Late to start running & gains made

antomagoo

Following on from another thread.

For those who came late to running, over 30's say or late 20's what sort of gains in terms of improvement in times have you made since you started running and what would you list as the key areas that helped you achieve those times.

Apologies if this has been done before

RayCun

Started at 37 with the couch to 5k
First 5k (Jingle Bells 2009) was about 29 minutes, most recent one (Rathfarnham last September) was just under 18
First 5 mile (Raheny 2010) was 46.xx, Raheny last month was 29.14

Steady increase in miles run, joining a club, and good luck with injuries (up to now:rolleyes:)

smmoore79

Started at 28 doing a 5 miler in 34 mins, though didnt really commit to running regularly. Then I dabbled in running for another couple of years with some marathons. That improved my fitness to an extent, getting me to 30 minute territory for a 5 miler. But I didnt take a big jump until I joined a club a couple of years ago and really started to improve. I recently ran 5 miles in 26 39 under very windy conditions so I think theres more pb's to come over that distance! Im 33 now, but I'll hopefully improve over the next few years aswell..

So in a nutshell, join a club. They'll bring you on leaps and bounds

Krusty_Clown

Started running at age 35, when I ran my first 10k in 52 minutes (having recently given up the fags). A few months back (age 40) I ran 34:51. Hoping to go quicker this year. I am 41. You slow down when you can no longer put the work in, not when you get old.

rom

Started running 2 1/2 years ago at 27. First race was almost 2 years ago. It's early days in 2013.

TFBubendorfer

antomagoo wrote: »

Following on from another thread.
For those who came late to running, over 30's say or late 20's what sort of gains in terms of improvement in times have you made since you started running and what would you list as the key areas that helped you achieve those times.

Started running at 34.
First marathon race ( = first race) 4:06:22.
present marathon PB = 2:59:35

Other distance followed similar patterns, my first 5k was 21:50, present PB is 17:53.

The keys are fairly high mileage and consistency. I run virtually every day (except a day or two the week before a major race and up to 2 weeks off once or twice a year for recovery). I haven't been injured in ages, which helps with consistency.

I don't do much speedwork, certainly less than other runners who run similar times, which I think is one reason why I never seem to get injured any more.

average_runner

Started running at 32:
10 mile in 1:32
1/2 marathon 1:57
marathon 4:07
10k 51:50


Had a few years on and off with injuries, kids etc. Those kids eh:eek:

Results up to 2012:
10k 44:17
10 mile 1:15
marathon 3:42
1/2 marathon 1:39:52


I am more committed this year, so hoping to see good improvements in the second half of the year.

doughef

Started running at 27.

Half marathon was the first race I did the same year. Did it in 2.07 I think.

Kept it up, the next year I did a marathon in 4.06.

Year after I did a 5miler in 32 half in 1.33 and a full in 3.39
Ran under 20mins for 5 k and 42 mins for 10k.

Nearly 33 now and have regressed a bit.. 45 for a 10k recently but the times are beginning to come down a bit.

I agree with what someone said earlier (actually might have been a different thread)
your times dont get worse when you get older - your times get worse when you stop putting in the work.

HelenAnne

My gains aren't quite as good as some (look at Ray Cun's!), but they're a similar trajectory. I started running at 35 from a base of being active (walked a lot, sometimes cycled (slowly & easily) to work, did yoga or pilates from time to time), but doing no cardio or anything that got me out of breath.

First 10k Flora Mini Marathon 2010 - jogged it in about 1.30 ish (!!!)
First 10k that I really tried to run, Burren 10k 2011 - 54.54
Most recent 10k, Carna, September 2012 - 45.27

First 5k: Reindeer Run Jan 2011: 27.30 (& was delighted)
5k Parkrun (a few weeks ago) 2013: 21.14

My half marathon improvements haven't been as drastic as I didn't start doing them until I'd been running a few years, but down from about 1.52-1.44 during 2012.

