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Thread: Slowing down

  1. #11
    just discovered this recently but as you get older you need more iron only found this out as i went to give blood this can affect speed and distance depending on how low it is
    and also local drug dealer burning his gear nearby can also affect it

  2. #12
    Senior Member
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    I can't say I've ever been particularly good, a middle of the packer, but felt strongest in late 30s. I've spent much of this year running without a watch as I found it so demoralizing. I still enjoy every run I do mind you. It's amazing the gains you make in the first few years of running. If only I could have kept that up! I'm focussing on longer races this year where I can slog it out without worrying too much about speed.

  3. #13
    Senior Member
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    Well I managed to take 4 minutes off my standard 5 miler today. It's amazing what a difference a 70mph Skye gale can make to your running. I was pushed uphill at a rate of knots. Different story when I turned round mind you.
    I'm looking on eBay for one of those big fan things to strap on my back.

  4. #14
    I have found that the biggest factor over 60 is recovery time. After a medium length run say 10miles at steady pace (for me) it takes me 3 days to recover my pace rather than 2 days when I was under 60.
    So I now run only 3/4 days a week rather than most days but still do the post-race jog the day after.
    Yoga and rock-climbing are my only other activities. Club cycling was too much for me and was adversely affecting my running.

  5. #15
    Worth having a look at 'Fast after 50' by Joe Friel - lots of good advice and explanations of what factors actually cause declines in performance through age plus how to address them as effectively as possible and thus slow the rot to some extent at least. Best suggestion I think was that your training 'week' need not be seven days long, make it longer if you wish and allow more time for recovery - just start your programme earlier.
    Last year I trained hard for Jura and did TWA route four times including the race. I've just followed his programme this spring, didn't do TWA once in training but was 15 minutes faster in the race and knocked 30 minutes off last years (admittedly slow but its been declining over the last few years) Jura time from a much less demanding training base, so it seems to be working for me.
    Last edited by Mark G; 01-06-2016 at 09:00 PM.

  6. #16
    Master Alexandra's Avatar
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    I've just bought Joe Friel's book. I don't know when I've been so fired up by a writer. I think it's because he is insisting that a large proportion of supposedly age-related slow-down is due to our own behaviour, so we can do something to resist and maybe even reverse it. Mark G mentions Friel's idea of the 9 day training week, but the advice that grabbed me was (1) to do vigorous speed work and (2) to do heavy weight training, rather than slipping ever further into gentle lsd. This will supposedly do great things for our hormones, telomeres etc. It's too soon for me to report any results, but after my first attempts at very short intervals à la Friel I certainly FELT different! Now all I need is a parkrun pb.
    Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

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