Advantages of Having Trained Years Ago

No benefits, just go do XFit instead.

Haven't been to Letsrun in many years, but it's clear somethings haven't changed. Thanks for your helpful response.

well are you 30 or 50 for starters?

I'm 26... haven't trained in 4 or 5 years.

Yes there are benefits. I don't know exactly what they are at the mitochondrial level, but I can tell you from experience that once you've been there it comes back fast.

Assuming you aren't fat you could be back at your high school pr's in a year. I don't think you could get a non-runner there that quickly.

Capillary development maybe? I think I also recall something about your nervous system being used to it. I know there is a small section on it in "Lore of Running".

Yes. This may sound cliché. Running/Jogging is like putting money into the cardiovascular bank. The more you do it the greater the savings. But there is greater benefit when you do mental/autogenic conditioning you put your running into a higher yield account and it pays off when you get back into it. Start back up slowly, feel the sore muscles then rebuilt up gradually hence your 'permanent benefit'.

Well, you're only 26 so you have about 10 years of good, fast running. In response to your question, yes, from what I've observed the running you did in the past will definitely help. You should be able to get those times assuming you aren't a fatty and have been doing some exercise in the last 4 years.By the way, the 4:32 1600 meter run and 2:01 800 meter run are a LOT better than the 17:20 road 5K. The 10:05 2 mile is kind of slow considering your shorter distances but is ok. Are you much more of a short distance guy?

Callo wrote:

Hi everyone, I'm a former runner who's well past his glory days. I used to put in 50-60 miles a week when I was training, with solid track workouts thrown in. I had PR's of 10:05 2mile, and 17:20 5k road (and 2:01 800m, 4:32 1600m in high school track)

My question is, what advantages would I have in starting to train again after having reached a fairly good level of fitness when I ran my PR's years ago? Is there any science behind 'permanent benefits' of high-level training that don't go away even after a lack of training/fitness? I remember reading about mitochondrial levels never really diminishing after you've added/trained them up. Are there other similar long-term benefits that would help me if I started training again?

Just curious about this science of this particular situation.

Thanks.

Having learned to deal with discomfort is a somewhat underrated skill that you probably already have too.

your 8 and mile are way better

#'s don't add up

call bs on #'s

fgfg wrote:

your 8 and mile are way better

#'s don't add up

call bs on #'s

Those times are perfectly normal for a high school mid distance runner.

fgfg wrote:

your 8 and mile are way better

#'s don't add up

call bs on #'s

Conspiracy Theorist wrote:

Those times are perfectly normal for a high school mid distance runner.

I agree with this guy. Most high school athletes are underdeveloped aerobically so it would be reasonable that his times get worse as the distance increases.

Those were pretty identical to my HS times. With a second on the 8/1600. I was a bit fast over 5k XC (~17:00) and a bit slower for the 2 mile on the track. Definitely believable to me.

So, are you going to make you're first goal a sub-17 road 5k? If you could go 4:32 in HS it should definitely be doable.

Yes. Having recently endured a root canal I was reminded of my mental training years ago...it helped!

It is possible to come back in a year. I was 2:02, 4:32, 9:52,16:34 from 2003-2004. After years off, knee surgery, and gaining 15 pounds, I was able to get back down to 16:47 this year on 40-50 mpw for six months.

Yes, for those wondering about the disconnect in times, I was more of a speed guy than a distance guy (as much as I tried to be). I was built a little more muscular than the typical distance build, which helped with the mid-distance stuff.

As for my shape now, I'm heavier than I was when I ran my PR's (155 now, 130-135 back in training) but it's mostly muscle I've put on in the gym. I'm in shape but it's mostly strength, not endurance.

Thanks for all of the advice/thoughts so far.

I had almost identical track times in high school in 1996 and it does feel like the experience of running high school/college did help me make a come back the past 2 years. It is hard to pin point why it helps to have had a background in running but it seems to. Maybe muscle memory or mental toughness?

I actually attempted a come back when I was 26 and 40 pounds heavier than college. Unfortunately, I ramped up mileage too quickly as my mind thought like I was "back" but my body could not handle it and after a few months of terrible tendonitis in shins I swore off running again.

This time around I am hopefully a little smarter about the comback!

2:00/4:30/10:00 were very typical range of times when I recall recruiting high school guys to a D2 college 2001-2004. And they all could run 52 for the quarter as well and didn't run over 55 miles a week.

I always was amazed why so many 4:30 guys were over 10:00 when I ran 9:23 when I was running 4:30.

Its actually the norm based on the 150 or so questionnaires I recall looking at.