I joined the Meet & Train Group of Raheny Shamrock. That got me running & racing more consistently, moved on to runing with non-Meet & Train clubmates as well as my M&T friends, and I think improvements have just been down to more miles, more regularly, and from racing. haven't done any speed training yet, but I really should.

spurscormac

Started in 2007, aged 30, with the Galway 5k series, managed to get from 24:41 to 22:23.
Pretty much did nothing for another year until the next 5k series, ranging from 25:17 to 22:35, Also did a local 10k in 51:37 & and 8k in 38:54.
From 2009 I did more regular training and some more races, and since then I've improved to:
5k - 20:17
8k - 33:25
10k - 43:00
I've also lost almost 2 stone in the past couple of years through a combination of training, healthier food & reduced portion sizes.
This has also coincided with better training, proper speed sessions, LSR and generally more mileage (though there is room for improvement here).

belcarra

Started running in 2006 at 28. I was never what anybody in their right mind would even consider fast.
Dabbled in a few marathons over the next 18 months but failed to break 4:20 for my first nine marathons before taking 18 months out to go play football instead.

Came back in Spring 2011 and after a couple of months training started following P&D's 'advanced marathoning' which led to me taking 30mins off my mara PB. I have since managed to bring it down to 3:26 and my goal is to go sub 3hrs in 2014. I've not joined a club as I prefer to do my own thing and am running an average of 6 days a week most weeks. Soon to be M35 status :rolleyes:
To echo those before me: Consistency in training and relatively high mileage (>50miles per week) will bring you a long way.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/55477862/Running%20History.xlsx

dna_leri

Started back aged 40 in 2007 after 23 year hiatus - ran 5K in 23 mins - PB of 16:50 last year.
Ran first 800m in 2008 in 2:25, hoping to go under 2:05 this weekend.

"Hard days hard, easy days easy"

Itziger

I'll echo most of the above. I do like the "Hard days hard,.." line especially. Consistent training is obviously key. If you can stay injury free it's a huge advantage.

Started back in 2007 at age 42. First 10k was about 50 minutes and now I'm 38 and a bit but hoping to go faster in 2 weeks time. Half has gone from 1.36 to 1.26 and marathon from 3.32 to 3.12.

Aims? 1.24 or 25 for Half and 2.59.59 for full! Am pushing on a bit but I believe progression is still there. Well, it'd better be or I won't be knocking 13 minutes off marathon time.

MisterDrak

Itziger wrote: »

I'll echo most of the above. I do like the "Hard days hard,.." line especially. Consistent training is obviously key. If you can stay injury free it's a huge advantage.

Started back in 2007 at age 42. First 10k was about 50 minutes and now I'm 38 and a bit but hoping to go faster in 2 weeks time. Half has gone from 1.36 to 1.26 and marathon from 3.32 to 3.12.

Aims? 1.24 or 25 for Half and 2.59.59 for full! Am pushing on a bit but I believe progression is still there. Well, it'd better be or I won't be knocking 13 minutes off marathon time.

Itziger,

Were pretty close in terms of age and PB's (your a bit older and a bit faster ),

Have a 1:28 for the half and hoping for a 1:25 in September. As for the marathon its 3:14 at present and again looking to get that down to 3:05ish in October.

In the process of dramatically increasing my mileages and frequency of runs and hoping that this provides the progression...

belcarra

Itziger wrote: »

I'll echo most of the above. I do like the "Hard days hard,.." line especially. Consistent training is obviously key. If you can stay injury free it's a huge advantage.

Started back in 2007 at age 42. First 10k was about 50 minutes and now I'm 38 and a bit but hoping to go faster in 2 weeks time. Half has gone from 1.36 to 1.26 and marathon from 3.32 to 3.12.

Aims? 1.24 or 25 for Half and 2.59.59 for full! Am pushing on a bit but I believe progression is still there. Well, it'd better be or I won't be knocking 13 minutes off marathon time.

MisterDrak wrote: »

Itziger,

Were pretty close in terms of age and PB's (your a bit older and a bit faster ),

Have a 1:28 for the half and hoping for a 1:25 in September. As for the marathon its 3:14 at present and again looking to get that down to 3:05ish in October.

In the process of dramatically increasing my mileages and frequency of runs and hoping that this provides the progression...

Ahh, but MisterDrak you don't have Itziger's magic time travel machine where you get younger rather than age!

MisterDrak

Noticed that !

Benjamin Button, no wonder he getting faster as he get older, younger !!!

