Age and running...

D

Dallen

0
I started running regularly about 3 years ago. It used to be I could run about 6.5 mph and run a little over 3 miles in just 28/29 minutes. I was 23 years old at the time.

Now I notice in the three years since, I'm slowly going down, but the benefit is at slower speed I can sustain longer duration of running. If I put the speed to 6.5mpgh, I'm going to feel like I'm about to die in just 1 minute, but if I slow it down to a range of about 4.5 ~ 6.0 mph, I feel great and not exhausted.

So is this going to continue downwards where I'm going to run slower, but can run longer?
 
Well, I am guessing that your decline in speed relates to a decline in fitness. I do not think your age has anything to do with it. Any difference between being 26 and 23 is minuscule.

As to being able to go longer at a slower speed, that is always going to be true. Any runner is going to be able to run farther at a slower speed than at a faster one.
 
Were you going 6.5 on a tread? I agree with the above, I think this is more related to fitness level. You have to train faster to go faster. Try going at the slower speed for most of it, and then adding some intervals into your run. Go easy for 3 minutes, sprint 1 minute, recovery easy for 3, sprint 1 etc. Before long you will be able to go 2/1 and then 1/1 and before you know it you will find you can do the entire 3 miles at a much faster clip. You just need to tax other energy systems to get the benefits you want
 
I agree with the decline in fitness.

I think I messed up my point though in the first post. What I meant was I can run at a slower pace, but longer distances. Like I can go 6 miles, no sweat now, but it's just taking a longer time. In the beginning, I wouldn't be able to do that even at the slowest pace.

I suppose that could be a decline in fitness, but I remember reading that longer distance runners tend to run slower pace, but can run longer distances. Would it be a decline in fitness if say I could run 3.0 miles in 28 minutes, but then in turn, can run 6 miles at 5.0~6.0 mph which wasn't possible at the start?

Yes, this is treadmill. Outside running, I can only run this 2 miles road which takes me about 15-20 minutes on average, which amounts to about 6 mph, even at the start.

However, get this, I can run this mountain, which is about 4 miles, without any trouble, but I don't know the duration of it, but in the past I wasn't able to do it.

So is it possible that with age your speed is reduced, but your ability to sustain a longer duration increases?
 
Age isn't the issue, it's fitness level or techniqe/skill/proficiency, whatever you want to call it. I am 42 yrs old, ran for a few years in my 20s, and recently picked it up again. I am about as fast now as I was then. My wife is the same age as me, and has been running since she was 12 yrs old. She has run 30 marathons, and blows me away speed-wise. I ran with her and her group one time (several age 50+ men and women) and I thought I was going to collapse, they were going so fast.
 
age is not a big deal

I think diet plays a big role in how your body holds up over the years. At 35 I'm faster and better than ever. :eating:
 
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