age 32 or so, got injured and missed a couple of years, and when I came back I resolved to go back to middle distances. It took me another year or so to finally shake the injury and get a base going, and then I got to within a second or two of my 1500 and 800m PRs in my first real track season, and kind of just hovered there for another year or so. Then I put my training on the back burner to coach others.

So I don't know when the "peak" was or will be (hey, I'm an optimist) - I'm getting back to training now at age 41.

I basically quit at 20 with mediocre PR's of 1:58.8y and 15:45 for 5k. Ran very little for 10-15 years and gained 25 pounds. Started doing a little to get in shape in my early 30's, and started racing a bit at around 35. I'm 41 now and have improved every year since, but missed most of this year with an achilles problem. My goal has been to get to the same level I was for 5k, and since I seem to be much stronger with age, to be even better at longer distances.

The biggest problem is injuries. Every time I think I am about to get to a new level, something gives out. I've missed several months virtually every year -- achilles, IT band, hamstring all have given me fits. It then takes longer each time to get back to where I was.

Anyway, I have figured that I have maybe 8-10 years from when I started competing again to improve, so the next year or two may be the peak. Would still like to get under 16:00 again for 5k and in the 2:30's for a marathon before I'm too old.

If you were better than me to begin with, your upside is probably greater now as well.

Good luck.

This guy waited until he was near 30 to start running at all. It's worked out form him. Sounds similar to Elija Lagat that won Boston 2000.

From NYC Marathon website:

Kosgei began running seriously at age 28, and won the first four marathons he entered ? He was a struggling corn and wheat farmer who took up running, he acknowledges, because he was overweight and ?needed capital? ? He considered learning tennis rather than running, but Kenya lacked suitable tennis facilities and he had never played the game ? Kosgei is nicknamed ?Solar? by his training partners because of his habit of wetting his head to prevent sunburn.

I am not quite 30, but I am also interested in people's answer to this. I took off most of grad school (part because of the school demands, part to recover from my college running injuries) and am now on my way back. I think it is going to be a slow road back, but wow I miss racing! Any advice for getting back into speed work? I had the most success with Jack Daniels type training before. I still have all my old logs and I was looking back at how I got started before... What kind of cross-training, if any, did others do on their way back? I already have a good weight training program, and I got out my old wet vest, but what else?

Is a good weight training program a good or bad thing for a runner who wants to get back into base mileage?

Well at least for me, I had to cut back alot on my weight training in order to log the miles....I am slowly reintroducing weight back into my program...but with low weight high reps and working more on form rather than mindless motion.

To be honest, training for 10K and above, I'm not sure how much weights help. My approach has always been to get the mileage where I want it, then add other modalities (I've always wanted to use that word). Also, if I could afford the time to run and swim, as opposed to run and lift, I would - good upper body strength with good flexibility. Additional side benefit from my time swimming when injured was appreciative comments from the opposite sex.