Itziger

belcarra wrote: »

Ahh, but MisterDrak you don't have Itziger's magic time travel machine where you get younger rather than age!

I'm laughing here cos when I read that before posting it I spotted that possible reading. I was 42 but now I'm 38 and a bit!

Isn't there a Bob Dylan song along those lines.

MrDrak, if ya fancy 42.2km in Valencia in November, drop me a line. Belcarra did alright there and I got him out of the Paddy enclave (where he was supping dodgy red wine) afterwards and into real Valencia drinking spots.

Congrats on Donadea, belcarra. Nice report.

belcarra

Itziger wrote: »

I'm laughing here cos when I read that before posting it I spotted that possible reading. I was 42 but now I'm 38 and a bit!

Isn't there a Bob Dylan song along those lines.

MrDrak, if ya fancy 42.2km in Valencia in November, drop me a line. Belcarra did alright there and I got him out of the Paddy enclave (where he was supping dodgy red wine) afterwards and into real Valencia drinking spots.

Congrats on Donadea, belcarra. Nice report.

Cheers Itzi.
I have to agree about Valencia - great marathon, although that first bar ya brought us to was a bit fruity for my liking!:p

Steroo

Enjoyed reading these! I started last year age 31 and am on p&d55 now with a view to big improvements this year and some day a sub 3 marathon... Some day.

Gavlor

antomagoo wrote: »

Following on from another thread.

For those who came late to running, over 30's say or late 20's what sort of gains in terms of improvement in times have you made since you started running and what would you list as the key areas that helped you achieve those times.

Apologies if this has been done before

Ran a hm in 2010 in 1.42. Didn't run again till last year age 34.

First half was 90 mins, first marathon 3.26

Second hm 85 mins, second marathon 3.09

Friend of mine broke sub 3 for the first time in dcm 2012..... He was 50 yrs old

antomagoo

Some very inspirational stuff there,

How do you faster lads, Raycun, Krusty & TFBubendorfer, compare to people of a similar age you run against now who would have started far younger. Or is that even relevant? Is it like Krusty said, its all about putting the work in?

jebuz

Well now, I started running regularly about 2 years ago at 28, my times were 48 min for 10k and 23 min 5k when I first started. Now almost 30 (bless), I ran my first marathon last October in 2:59, have posted a 37:17 10k and hoping to go sub 18 for 5k tomorrow morning...hoping I've made significant gains and It's very simple really, train hard and put in the miles, set your goals and see them through. Also join a club.

antomagoo

jebuz wrote: »

Well now, I started running regularly about 2 years ago at 28, my times were 48 min for 10k and 23 min 5k when I first started. Now almost 30 (bless), I ran my first marathon last October in 2:59, have posted a 37:17 10k and hoping to go sub 18 for 5k tomorrow morning...hoping I've made significant gains and It's very simple really, train hard and put in the miles, set your goals and see them through. Also join a club.

Jaysus jebuz thats some serious improvement in 2 years :eek:

jebuz

antomagoo wrote: »

Jaysus jebuz thats some serious improvement in 2 years :eek:

Ya it's crazy writing down those times actually, I never would have predicted I'd turn into an obsessive runner but isn't life great like that! Unfortunately now though I'm starting to notice that pesky principle of diminishing returns taking it's toll, gains are becoming that little bit more difficult but lots more to come in the next few years touch wood, next goal is to knock the marathon down to 2:55 in Barcelona in a few weeks. In fairness those PB's when I first started were fun runs based on one or two 5k's a week, I used to play a lot of soccer too so I had a decent fitness base when I started training properly. It's all about the journey anyway and it's and it's all your own work

Ceepo

Started running at 26, with the intent of giving up the smokes.

1st year or two was only doing a few miles a week.
Ran my first 10k in something around 48 min. 1st 4ml around around 27 min.

Fastfoward a few years, and a bit of hard work, plus a few miles in the tank, oh and don't forget A bit of luck.

Got the 4ml time down to 20.42 and the 10k down to 33.19. That was the hard work bit

And the luck bit got me 8 Nat medals, at Nat novice xc, inter xc, 1 indoor 3k masters, and the pride of place, inter county xc gold, and nat 10k road club bronze.
Add in Munster masters individual road and xc gold.

So the moral of the story is....

