Older Runners: When Did You Notice You Were Finally Aging?

This is awesome. It all feels the same.

I started feeling old as a runner at 38. But I'd taken several years off in my 20s so if I hadn't done that, I might have felt old even sooner.

I've run all my life, but didn't start "competing" until my mid-30s, then trained hard under a very good coach for several years, and developed into a very good (but not great) masters runner, hitting low-4 1500, sub-16 5k and 1:13 half. I was running my lifetime best times between age 41 and 43. Then at about 44, my ability to train and race fell right off a steep, high cliff. My 10k performances were suddenly and consistently about 2 minutes slower, and all other race distances slowed by equivalent amounts. I managed one more lifetime PB (400, which I had only ever raced one time before) the day before I turned 46.

Since the initial sudden drop, there's been a subsequent gradual but persistent further deterioration in ability. t my best, my age-graded scores were around 85-87%, and that tapered to about 75-77% suddenly (except the 400 at 46, which hit 82%), and has stayed pegged at about that level. The steady decline I see as the natural result of aging; the initial crazy drop baffled me then and still baffles me today. I suspect it may have to do with the major muscles in my legs being all bunged up, knotty, scarred, seized and otherwise just not firing properly from years of hard training and a complete absence of stretching. I'm seeing a great physio these days and gave him challenge of trying to make my legs young again, to see if I can back some semblance of ability to train and race. Wish me luck!

At 35 my speed just deserted me.

Interesting and very similar to my experience; I started at 47, got to a consistent 82-84%, held it until 57 and after recovering from injuries seem now to be stuck in the mid-70%s. Maybe there is something about peaking in 10 years no matter when you start competing.

Former average D1 runner, best of 30:18 in 10K. Ran since 15, now 58 with no breaks longer than 6 months and all but one of those were for injury recuperation. Was still running 16's for 5k into late 30's. After about age 38, running went from 30-40 miles a week to 20-25 and stayed there until early 50's. My running times and training paces fell off a cliff around 45-46 years old (from sub-18 to not breaking 19:30 ever again in a 5k in about 24 months) and have been dramatically slowing ever since. I'll never run anything fast again, sure of that. At peak of running, could do 10 miles at 6:30 and easily hold a conversation - that is sprinting for me now and I can't hold it for more than about 100 yards. Most runs are at 10-12 minute/mile pace and they don't feel very easy. I still enjoy running, doing about 12-18 miles a week off of 3-5 runs per week, but really miss the feeling of just flying and feeling smooth and fast. That is long gone. Several posts above have hit the nail on the head, imho. Keep lifting weights, do short speedy stuff regularly for as long as you can, watch the beer intake (wine or one or two scotches will add much less weight), and eat a lot less. I have found intermittent fasting (IF) to be a great weight control device. 6 days out of 7 each week, I don't eat anything (drinking water is OK though) until 2:00 - 3:00 in the afternoon. And after a brief adjustment period to IF of less than 2 weeks, I have rarely been hungry before mid-afternoon. I eat fairly healthy (never giving up ice cream or hamburgers with onions even if it kills me) and eat what I want for the roughly 6 hours between then and 9:00 at latest. Hit the sack for sleep around 11:30. One day a week I eat whatever I want whenever I want (fast food or Thanksgiving meal or whatever) and I don't worry about whether the food is crap or if I'm eating too much that day. This has worked marvelously for me to keep my weight at a healthy level for the past year or so and I suspect it will work well for good. It was a much easier adjustment to IF than I ever thought it would be.

Bottom line: Father Time wins in the end when it comes to running, unless you are a freak of nature like Ed Whitlock. I have no idea how he was able to do what he did, likely a genetic mutant with a strong determined disciplined lifestyle.

In high school I mostly ran the 440. I thought that I was a sprinter in that I ran a 220 on the relay team. Once a year I raced a half mile. Running seemed to be easy on my body and like many high school kids I didn't train very hard and wasn't the toughest kid in a race as far as intensity went. I ran an open 52.4 and on a rely a 51.5.

In college I ran many 880s. I never could break 2 minutes. Looking back on it my training lacked many elements. I believe that I left my best races on the training track.

In my 30s I ran many sub-master races on the track. I noticed in my late 30s that the speed work necessary to run my best 400s and 800s (the metric era began in 1980 when high school tracks became 400 meter ones) often broke me down. Slight muscle injuries occurred. In my late 30s I switched to longer road races in the fall and early spring and for the first time built a base. I was mostly injury free until doing the speed work to get my times down on the track.

In my 50s the weight jumped up. I wasn't eating more and my workouts mostly consisted of distance runs. I still ran a few half marathons but each year I couldn't hold the pace that I could in my 40s. People noticed that my knee lift became nonexistent. Even though I did lots of strides my distance running pace showed more of a shuffle than a run.

