What age did you training really start going down hill

E. Bonix wrote:

If you have a job that requires you to spend hours and hours in front of a computer your hammies & hip flexors will become problematic. That's where it all started for me.

Any good doctor will give you a note for a standing (or sit-stand, better yet) desk. Your company will have to give you one after that. Extremely important for overall health. All the running in the world can't make up for 10+ hours of sitting every day.

@ SoCal Pete, "making sure to include high-intensity work and some weight training and/or plyometrics."

yes, forgot to mention this - did this in my 40s too, believe adding the weights and plyo was critical to slowing down the slowdown in the 40s, so to speak..

For swimming I come off a winter of weight work faster, even without doing more swimming. Oddly enough a lot of winter exercise biking at high RPM also seems to help with running.

Pete, sorry about the cliff ;-)

mine came after tearing up the achilles in a duathlon at age 51, over it now but slower than ever before, since before I started running age 15. Still vertical and moving forward, that's the win for today..

Odkd wrote:

weightsq wrote:

I'm 30 and the and thing that is holding me back is my back.

Also, this may seem like a dumb question because I mentioned my back, but how long can I expect to be able to squat what I do? I do reps at 225 and I've been able to do this for many years. When am I going to find myself not able to do this?

Why have you been doing 225 for years? Something is wrong with your training if you've been at the same weight for years.

Are you just joking? I'm not training to lift the most weight possible. I have been able to do 225 for years. I've done a max of just under 300 just earlier this year. And I did about that for deadlift. I don't desire to increase my squat just for bigger numbers. There are things that can go wrong. Do you know many people who have been able to do 225 for reps (Like 10 reps x 3 sets) from age 20-30. I never lift with a spotter, so that's another thing. And weights isn't even my sport, but it's something that I've been doing since I was 14. These days I'm into skiing, mountaineering and climbing.

weightsq wrote:

Odkd wrote:

Why have you been doing 225 for years? Something is wrong with your training if you've been at the same weight for years.

Are you just joking? I'm not training to lift the most weight possible. I have been able to do 225 for years. I've done a max of just under 300 just earlier this year. And I did about that for deadlift. I don't desire to increase my squat just for bigger numbers. There are things that can go wrong. Do you know many people who have been able to do 225 for reps (Like 10 reps x 3 sets) from age 20-30. I never lift with a spotter, so that's another thing. And weights isn't even my sport, but it's something that I've been doing since I was 14. These days I'm into skiing, mountaineering and climbing.

All of that is irrelevant. What I said was that if you've been doing the same weight for years, then something is wrong with your training. If you're not trying to get stronger then why have you been lifting weights for 15 years? And why are you lifting the same weight for 10 years? What's the point?

You can't read properly, old man. I wrote that I have been able to do 225 for years. Look back and read. That's what I wrote. It doesn't mean that I haven't been able to go heavier or that I haven't gone heavier. 225 is my go to workout. I don't lift the same amount of weight every workout.

What's the point? So I should just quit weights if I can't lift heavy? Great logic there. I guess we should all quit running when we can't run fast. Nice try, troll. How old are you and how much do you lift? Are you going to offer anything constructive at all?

Odkd wrote:

All of that is irrelevant. What I said was that if you've been doing the same weight for years, then something is wrong with your training. If you're not trying to get stronger then why have you been lifting weights for 15 years? And why are you lifting the same weight for 10 years? What's the point?

Except it's not irrelevant. My main sports these days are mountaineering, climbing, and skiing. With a little running thrown in. There's only so much time in the week. And you think that I should be working on getting my squat to 400 lb or something? What exactly will that get me aside from a hernia. Look, I've been lifting since I was 14. I know my body and how it starts to feel when I lift heavy. I don't have to kill myself with the weights to have a better body than basically 95% of guys out there.

Kids, especially toddlers, can inflict a different kind of "tired" on the mind / body. Anyone who trains on a regularly basis would handily beat their 8 year old (or younger) at any distance, yet the same kid has the uncanny ability to wear down the parent. The kid wearing down the parent is not a symmetric battle of endurance -- it's invariably the kid requiring constant attention / assistance from the parent.

As far as training is concerned you don't start going downhill until after 35 and at that point the age effect is small enough that some still improve at that age. Speed declines faster than everything else .So yes it's possible that you could still PR for a mile at 36 though if you train hard from the age of 30 or so it's unlikely.

i've got similar college PR's as you and ran a 49.6 400m in high school.

I'm now 33 and the speed is the hardest to maintain.

I have a hard time running 4:25-30 in the mile (road race) but have been PR'ing in the half marathon at almost every attempt (1:08 high)

For me, I would probably have to train specifically for the 400m to run under 55 seconds (i haven't actually tried though, because it sounds too painful), but can do a 5-mile tempo at my college 8k pr.

recovery is different as well. I can only do one hard workout and one long run a week now. no double workouts during the week unless i want to have a rough next week.

I will say, like you, that when i was 27-28 i felt incredibly fast and fit - and better than when i was in college..., and at around 31-32 i started to lose the speed and now need to really focus (like 8-10 weeks) to get under 15:00 for a 5k. I'm almost to the point where that's too much of a campaign to works towards

we're all different. there will just be an age when it stops clicking. diet, sleep. lifestyle. and recovery are critical to push that number into the future.

for me, i'm not going to get an olympic trials qualifier, so i don't care. i'm in no-mans land in terms of times. i never get first in big races and am always in the top 10-15 and usually in the top 1-4 of my age group..no spoils for the slightly better than mediocre

When I started having children in my 30's. You lose nearly all time and energy. Also, you realize how insignificant "competitive" running is. What matters is your positive impact on other people and not how fast you can run in short shorts. I still do jog a few times a week for health though.

Not sure I get all you guys claiming that kids destroy training. I've run faster since kids. Sure it's harder, but if you get up early enough (5 am in my case) you can almost always get in a good run. My infant/toddler kids get up at 7 or 7:30 and go to bed at 7:30 or 8. I work 50 hours per week. Still see them plenty. Still get 6-7 hours of sleep per night. If you want to do it then you will. Sleep is overrated.

I'm only 28 years old, so I don't have much to add to this thread yet. I've been running since I was 10 years old. Running is usually the highlight of my day, there is no better way to welcome the world in the morning or say goodnight in the evening. Running is about freedom and exploration and exuberance for me, it is both playful and sacred. In short I love running and I hope I can do it for my whole life. I don't mind my times getting a little slower as long as my running doesn't lose its joy.

Also, I wanted to say that SoCal Pete, your post on the second page of this thread was one of the most informative, best-written, and most moving posts that I've seen on letsrun.

18 for me....i have a degenerative disease