Train hard, train smart, set goals (realistic ones).
Yes train hard, but remember tomorrow is another training day, you don't need to leave it all out there today.

And don't forget to enjoy it, if you don't enjoy it would want to do it..

TFBubendorfer

antomagoo wrote: »

How do you faster lads, Raycun, Krusty & TFBubendorfer, compare to people of a similar age you run against now who would have started far younger.

I have no idea how long the guys I am directly competing with have been running. To be perfectly honest, I don't think it's relevant at all. General wisdom is that you reach your peak fitness level after 7-10 years of running, but I do know a few guys who ran their PBs at a later stage than that.

The one thing I learned is that most people set their own targets too low. If you think "I could not possibly run that fast" then that will be right, but the problem is in your head, not your legs.

adavis58

Started running in 2007 at the age of 48.
ran my first 5k and 10k in 2007
ran my first half marathon and full marathon in 2008.
Currently training for my 6th full marathon and have ran 6 half marathons.
Along the way I have lost 60 pounds lowered my bad cholesterol, and raised my good cholesterol
steady increases in my speed. aiming for a 4:10 full marathon in April.
Art
<SNIP>

Pisco Sour

Excluding the once a year trip to Santry I took up running aged 22. Did plenty of road races, didn't improve much and didn't enjoy the training. Of course I was in good shape weight wise so was never going to have the same dramatic initial improvements as some people here.

Ran a couple of 400m time trials in 2010 aged 25 in high 67 and low 66 off no training. Went travelling and then when I got to Australia did a race off very little training in low 64.

2 years on I'm at low 56 and have managed 56 on 4 occasions now. First 200m race was high 28, now I'm at mid 25. First 100m was pretty dead on 14, now at 12.7 adjusting for wind.

Progress is down to good routine, weekly massage, good coaches and training group, and relevant work such as gym, flat speed and speed endurance and aerobic power, with no long slow running, and most importantly regular racing. It is the best way of improving and learning an event.

RayCun

antomagoo wrote: »

How do you faster lads, Raycun, Krusty & TFBubendorfer, compare to people of a similar age you run against now who would have started far younger. Or is that even relevant? Is it like Krusty said, its all about putting the work in?

Hard to tell, because you don't know how long the other people in a race have been running
Some people who started as kids and are now in their 40s know that they peaked 10/20 years ago. While they keep running for the enjoyment, they don't have the drive to keep pushing for times. Other people know they can't run PBs any more but want to be the best M40 possible. And some people who have been running a long time have accumulated injuries that mean they can't put in as much work as they'd like.
(Less than serious comments on the other thread aside, I'm not one of the faster lads. Its impossible to kid yourself otherwise in running, because in every race you see the faster lads in front of you, disappearing gradually into the distance)

antomagoo

RayCun wrote: »

(Less than serious comments on the other thread aside, I'm not one of the faster lads. Its impossible to kid yourself otherwise in running, because in every race you see the faster lads in front of you, disappearing gradually into the distance)

I just meant it in terms of this thread, but like TFBubendorfer said its probably irrelevant and its more down to the work that gets put in. Although some of the replies here show serious gains over a short period of time which has to come down to more than just hard work i.e natural ability. I realise alot of us starting late will never be competing with the likes of Gary O'Hanlon, Brian Maher, Thomas Fitzpatrick etc no matter how much work gets put in

Macca3000

Only started running end of January. 29 (30 in May) Managed 5K in 37 minutes which is now down to 32. Not bad in 4 weeks. Or so I thought until I read this thread Got a lot of work to do.

Signed up for Runamuck on March 9th.

RayCun

Macca3000 wrote: »

Only started running end of January. 29 (30 in May) Managed 5K in 37 minutes which is now down to 32. Not bad in 4 weeks. Or so I thought until I read this thread Got a lot of work to do.

