I really think most people's physical fitness can increase as one gets older and should never decline at any age provided regular and the right amount of training and rest.
I really think most people's physical fitness can increase as one gets older and should never decline at any age provided regular and the right amount of training and rest.
If i had a car, i would place a "#5" bumper sticker on it to commemorate my personal record FIVE flush dump that i took several weeks ago
dtystys wrote:
I can run faster and farther now in my mid-50's then at any other time in my life. In fact recently I tested myself on a route that I ran on last year. I pushed it and ran a major record! As long as I don't injure myself by running too much I expect to get better and better until I'm 90. That's me. I have run regularly for over 30 years. Maybe other people will have different results.
But you are still really slow.
dtystys wrote:
I really think most people's physical fitness can increase as one gets older and should never decline at any age provided regular and the right amount of training and rest.
That would be incorrect thinking since no human has ever done this. There have been a lot of humans too.
I ran 4:22 (1500) and 2:07 (800) as a 39 year old. My high school PRs were 4:20 and 2:06.
Between high school and then I ran 22 marathons and road raced a lot. Averaged 50 mpw for years.
So ya, it's doable if you've kept yourself in shape and don't hurt yourself.
I can’t touch my high school time at 43.
I tried at 38 and ran 4:43. I really wanted to try but the training was sort of boring and violent.
1994: 4:22, 1:58 but that was 25 years ago.
I didn’t run in college so that was as fast as I ever will be.
I think it depends on how quick you were in high school. I can run a better 5k,10k, marathon now. I barely broke 3 hours in 1996 and now run 2:26. So in some ways I’m a ton stronger, but the speed is totally gone.
I have proven it. Really. I was told by all authorities (health teachers, coaches, older adults) when I was a teenager that a man peaks physically at 18. That is untrue, at least for me. Like I said before I can run faster and further than ever in my mid-50's. The only reason why some times I limp around a little is because of all the running, bicycling and walking I do!
Thread observer wrote:
your cousin marvin berry wrote:
i'm 37, but I think I hit my athletic peak at 30-33. It's much easier for me to gain weight now, and I was still strong enough to wear spikes in workouts at 30 when I ran a 9:50's steeple at 30 off 3-4 months of 30-40mpw.
Interesting. What were your HS times?
PR's + averages from SR year
2:10; 2:12
4:44; 4:48
10:27; 10:40
17:06; 17:40-18:10 for most 3M + 5k xc races.
Funny though because my friend and I began talking this week talking about what year's PR we think we could legitimately run. We both acknowledge that we haven't been this slow since 7th grade--that's 1995.
dtystys wrote:
I have proven it. Really. I was told by all authorities (health teachers, coaches, older adults) when I was a teenager that a man peaks physically at 18. That is untrue, at least for me. Like I said before I can run faster and further than ever in my mid-50's. The only reason why some times I limp around a little is because of all the running, bicycling and walking I do!
Since you have defeated aging you should also expect to live forever, because it is aging that gives rise to mortality. You have well and truly run "The Green Mile", Mr Jingles.
at 33 you aren't far from the age where serious distance runners peak. It may be hard to approach your 400x400 split from senior year but longer distance PRs should be possible if you are willing to put in the same or more time and effort into training, especially if you are willing to train smarter.
My 34 year old self could beat my high school self in anything from one mile and longer. (I never raced anything longer than 800, but if I had, it would have been slower than what I did at age 34)
Not 400 and shorter.
I ran 2:02 for the 800 in high school. 4:31 for the mile at age 34 and I think I ran a 54s 400, so 2:02 would have been tough but maybe doable.
At age 34 I leave my HS self in dust. At that time my 3200 was 10:5x. Now that's slower than my 10k pace.
Wish I ran in college wrote:
The question is, how hard is it to break your HS PR as a 33-34 year old? Approximately how many months or years will this realistically take? Do I have to train as much as I did back then, or can I get away with doing less? Or is it completely out of reach? I ran a 5:59 mile last night (solo time trial, no spikes), so I know that I have a loooong way to go.
do you have a good bike?
Definitely. Ran competitively from about 14 onwards, and my best times from 800m to 10k were all at about 27 or 28. I'd have definitely been quicker at 33 that I was in high-school, but that would be a function of having continued to race and continually after school.
It really definitely depends on how devoted you are to training. I know tons of runners that have broken their high school prs after 40 years old including one that broke 15:30 at 43 years old after first running sub 16 at 15 years old.
It’s all about how devoted you are to it. You got this best of luck
Lame Fake Name wrote:
I think it's fairly easy to beat your high schools PRs at age 33, but not if you're just starting up again at 33.
This is the key point.
At 33, you've started your age-related decline, but you should still be at a level higher than you were at 18. The reason most 33 year olds can't touch their high school PRs is just simple lack of fitness. Getting that back from scratch, even if you're already "active," can take time. Plan for two years of consistent training, and if you avoid injury, you'll smash your PRs. You may be able to do it sooner, but that's far less certain.
One piece of advice I always give to runners is that almost everyone is too optimistic about what they can accomplish in the short term and too pessimistic about what they can accomplish in the long term. When I was in high school, I thought that 2 miles in 12 minutes (for soccer tryouts) was just about the hardest thing I'd ever done, and likely the limits of my capabilities. Now my marathon pace is 20 seconds per mile faster.
All depends on what your times were.
I was a 4:57 miler, 17:45 5k in high school.
I've gotten down to 4:48 mile and 16:03 for 5k in my mid 30's. Late 30's now and if I trained specifically for those I'd probably still beat them, but I train for longer races.
Depends how developed your muscles were in high school. I was just skin and bone back then so I’m way faster without even trying in my 30s.
I'm better at 37 than I was at 18 from the 800 up.
All the way up to about age 40-41 I was at least as fast as I was in high school.
After that, not even close.