Are there any credible scientific studies that can predict with some precision the effect of aging on distance running?

It seems to me all age group predictions and standards are built on known performances. Maybe that's all that can be done. But that is not scientific. It doesn't answer the question above from a physiological standpoint.

It is scientific. Facts are the only thing that matters. Anyone can come up with any theory explaining anything and its opposite.

I am not even sure there is a general agreement on what causes aging or what aging is.

for most people, age grading stays pretty consistent for a while. Meaning that if you run an 80% 5k at age 30, probably at age 50 you'll still be running an 80% 5k.

After that the percents get easier to achieve - you might bump up a few percent in your 60s and 70s. At least until the next adjustment to the age grades.

It has been a while since I read about, so I don't remember a source, but I remember 'running age' being more important than your biological age (in terms of when your peak years will be reached).

With me, (I'm 49) I can't run even close to the same volume I ran at 20 without getting injured. My body doesn't recover as fast. I think that's a big part of the challenge with age performaance.

49 and holding wrote:

With me, (I'm 49) I can't run even close to the same volume I ran at 20 without getting injured. My body doesn't recover as fast. I think that's a big part of the challenge with age performaance.

Any credible scientific work to back up your opinion?

kdkdkk wrote:

49 and holding wrote:

With me, (I'm 49) I can't run even close to the same volume I ran at 20 without getting injured. My body doesn't recover as fast. I think that's a big part of the challenge with age performaance.

Any credible scientific work to back up your opinion?

He needs a scientific study to tell him he can't run as much as he used to? If he can't, he can't.

ralphie wrote:

He needs a scientific study to tell him he can't run as much as he used to? If he can't, he can't.

Yes, he needs one before blaming it on age. Plenty of other reasons why he might not be able to handle as much running.

I'm in a similar situation as "49 and hilding". I can't run as much or as fast as I did 20 years ago. Common sense would say aging has a lot to do with that, but even if it doesn't, so what? Say it was due to sun spots or greenhouse gasses or the price of tea in China? So what, I still can't do what I used to, regardless of the cause.

Besides, how would I go about ordering a scientific study on me? Not too many scientists are interested in slowing hobby joggers. Should I call the local university and say, "Hey, I'm slowing down as I get older. I want your biology department to do a study to find out why"?

kdkdkk wrote:

ralphie wrote:

He needs a scientific study to tell him he can't run as much as he used to? If he can't, he can't.

Yes, he needs one before blaming it on age. Plenty of other reasons why he might not be able to handle as much running.

Spoken like a college sophomore who thinks passing Bio 101 makes him an expert. Give us a call back when you're over 40 and try telling us age doesn't impact running ability.

ralphie wrote:

I'm in a similar situation as "49 and hilding". I can't run as much or as fast as I did 20 years ago. Common sense would say aging has a lot to do with that, but even if it doesn't, so what? Say it was due to sun spots or greenhouse gasses or the price of tea in China? So what, I still can't do what I used to, regardless of the cause.

So what? Because the cause might be something that you can avoid. This isn't that hard to understand.

kdkdkk wrote:

ralphie wrote:

I'm in a similar situation as "49 and hilding". I can't run as much or as fast as I did 20 years ago. Common sense would say aging has a lot to do with that, but even if it doesn't, so what? Say it was due to sun spots or greenhouse gasses or the price of tea in China? So what, I still can't do what I used to, regardless of the cause.

So what? Because the cause might be something that you can avoid. This isn't that hard to understand.

Okay...you go ahead and invent a time machine that will take me back to 1990. I think I might get pretty fast again that way. Otherwise, I'm just an old guy who can't run as fast as I could as a young guy.

You're not going to get any scientist to do a study on something so obvious. Tell you what...go study the world age group records. Notice a trend? The older age groups aren't as fast as the younger ones. Gee, I wonder why that is?

My age-graded performance has been improving about 2% every 5 years since I turned 40. However, I have been increasing my mileage as my family and work responsibilities have eased and my free time has increased. Roughly, I ran 35-40 mpw in my early 40s, 40-45 mpw in my late 40s, 45-50 mpw in my early 50s, and now 55-60 mpw in my late 50s and early 60s. As people above have said,at some time (for me it was late 40s), you notice that your ability to recover from hard training starts to slow down noticeably. That usually means less mileage and slower times, or doing more mileage to slow down the drop off in your times.

kdkdkk wrote:

So what? Because the cause might be something that you can avoid. This isn't that hard to understand.

Kiddo - you tell me how to avoid getting older. Go ahead. Tell me how. Outside of dying, I doubt you're going to come up with something. You slow down as you age. That's the way life works.

I'm pretty sure if I jumped out of a 5 story window, it would hurt. A lot. But I don't have a study to prove it. Oh well. I'm still not going to jump out the window.

ralphie wrote:

Okay...you go ahead and invent a time machine that will take me back to 1990. I think I might get pretty fast again that way. Otherwise, I'm just an old guy who can't run as fast as I could as a young guy.

You're not going to get any scientist to do a study on something so obvious. Tell you what...go study the world age group records. Notice a trend? The older age groups aren't as fast as the younger ones. Gee, I wonder why that is?