It is good for 4 weeks, you just have to keep it up

rom

antomagoo wrote: »

I just meant it in terms of this thread, but like TFBubendorfer said its probably irrelevant and its more down to the work that gets put in. Although some of the replies here show serious gains over a short period of time which has to come down to more than just hard work i.e natural ability. I realise alot of us starting late will never be competing with the likes of Gary O'Hanlon, Brian Maher, Thomas Fitzpatrick etc no matter how much work gets put in

I would have to disagree strongly. I know someone who ran a 67 min 10 Miler and 3 years latter finished 1min behind Gary O'Hanlon in a 1/2. (late 20/ early 30s)

PaulieYifter

For the record:

Started running 2009 aged 36

First Marathon Dublin 2010: 3:47
Latest Marathon Dublin 2012: 3:06

Steady increase in mileage over last 2 years although I have been out for a few weeks each year with injury. Joined a club last summer which has got me doing more speed work than before. Hopefully can keep improving for a while yet but the key to that is to remain healthy. As dna_leri above posted - easy days easy and hard days hard.

antomagoo

rom wrote: »

I would have to disagree strongly. I know someone who ran a 67 min 10 Miler and 3 years latter finished 1min behind Gary O'Hanlon in a 1/2. (late 20/ early 30s)

I would think a 67 10miler would be impressive enough to begin. I'd also think that to get that sort of level it does take more than just hard work. Surely at some point it you plateau out in terms of ability?

snailsong

Interesting thread.

I started in 2010 just before my 40th birthday. I'd never participated in sport but for a bit of cycling in the summer.

2010
5k - 24 or so
10k - 52.30
half marathon - 1.54

2011
5k - 21.30
10k - 42.30
half - 1.44
marathon - 3.29

2012
5k- 19.33
10k - 40.03
half - 1.32
marathon - 3.14

I'll attempt a 1.30 half in Kinvara on saturday, chances no better than 50/50.

I typically run 3 times a week and cycle twice. I started doing speedwork with a club in the last few weeks in the hope of furthur progress.

Key to keeping it up has been enjoying the running. Running with friends, varying the training, racing with friends have all helped. Setting targets and following training plans have helped to motivate, as has the threads on here and particularly the training logs.

I expect to keep at it for some time yet. I'd love to target a 3hr marathon at some stage but that's a bit off yet. Might try two marathons this year as a means of getting closer to the mark.

Pisco Sour

rom wrote: »

I would have to disagree strongly. I know someone who ran a 67 min 10 Miler and 3 years latter finished 1min behind Gary O'Hanlon in a 1/2. (late 20/ early 30s)

More info required. If the 67 was done after a few years of consistent training then you may have a point. However if it was done by an overweight lad off little training then you most certainly dont.

rom

Pisco Sour wrote: »

More info required. If the 67 was done after a few years of consistent training then you may have a point. However if it was done by an overweight lad off little training then you most certainly dont.

No he was not overweight. I don't have his training program to hand :rolleyes:

Krusty_Clown

rom wrote: »

No he was not overweight. I don't have his training program to hand :rolleyes:

Do you have his name to hand? We can figure out the rest!

Gambas

snailsong wrote: »

2010
5k - 24 or so
10k - 52.30
half marathon - 1.54

2011
5k - 21.30
10k - 42.30
half - 1.44
marathon - 3.29

2012
5k- 19.33
10k - 40.03
half - 1.32
marathon - 3.14

Awesome progression! I'm a couple of years behind you but aiming for a similar trajectory.

In percentage terms how much did you ramp the work up each year?

snailsong

Thanks, Gambas.

I reckon I increased the milage by 30-40 per cent in 2011, mainly due to training for DCM. 2012 was much the same in terms of running miles but I obviously benefitted from having more miles under my belt. I cycled a lot more in 2012.

I don't do savage milage, maybe 1400km per year the last two years peaking at 50-55 km per week in the lead up to a marathon. This year I might run more and cycle less in the hope that this, combined with more focussed training and speedwork, will get some more improvement.

Good luck with your own training. Put in the work and you'll get the rewards.

Bugsy2000

Waited until after this weekends race to wade in.

Ran my first half in Kinvara 2011 in 2.28. It was an eye opener & I realised that the sporadic training & minimal milage wasn't gonna cut it.

Joined a club in late 2011 so with a more regimental training pattern & a couple thousand miles later I went back to Kinvara on Saturday and ran a new PB of 1.35.13. I hope to get this as low as 90min by October.

Join a club, you can't go wrong!

Itziger

Bugsy2000 wrote: »

Waited until after this weekends race to wade in.