In my 60s I continued to get slower with each passing year. Since I didn't do much speed work I didn't get injured much. Those injuries which I did get were mostly of the soft tissue nature which went way fairly quickly.

Now in my early 70s my times have been fairly stable in the past few years. I have slowed more by seconds (in the couple of 5ks that I run each year) than minutes as they had during previous decades. I eat better and am lighter than I was 10 years ago. I also have done more stretching and full body exercising although I did work out with light weights from the age of 16-60. Now I do push-ups, pull-ups, crunches for upper body strength plus I swim from Memorial Day through late September on a daily basis.

My goal now is just to be able to run my 20-25 miles a week and appear in two road races a year. I would love to be one of those guys who can still run when I reach 80.

What I advise to all younger runners is to make sure that you eat properly, get your rest, and keep your entire body strong. Muscle mass disappears quickly when muscles are not exercised. Running is a great sport which has turned out a way of life for me. I guess when the time comes in which I can't run I hope that I will be able to walk!

Lots of interesting responses in this thread. Sort of depressing, too, reading about the sudden "cliffs."

During 45 years of running, it was rare for me to maintain more than a few months of consistent training before getting distracted by other commitments.

In my teens, 20s, 30s and early 40s, basic fitness always returned quickly. But after finally managing a couple years of consistent training at age 42-43, it was clear that I wouldn't even come close to my PRs from 20 years before. 5K times were a full minute slower (low 17s versus low 16s).

Disheartened, I returned to on-again, off-again fitness jogging only.

Then at age 56-58, I attempted yet another "comeback." But after more than a year of consistent training, my 5K was now nearly two minutes slower than at age 43. Nearly three minutes off my PR.

Discouraging, but after running a decent marathon on low mileage (because of nagging injuries), I began contemplating an attempt at sub-3 at age 60. Nineteen months from now.

Age-graded tables predict about a 6-minute natural decline from age 58 to 60, so I effectively would need to "improve" by more than 13 minutes. (my 3:07 at age 58 equates to about a 3:13 at age 60).

Maybe possible with higher mileage? Which would require staying healthy. Which would require more strengthening exercises, and what else -- better rest, better nutrition? And, in any case, would require somehow avoiding that apparently inevitable "cliff."

While I am slower now at 48, I still feel great and am back on a performance improvement curve again. I've been at it for about 35 years. Still close to 2:10 for 800.

I actually feel just like I did in my teens and my performances are at that level and improving at a slightly faster rate. Haven't noticed any lack of recovery or inability to generate any sort of speed.

Around mid 40's slowdown. Recovery challenges too. Switched to swimming and speed walking.

Ghost

46 and Growing wrote:

I´m almost 47 now & noticed--like a light switch--that my body is changing!

But, can anyone give me some insight into your aging?

As I approach 62 I can still run pretty fast but can't do the training volume or quality needed to run well.

At 43 I squeaked under 16 for 5000 and ran a bunch of 4:1x 1500s on 40 mpw with 2 hard workouts.

At 61 probably 19. So I am about a minute per mile slower 18 years later. However I am 10 lbs overweight and only run about 5 miles a week along with lots of easy cross training .

WAG If I could train like I did in my early 40s I could close that gap to 30 secs per mile.

It is good to see so many older runners posting here and having positive things to contribute. The love of running never seems to go away even as our performances fade.

Age Grade tables are based on actual performance of the best runners and hold pretty accurate to average runners too. Once beyond 40, you cannot compare yourself to the 20s you. I am 48 and have been running consistently since 14 minus a few major injuries that kept me out for more than 6 months. I never was a high mileage guy because I tried it and it broke me down every time no matter how gradual the rise. Those who got in shape with huge volume and intensity are in for a rude awakening as Masters runners because most just can't do that anymore. A few wild outliers can still run 90mi weeks, but will still have to be careful about frequency of intensity. Eventually, that slower recovery will catch up to everyone.

My own experience and observation of others: The cliffs are usually an injury or other significant gap in training. Once you get injured in middle age, you lose some fitness, muscle mass and/or flexibility that can never be recovered. Those who rely on high mileage and intensity usually get injured more often and their decline is worse. Moderate training is key.

I have stayed pretty consistent in my 40s but lost a year to an injury, but mileage has dropped 10mi/wk mostly by shortening easy days. My age grade scores have slightly increased (1-2%). I don't do much gym work, but I do a lot of strides and drills for power and turnover. I consistently do a club interval workout weekly. I usually push the pace of long runs where I used to do them easy. I also spend a lot of time stretching and with a foam roller and get occasional deep tissue massages. I take days off when something is bothering me but often go for a bike ride instead to keep up fitness. I actively treat injuries, not just rest. I'm still slowing down, but enjoying it. Age grade tables give me an objective way to judge my decline and keep it positive.