Why do I need to invent a time machine? You really feel that getting older must be the ONLY reason that you can't run as well as you used to? There's nothing else contributing?

Regarding the age group records, how many of those were set by world record holders from their 20s?

Regarding "gee I wonder why that is", that's the whole reason why you do scientific research and avoid jumping to the first unfounded conclusion that you can think of.

Okay, now you're just trolling. No one could possibly be as dense as you're presenting yourelf to be. Are you Flagpole?

Do you really need a study to tell you why 60 year olds don't run as fast as 20 year olds? Do you actually think that that if 20-something world record holders kept running at the same intensity, they'd never slow down? If you do, lack of scientific studies is the least of your problems.

ralphie

Do you really need a study to tell you why 60 year olds don't run as fast as 20 year olds? Do you actually think that that if 20-something world record holders kept running at the same intensity, they'd never slow down? If you do, lack of scientific studies is the least of your problems.

I don't need a study to tell me I slow down with age. I know I do. What I want to know is what percentage of my PR I should be at twenty years after my PR age. That sort of thing.

Again, age graded performances are built on times run in those age groups. Many good Masters in their 40s and 50s never competed when they were young, so that method doesn't tell the whole story.

I ran a 15:23 5K when I was 25. When I was 46 I ran a 16:43. I know where that puts me in my age bracket compared to where the 15:23 put me, but it doesn't explain why I am where I am. Some people seem to be able to run much closer to their PRs well into their 40s, others not so much.

ralphie wrote:[/b

Okay, now you're just trolling. No one could possibly be as dense as you're presenting yourelf to be. Are you Flagpole?

Do you really need a study to tell you why 60 year olds don't run as fast as 20 year olds? Do you actually think that that if 20-something world record holders kept running at the same intensity, they'd never slow down? If you do, lack of scientific studies is the least of your problems.

Please tell us why 60 yr olds don't run as fast as 20 yr olds. Because they are older is not an explanation. Why are they older? What does older mean? Older is a meaningless word.

I don't have an opinion on whether or not 20 yr olds would slow down or not if they kept the same intensity. I am not going to jump to a conclusion either way. There are plenty of older people who perform just as well or nearly as well as they did when they were in their 20s. And there are plenty that don't.

I'm not the dense one here.

Sliding Toward the Twilight wrote:

I don't need a study to tell me I slow down with age. I know I do. What I want to know is what percentage of my PR I should be at twenty years after my PR age. That sort of thing.

Again, age graded performances are built on times run in those age groups. Many good Masters in their 40s and 50s never competed when they were young, so that method doesn't tell the whole story.

I ran a 15:23 5K when I was 25. When I was 46 I ran a 16:43. I know where that puts me in my age bracket compared to where the 15:23 put me, but it doesn't explain why I am where I am. Some people seem to be able to run much closer to their PRs well into their 40s, others not so much.

Now we're getting somewhere! The previous poster seemed to think that you shouldn't slow down as you age, which is hogwash.

I don't know of any studies that say you should slow down by X percent per year, or somesuch. Maybe a study exists, but I'm not sure it would be worth a a scientist's while to do such a study. We've got cancer to cure. I'd rather grant money to go to that than telling hobby joggers how much they're going to slow down past their 40th birthday.

By the way, your times as a 46 year old are VERY impressive! To be running about a minute and a half off your age 25 times is outstanding!

Few people are able to maintain such a level for so many years for numerous reasons. Among them (besides the obvious advancing age):

1. Injuries. Some people get injured more than others for various reasons.

2. Differences in genetics. Some people are just genetic freaks. Using a baseball analogy, Nolan Ryan was still a GREAT pitcher into his mid 40s. He's one in a thousand. A few runners are, too.

3. Shifting interests/priorities. Some people simply don't WANT to train as much or as hard later in life as they did when they were younger. They just decide to move on to other things. Nothing wrong with that.

4. As an extention of # 3 above, family commitments. When you're single or at least don't have kids, you have MUCH more freedom to train and race than when you're hauling the kids to soccer games and pioano lessons. I have several running friends who always have to check their kids' calenders before committing to meeting for a training run or race.

But the biggest factor is just plain getting old. For anyone who doubts this...just wait. Your time will come.

kdkdkk wrote:

Please tell us why 60 yr olds don't run as fast as 20 yr olds. Because they are older is not an explanation. Why are they older? What does older mean? Older is a meaningless word.

I don't have an opinion on whether or not 20 yr olds would slow down or not if they kept the same intensity. I am not going to jump to a conclusion either way. There are plenty of older people who perform just as well or nearly as well as they did when they were in their 20s. And there are plenty that don't.

I'm not the dense one here.

Okay, Mr. Troll, you're getting me to respond one more time, so nice work on that.

You really think advancing age is not an explanation for declining athletic performance? Seriously? Why aren't there any 60 year olds in the NFL or NBA? After all, age isn't a factor, right?

Older is a meaningless word? Talk to me again when you actually are older. You'll change your tune.

You don't have an opinion on if 20 year olds will slow down when they get older? That's fair...it's not an opinion, it's a fact.

If someone is performing just as well at 60 as they were at 20, then they weren't training seriously at 20.

Please, stop. You sound very, very dumb.

Oh, and 10/10 for getting me to respond.