Age and Decline

[Rob Murphy]

This is a question mostly for the younger (under 40) runners on the blog. Those of you who are masters runners and are managing to continue to improve or at least hold steady, feel free to add your thoughts as well.

At what age do you anticipate you will begin getting slower despite any amount of harder, smarter, more training?

[Jon Allen]

I think it depends on what distance, since speed drops first.

I would expect to start having some decline around 37-40, with a steeper dropoff after that.  I think it's pretty safe to say you won't be setting any real PR's after age 45 or so.  Some Olympian marathoners have been in their 40's, though, so hard work and experience can delay things some.

[Mike Davis]

I'm 43 and have run faster each year at every distance (5k to Marathon) since I got started at 35. Hopefully I can continue that trend for a while since I got such a late start

[jtshad]

My marathon PR is from when I was 39, but I have held pretty steady since then not quite matching that performance.  I think overall you can hold steady or maybe even improve (at the marathon distance) for 7-10 years with smart training. 

As much as age itself is a factor, I think as I get older I am having more stresses on my time due to work commitments and family priorities which trump training.  Plus, after a certain point there is a trade off between what you want from running...goal focus vs. stress relief/health focus.  They are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but as I have gotten older (now 43) I find myself trying hard to balance my view of running in my life.

[Bonnie]

If you were a competitive athlete in your 20-30s you will not be able to match those times at 40 ... however, you can still be competitive.  If you started running later in life, you will still be able to PR into your 40's for sure, maybe into your early 50's if you train smart and have good genes. 

There is scientific evidence that proves loss of muscle mass happens at a pretty exponential rate after 40; however, this loss is slower in athletes than in the general population.  What this means is that while you might have to work harder to run well, you can prolong these natural effects.  That said, "good training" is all about damage and repair cycle of muscle fibers, and as we age the repair takes longer.  The non-scientific evidence I have heard is that if you incorporate more recovery into your training cycles you can still train pretty hard for quite a while -- and maybe keep competitive longer.  One way you can do this is instead of 7 day training cycles with 2-3 days of hard workouts, you can move to a 10-day cycle with 2-3 days of hard workouts.  Or, you can add cross-training instead of miles.  The primary thing to do is avoid injury - it will take more time to heal as you age compared to younger athletes.

The very best news is that if you keep exercising -- competitive or not -- you will be a healthier person ;-)
http://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/ebm/record/22030953/abstract/Chronic_exercise_preserves_lean_muscle_mass_in_masters_athletes_

[Scott]

I'm 40 now and have been running since I was 10. I certainly can't run the kinds of times I ran in my best years of college and high school. However, I missed several years of running due to injuries a number of years ago and lost most of my fitness. Since then I've been able to put together 3-4 years of steady running and am now running my fastest times post-college. I tend to be between 40-60 seconds slower than in my best days, and that is pretty much across the board for all distances, except that I didn't start marathoning until my mid-30s, and I've improved by 8-10 minutes in each one.

The biggest difference I've seen as I get older is that the speed is not there, and recovery takes longer. I need at least two easy/off days to recover from a hard workout, sometimes more. I deal with this by doing more moderate workouts.

[dave rockness]

I am 41-year-old and was into team sports more than running growing up.  Most of my conditioning involved 2-3 miles max and although I could barely run a 6min mile in late h.s./early college, I could do 400m in about 55-60 seconds.  I've continued conditioning through the years, but didn't get into running until 3-4 years ago.  I'd agree the speed is a challenge to regain.  My fastest 400m is now between 65-70 seconds (w/70 mile per week training).  However, I've noticed endurance athletes tend to do well even into their 40's- Janet Evans is a more recent example (swimming). 

[Jeff Linger]

A number of factors go into this.

1. women tend to lose muscle mass quicker than men as they age

2. as was pointed out, good recovery can aide you as you age, smart training is the key

3. the age at which you started bears considerably on your ability to improve, primarily because aerobic base improves with continued regular training for a period of about 10 years

4. how lucky do you feel your genetics are?

 

[Joe Furse]

To be honest, I have no idea how long I expect to go before I start "slowing down."  Some days I feel like an old man already, even though I'm only 25 (que all of you over-40-somethings laughing your heads off  ).  I just hope to be able to run as much and as fast as I can, for as long as I can.  I also want to be one of those 80 year old guys who is still running and just won't quit ticking.  I expect that as I move from being a college student (if that ever happens) to a family man with a career there will be more demands on my time.  However, I think running will at least continue to be and maybe become more of a relaxation for me at that point.  Cody, Jon, and Paul have all been really good examples I think of how to balance life and running. 

[Rob Murphy]

I really appreciate all of these responses.

My great hope is that I will be able to adjust psychologically to the realities of aging. I hope I'll have the wisdom to appreciate all that this sport has to offer beyond "fast times".

I also really enjoy the mental challenge of keeping age at bay. But I know that mind over matter will only work for so long.

[Stephen Anderson]

Rob, I know that you wanted some younger guys to post on this, and you've heard my thoughts before enough anyways, but I just can't help it here.  Finally some light is being shed on the issue of performance into your 40s and 50s with sports.  Number one factor driving the decline of performance when runners hit 40 is the sporadic training that they do.  No mountains, no consistant mileage, no lifting, no pain.  An example?  A few weeks ago I lined up with fellow masters at Carlsbad for that 5k after a day of hiking in Arizona.  It was a hard decision to jump in on that because I knew I wasn't ready and had a hard training week, but I was so glad that I did.  I was surrounded by men much faster and stronger, even than I was racing with in normal 5ks.  I had the time to talk to guys I consider real examples like Christian Cushing Murray and Rob Arsenault.  These guys have the opinion that a different kind of potential can be reached above 40 with the right training approach and I agree.  We are not talking endurance only here.  We are talking about listening to yourself closely and training with a year or two of base.  I suck at this, but I'm learning.  Look at this link for a new approach to the world record 10k time http://masterstrack.com/2012/04/22038/.  An Olympic 10k as a master?  Read down to the highlighted section where he talks about the first mile of the 5k.  I was behind Christian, who was behind Kevin, at the first mile point.  4:38 really wasn't that fast for Carlsbad, but it was a bit windy.  Christians coach yelled at him as we passed, "don't chase the rabbit!  He can't run that pace long with this wind!".  He did.  I just think he didn't care what the "master's pace" was, he was there to run.  Love these guys.  I dream of running with them someday.  One last thought, what would you tell any Joe that came to you and asked the simple question, "I want to run a 2:30 marathon as a master"?  Think about your training answer, then look at this link.  Bill knows his stuff.  http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=12356  What would any of the guys on Letsrun.com say to that same question?

[Stephen Anderson]

As an aside, that 2:11 was at Boston 2o years ago.