I want to run a 1:51 800 as a 40 year old.

YMMV wrote:

http://www.mastersathletics.net/fileadmin/html/Rankings/All_Time/800metresmen.htm

This masters athletics list is probably the best start, but is indeed missing marks here and there. Three quick examples would be Anthony Whiteman's actually WR of 1:48.05 (the above list has his second best of 1:48.22); Sebastian Schletterer's 1:51.38 from August 9, 2014 in Kessel-Lo; and Steve Scott's 1:52.86 from May 3, 1997 in Irvine. The list has no marks whatsoever for Schletterer and Scott. There 1:51.38 and 1:52.86 can be found on other sources.

Several years ago, once I realized the omissions on various list, I researched the web over the years to develop solid men's 40+ masters 800, 1500, and mile list. I would say my personal list is more complete than any single list online for those events at 40+, though I relied nearly heavily on those online lists to formulate my list. I don't think Snell raced in his 40's, but yea, some marks from the 60's and 70's may not be known, but by following records progressions for the World and relevant nations, looking at articles, and combining list, I would say there ain't much missing below 1:55, 3:57ish, and 4:20 on my list.

So, in looking at your list of 13 Americans and 7 Brits, here are my reconciliations...

-I didn't have Joshua Slamka's (USA) 2019 mark of 1:53.62

-Since you had it also, I am going to confirm Charlie Thurstons (GBR) 1:53.30, though I don't have a lot of details on it.

-My Nolan Smith 1:53.99 mark is actually Nolan Shaheed. His initial last name was Smith. But I still don't have confirmation of it. I have a note that it was a former 40-44 USA Masters record. I must have read something somewhere.

-Tony Blue and Noel Clough are actually AUSTRALIAN

-I didn't have Paul Granges (GBR) 2019 mark of 1:54.9h

-You rightfully don't have William Wuyke at 1:54.96i, Feb 13, 1999. I had him as USA, but it turns out he is a Venezuelan Olympian, ran 1:43.54 in 1986. He has worked at Connecticut College for a very long time, some maybe that's why I thought he was an American.

Thanks

One good thing to know is that most of the results on mastersrankings are uploaded by the athlete (I believe). So names should be correct. Also, there is a little extra info about date and meet location, which is helpful in confirming a results list.

Appreciate a balanced response!!

I will accept I have a skewed perspective as I know how hard I trained to run those times! Its my Vietnam...."You weren't there Man, you weren't there!"

so when i see I'm gonna run 1.51 or Sub 4 I am easily triggered!!

Cheers Mate,

TW

"you might be able to do it in a year with very hard training".

Here's the problem! The same sort of training is necessary if you are going to fully realise your potential at any distance no matter what age you are. But the body finds it increasingly difficult to withstand the rigours of al out training, especially in events like the 800 that require both a reasonable amount of mileage and some seriously fast sessions on the track. Probably easier for an older runner to train seriously for a marathon than a middle distance event.

I'd also like to run a 1:51, BUT last year I was only able to manage a 1:53 after some pretty grueling work.

It's not easy for many reasons, but it's not impossible. You either need to have Olympic level talent, or you need to have the perfect situation. I don't have the former, and I didn't have the latter last year either.

Maybe this year everything will align and I can drop some time, but it'll require me to be injury free (which I'm already not), it'll take some serious commitment and luck with my schedule because it's hard to find time with a family and kids, it'll take help from some friends to get into the right meets and fast heats, and it'll also mean extra healthy eating and normal sleep. That said, I believe I was in shape last year to run at least close to 1:51, but I didn't get the perfect race situations, and mainly, the training started to take its toll. I needed rest. Last year, by the time I got to outdoors I didn't really have the time to do things right, which caused injuries to creep up. These things wouldn't have been a problem 15 years ago. There was plenty of time to train, and I don't ever remember NEEDING to do any sort of warm-up before running fast. I miss not having to limp around the house every morning and not having to warm up just for an easy jog. But I guess that's why the list of sub 1:52 guys is so short. It takes a lot of circumstances all going your way to make it happen.

I'd love to hear from the best if they found some sort of ideal routine over the years that allowed them to get through indoors and outdoors. I pretty much tried to replicate the training I did when I was in my 20s (which got me down to a 1:50 back then). Maybe that was too much to ask of my much older legs. I think maybe if I would've eased my way into the training more slowly, and maybe cut workouts a tad shorter or had less sessions per week I could've stayed healthy through the outdoor season. Have any of you found this to be true? Or do you have any cardinal rules about rest? Since TW has posted here, I thought it would be worth asking.

Run007xx wrote:

Speed kills! wrote:

Definitely doable, I ran 1:50 @ 51

totes magoats. I did a 1:49 when I was 58.

I remember OP from grade school. We had an epic gym mile race during PE in 6th grade back in the spring of ‘91.

Coach blew the whistle. We tore off going back and forth. Lots of jostling; very physical race. At the bell OP threw down hard. I tore off the last corner in hot pursuit. Eventually I caught him with 20m to go and leaned for the win in 3:59.82. He took second in 4:00 and change or something shtty. When he was doubled over catching his breath I pants’d him in front of the girls and he obviously never got over it.

1.53 as a M40??

if so thats pretty decent!!!

OK little breakdown of my year when focusing on 800 with the odd 1500......I take 3 months off at the end of track season, i am always juggling some sort of niggle so i am just keeping on top of it and then over the break it will usually go! Start with mileage and endurance sessions around Xmas and New Year and then prior to the Indoor season a few faster track sessions at the end of endurance sessions. Race indoors which boosts my speed endurance, whatever 800 time i run indoors i can usually improve by 2/3 seconds by the summer. Back on some endurance to get ready to run a reasonable 5k in the spring which rolls into the track season. Use the first few track races to race myself fit and away we go....pretty sure I was sub 1.50 every year as M40-44 so i guess it worked!

Thanks for the run-down. It's actually very helpful to see that. I've started weights earlier in hopes that I can hold off injuries for longer, which is definitely the key (for me) after reflecting on last season.

Right now I'm just running 30 to 40 miles per week of easy and moderately paced runs, along with one repeat day (no faster than 5k) just to keep some connection with the faster paces. Still not touching anything near race pace though because I'm nowhere near ready for that. It's reassuring at least to compare what I'm doing with others. It's lonely training on your own! Too much second guessing when you can't regularly bounce ideas around to keep grounded.

Anyways, I was hoping to drop the time from indoors to outdoors, but my one outdoor race was a tactical nightmare, then my injuries caught up with me and I figured I better call it a season.

So we'll see if I can do things better this year. If not, it's still fun.