I want to be that 80 year old guy running too. I hope I can make it.

45 was the beginning of the end. Had a really good streak of marathon training cycles when I hit 40 and got down to 2:47. But then my schedule for work and family got very difficult and I could not train as consistently. I did not adjust well and would try to hammer a workout to make up for losing a few days the previous week due to travel for work. Races were embarrassing as I was hemorrhaging time every time I went out. I ended up with patellar tendonitis and quit running for about 6 months. I am now spending about 45 min in the gym in the morning before running 6 mi easy. I put on about 15 lbs and am not sure I will ever get back into racing shape, but I am feeling stronger than I ever have thanks to consistent weight training. Makes working in the garden and doing projects around the house easier. But above all else, I really feel like I have "been there done that" on my running. I have kids and do not want to be the dad that blows off their kids so they can do their hobbies or drink beer, etc.

Charlie wrote:

46 and Growing wrote:

I´m almost 47 now & noticed--like a light switch--that my body is changing!

But, can anyone give me some insight into your aging?

As I approach 62 I can still run pretty fast but can't do the training volume or quality needed to run well.

At 43 I squeaked under 16 for 5000 and ran a bunch of 4:1x 1500s on 40 mpw with 2 hard workouts.

At 61 probably 19. So I am about a minute per mile slower 18 years later. However I am 10 lbs overweight and only run about 5 miles a week along with lots of easy cross training

C'mon man...a 19 min 5k at 61 with only 5 mpw? I'm little younger than you (59) and can barley scratch out a sub-23 5k off of 15 mpw. I've never heard of any 60+ year olds running sub-20 5ks off of that kind of minimal mileage. ?

Charlie wrote:

46 and Growing wrote:

I´m almost 47 now & noticed--like a light switch--that my body is changing!

But, can anyone give me some insight into your aging?

As I approach 62 I can still run pretty fast but can't do the training volume or quality needed to run well.

At 43 I squeaked under 16 for 5000 and ran a bunch of 4:1x 1500s on 40 mpw with 2 hard workouts.

At 61 probably 19. So I am about a minute per mile slower 18 years later. However I am 10 lbs overweight and only run about 5 miles a week along with lots of easy cross training .

WAG If I could train like I did in my early 40s I could close that gap to 30 secs per mile.

“At 61 probably 19” on 5 mpw? Ha, no way. What was your last race and on how much mileage?

What's up with this? wrote:

Charlie wrote:

As I approach 62 I can still run pretty fast but can't do the training volume or quality needed to run well.

At 43 I squeaked under 16 for 5000 and ran a bunch of 4:1x 1500s on 40 mpw with 2 hard workouts.

At 61 probably 19. So I am about a minute per mile slower 18 years later. However I am 10 lbs overweight and only run about 5 miles a week along with lots of easy cross training

C'mon man...a 19 min 5k at 61 with only 5 mpw? I'm little younger than you (59) and can barley scratch out a sub-23 5k off of 15 mpw. I've never heard of any 60+ year olds running sub-20 5ks off of that kind of minimal mileage. ?

That is a pretty good time off 15mpw. How much quality do you do? Any cross training?

I did not run for 4 years prior to turning 60. Just walked/hiked a bit most days and I was 30lbs over weight. Had to scratch the itch so started back running November of 2016. My first run was 2 miles in 15:56, a week later 1600 in 6:48 . Built up to 5 miles a week over 5 months then raced a mile at the Hayward Classic in 5:51 still 20 lbs overweight. That was 10 months ago I dropped another 10 lbs and am quite a bit faster so I figure 5:30/19 or there abouts is an honest estimate. This is really not that good. There are lots of over 60 runners who are way faster than me and the truth is I would love to be able to run more . So count your blessings and I will count mine.

Has any vets here attempted to even approach Ed's training of 3 hours a day?

Charlie forgot to mention that he does a lot of cross-training with hiking and biking... is this not the case Charlie?

Yes indeed I do tons of walking up to 70 miles a week this helps weight control and I am pretty sure recovery. I have also started riding my mtn bike some. So if all I did was 5 miles a week of running without cross training hmmmm maybe I might do this you know like 5 days of 1 mile :

6

7

4 x 400 at 80

7

6

On another note....

I think there are basically 4 types of runners which combine 4 traits on a 1 to 10 scale with 10 being exeptional.

1. response to exercise 1...10

2.progression 1....10

3.durability 1...10

4.speed 1...10

So the best runners are fast,respond well , progress well and are very durable ie 40 points

I am 7,3,2,7.... I respond well off very little running but do not progress well over time along with breaking down easily but I do have some speed!

So rate yourself