Stamina and age

shels4ever

Quick queston, i've been looking on the net for an answer but cant seem to find one.

Yesterday i ran a 2 mile in 15:28 this was great for me as 8 weeks ago i ran jsut under 5 mins for a 5 mile.

My question is does your stamina get better the older you are, As 12 years ago i ran about 9:45 for a 3k but this was pure speed and i so much quick in the first 1500m and faded all the way.

Last night i was at about 95% on my first lap and i was expecting to tire a lot on the second lap( as i was expecting to run 17 mins for the 2 mile) . But after a hardish 200m at the turn, i actuall got stronger on thje second lap and took 10 seconds off my first mile time.

I'm now 31 and to be honest didnt know if i was too old to get back to an ok standard (sub 33 for 5 mile ). i've only been back running since january and was a bit suprised by my run last night .


I know it might be a long boring post

thirtyfoot

If you look at the top marathoners many are up to their mid 30's. Don't know of any research on it but it seems to not be affected by hitting your 30's as much the shorter track stuff.

On a personal level for yourself there is no reason you can't get faster than what you were doing 12 years ago - chances are you are more mature, more structured and more disciplined than 12 years ago.

shels4ever

Thakns for the reply, well i think my ability to puch myslef is stroger now, during a race , also i am more focused, If i do get back to that standard i'd be really happy. But a lot of weight and training to be done before i'm setting targets for Pb's...

geoff29

i absolutely agree - there are so many late 30/40 year olds (and older!) out there that keep blowing me off the road in races that it gives me great hope - that you can continue to get faster even if through experience and focus rather than outright pace.

I'm doing pbs now which I think are based more on experience of 'knowing whats coming and what to do' in races - experience which I didnt have even a year ago. the docklands run last week for me was a good personal achievement because, for various reasons, I was in no shape to do the time I did - yet i did it! In my teens and earlier 20s - there is no way I would have had the stamina or even desire to stick with the group I was in..

So anyway I totally agree with you guys and that it all balances itself out (pace gets less perhaps but compensated by determination!!) and if we can stay injury free then I hope to still set some pb's in my 40s - and keep running fast til Im 60!!

im an optimist though!!

shels4ever

I'm feeling good about this now, looks like there is hope, Will have to get to a club if possible in the near future,

for this year the aim is to run 37 for 5 mile , so will look for a race around october if possible , that would be 13 mins of my rahney time, with wasnt really a run ..

cfitz

I reckon, for distance runners, if you didn't train hard in your twenties or thirties and you do train hard in your forties - chances are you'll run big PBs.

But I want to train hard in my twenties so that I never find out if that's true!

token56

From what I have seen some of the runners with the best stamina are 35+, in my club most of our best seniors are 35+ and guys who have been running all their life. Even guys in their 50's run amazing and times close to when they were young

dna_leri

Although I'm sure there are lots of exceptions, records show that endurance ability does deteriorate with age from mid-twenties onwards. One source is the US Single Age Marathon records, which shows that record times start to increase in our thirties, and even more in our forties.
e.g. Marathon time for Men are 2:09 at 25; 2:10 at 30; 2:12 at 35; 2:17 at 40; 2:26 at 45; 2:25 at 50; 2:34 at 55, etc.

So if you are still in your twenties, keep pushing for your PBs now, but if you did not reach your potential then, you can still put in good performances later - at least that's my hope!

shels4ever

Well i'll target the 2:34 at 55... thats some running ...