-At what age did you realize that - realistically PRs just aren't going to happen anymore?

Title should read...

At what age did you realize that - realistically - PRs just aren't going to happen anymore?

Posting over phone threw me off... ?

Also... I probably actually realized this senior year of college a few weeks before seasons end, but.. officially... it was about 2 years after.

23? When I saw this thread title, I assumed you were asking when people realized they couldnt get any faster due to physical reasons. At 23, it is highly unlikely you cant continue to improve. Maybe choose not to improve because of other priorities, but not "can't."

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Macdaddy wrote:
I tried, but real life and metabolism got in the way...

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Speaker of Hard Truths (real) wrote:

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Macdaddy wrote:
I tried, but real life and metabolism got in the way...

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No, you actually didn't try. The only thing that got in the way was your laziness.

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Macdaddy wrote:

I'm pushing into my thirties, but I realized at about 23 (roughly 2 years after graduation/team environment) that it wasn't going to happen. I tried, but real life and metabolism got in the way...

For those who came before me, how do you push through? Any words of encouragement?

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I didn't get serious about running until I was near 30 and I PR'd at every distance from 5K to the marathon in one glorious year at age 33. I was still improving, but got injured and spent the next 8 years trying to get healthy. Around age 40 I finally reached the sad conclusion that my PR's were all behind me. From my early 40s to now (age 59) I have had some years without any serious injuries, but I could never get close to where I used to be.

I keep running and racing because I love running and racing! I compete against others in my age group, and I compete against anyone else who is around me in a race. I get a lot of enjoyment from it, even though I'm now running very slowly by past standards.

Once you're aerobically fit and have a few years of good base training you then have 5 to 7 years of hard training and increasing performance. Downhill after that.

33

I peaked around 29 all downhill after that due to injuries. 4 years later I feel like I'm still slowly chipping away and can get back to where I was. I blame it on my injuries though.

I'm mixed on people who say ohh they have long legs and are taller so they are faster but guys like Bekele and many women are under 5'5

and then you have the guys who say I'm too old yet plenty of master runners are running 18 minute 5ks so that excuse is out the window too right?

Everyone is different and some train harder than others I guess and in running age truly is just a number injuries aside of course.

All of my PRs, 5K to marathon, were set at age 23. At the time I was still improving, and fully expected to be running PRs to age 30. Career, marriage, kids, house, and I suppose lack of willpower, derailed those plans. Many brief comebacks were attempted during the following decades, with varying degrees of success. I was age-group competitive in my mid-40s, and again in my late 50s, setting "age-graded" PRs. But the last "real" PR was May 16, 1983. I will never know what might have been.

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Macdaddy wrote:
... how do you push through? Any words of encouragement?

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23? LMAO! You're not even in your prime yet. It might be hard to set track PRs once you are no longer on a team, but as you get older (into your late 20s and early 30s), you'll get a lot stronger and be able to handle more volume. At 31, I'm in the kind of shape where I could possibly PR in any distance from 5k-marathon. Helps that I don't have kids yet, but if you have a job and kids, it seems pretty difficult. There are so many different types of races to do that I'm sure you can find something to do. I'm sure you didn't run any half marathons/marathons/ultras in high school so that is something you could work on. Triathlons are also a lot of fun but expensive.

I'd run in high school but then didn't take it up again until I was 26. I knew I'd keep competing as long I was still setting PRs, which was until 33. I probably could have made slight improvements at longer distances for another 18 months or so but only if I put in more work than I had either time or interest in at that point.

I ran my best times from 800 to the marathon at 43-44, and ran a final best, the 400, the day before my 46th birthday. At 52, my best times are firmly behind me. I love running but haven't felt a hunger to race since I was about 46 or so.

Matched or beat all of my college PR’s at age 30/31. Took a bit more of a commitment and my work schedule was very flexible at the time. Around age 37-38 I knew I had no hope of getting back to that ...no time and as soon as I would get fit some kind of injury would pop up. Now over 40 I have new PR’s to work on.

My mid to late 40's.
It was a sad day.

Yep, 32.

Could still go out and win regional things but never got faster.

That was about 16 years after starting, so it was a pretty good 'run'.

I ran my last PR at 33, but most of the milestone PRs (common distances) were at 24-28. My later ones (early 30s) were for things like 5 mile 10 mile and 15K. I could have gone on for another year or two and taken down 20K, half marathon, and marathon but life-work intervened. And at 35 injuries started piling up.

I think age grading is a great motivator, and an age grade PR is something to relish, but not the same as a real PR.

MacDaddy:

This is one of the best threads I have ever seen in about 2-3 years of being on LRC!!!
My answer is in the next post.