Ran my first half in Kinvara 2011 in 2.28. It was an eye opener & I realised that the sporadic training & minimal milage wasn't gonna cut it.

Joined a club in late 2011 so with a more regimental training pattern & a couple thousand miles later I went back to Kinvara on Saturday and ran a new PB of 1.35.13. I hope to get this as low as 90min by October.

Join a club, you can't go wrong!

2.28 to 1.35 in two years. Good going and a great advert for joining a club. I'd say the original training was fairly "sporadic" alright!

G'luck with the 90 minute barrier.

walshb

RayCun wrote: »

Started at 37 with the couch to 5k
First 5k (Jingle Bells 2009) was about 29 minutes, most recent one (Rathfarnham last September) was just under 18
First 5 mile (Raheny 2010) was 46.xx, Raheny last month was 29.14

Steady increase in miles run, joining a club, and good luck with injuries (up to now:rolleyes:)

That's some improvement. Was your top end speed in 2009 similar in comparison to last September?

RayCun

walshb wrote: »

That's some improvement. Was your top end speed in 2009 similar in comparison to last September?

I've no idea, tbh, but it's unlikely.

rom

10M March 2011 82mins
10M March 2012 72mins
10M March 2013 62mins
now 30

tomred1N

rom wrote: »

10M March 2011 82mins
10M March 2012 72mins
10M March 2013 62mins
now 30

Holy sh1t guys, for a lad with an addictive personality this is dangerous stuff. Took up golf years ago when working in dublin to build up a thirst !...started with 24 handicap got to 12 after about 6 months. Have since given up golf.....someone told me it was too time consuming. then someone told me to start running in case i got a heart attack.......now someone thinks i'm going to get a heart attack from running. if i was caught reading this thread there'd be murder. Started running 11 months ago age 36. Only 1 pb so far. dcm 12 in 4:15. Must stop running ,enter a few races and report back!

antomagoo

rom wrote: »

10M March 2011 82mins
10M March 2012 72mins
10M March 2013 62mins
now 30

Wow, some serious improvement there. But to go back to my question, is this just down to hard work & training or does the guy have some physiological ability that would allow hin to improve at such a quick rate (well it seems quick to me ;-))

belcarra

antomagoo wrote: »

Wow, some serious improvement there. But to go back to my question, is this just down to hard work & training or does the guy have some physiological ability that would allow hin to improve at such a quick rate (well it seems quick to me ;-))

That rate of progression over 2 years seems pretty doable from hard work.
(well done ROM by the way, impressive stuff!)

There are others who dip under 3hrs on their first marathon after only training for <6 months or just on the back of low mileage who I would put down as natural born athletes. These are the lucky ones!:rolleyes:

TFBubendorfer

antomagoo wrote: »

Wow, some serious improvement there. But to go back to my question, is this just down to hard work & training or does the guy have some physiological ability that would allow hin to improve at such a quick rate (well it seems quick to me ;-))

That's rom's own figures btw.

Going from 82 to 72 in one year is standard stuff, but to go from 72 to 62 the very next is a rather dramatic improvement!

Next year I'll be pacing myself by keeping his shirt in sight rather than the other way round as on Sunday.

I'm convinced that every able-bodied man of a reasonable age has the ability run 10 miles in 62 minutes if he trains hard enough. In rom's case it's the rapid improvement that's impressive.

rom

belcarra wrote: »

That rate of progression over 2 years seems pretty doable from hard work.
(well done ROM by the way, impressive stuff!)

There are others who dip under 3hrs on their first marathon after only training for <6 months or just on the back of low mileage who I would put down as natural born athletes. These are the lucky ones!:rolleyes:

Why not fool yourself into thinking that you are one of the lucky ones, that you have the gift and if you don't use it then it's a shame for all those that can't. I pass people where I work everyday with medical issues that they will never be able to go for a run like I can. Focus on the positive, use your gift (your legs) and don't set a boundary on what you can achieve as mental belief is the only thing that is going to get you out the door training everyday and talent won't make a couch potato a good runner.

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

That's rom's own figures btw.

Mallow 10 2011 1:21:05
Ballycotton 10 2012 1:12:23
Ballycotton 10 2013 1:02:26

82 => 72 => 62 sounds so much better