I started running at the first of this year and turned 53 in May. Hopefully will continue to improve for awhile before starting to decline.

I am 42 and will be 43 in a couple of months. Former HS and college athlete that became a slacker until as of recent.

I just started taking up running almost exactly a year ago by first starting to run on the treadmill for 3 miles like 4-5x a week to "loose weight and get into shape". It progressed and started doing some races. As my running friends here on mfp can attest, my times have improved greatly and continue to improve. Good luck!

Don't assume that you've already peaked, plenty of runners are peaking in their 40s or beyond. (Phil McCarthy, my ultra friend who won his first 6-day ultra race at age 45 for one.) For me, yes, I'm slowing down but I'm running longer races to compensate for that. Sometimes workouts need to be adjusted by age/physical condition, though. Plenty of experts here more knowledgeable than me. For me, losing weight & getting my core strengthened and restored helped a lot. But I can't run like I did when I was 20! Wish I could though! :glasses:

I don't remember where I read it, but supposedly when you start running (regardless of age) you have about 7 years to reach your best. If you don't start to age 45 then should improve until 52 using this logic. If you start at 23, you will improve until 30. I don't really know though. It's all relative. I will be 50 next month and I'm improving, but I'm not nearly as fast as I would have been if I would have been seriously training in my 20's.

I feel the need to weigh in here with some pessimism because I suspect you people are being a bit too rosy.
Keep in mind I am speaking from my own experience, which is that I started running in my early twenties and that, until recently, I played soccer at least once a week since the age of about 30 years.
I think I became appreciably slower at age 40 years. It wasn't really that I lost the capability of speed or of improvement. It was injuries. You start getting injured a bit more. It takes you longer to recover. All that interferes with training.
Until recently (last seven-eight years or so), I always felt like I could be as fast as I ever was on a good day. But, those good days just don't come very much. And, when they do, you have to make up for the loss of conditioning you have from not being at 100 percent before.
My brother and I facetiously refer to it as the "migrating injury syndrome." You just always have something wrong, maybe something niggling, maybe something serious, but always something. It moves around to different body parts. But, an injury is always there.
I am not going to say it is impossible to improve after age 40 years. But it becomes increasingly difficult.
My wife has had a hard time improving post-40 years too, and she has not had half the injuries I have. She is now 51 years. For at least the past 10, she has been working hard to improve her marathon time. Her last marathon? She finished with almost exactly the same time as the first marathon she ever ran, at about age 34-35 years. Despite serious work. Despite greater experience.

I'm 51 now and I started running consistently five years ago. I'm still seeing improvements but realistically I suspect that will only last for maybe a few more years. I'm sure I would have been a lot faster when I was in my 20s but I wasn't running in my 20s or my 30s so I can't miss what I never had.

What she said. I started running (first time since elementary school) at 39. 42 now and I'm still improving, but that's clearly due to the fact that I was starting from nothing...it's still pretty gratifying, though; I have to admit.

I'm 46 and have been running for about 11 years. I haven't set a PR this year, but I'm not sure if that's because I've reached my fullest potential or because I've gained some weight (10+ pounds, which is like 7% for me).

My progression moved really quickly for about the first 8 years and then the margins of the PR's got smaller.

Here's the progression of a couple popular race distances.

Marathon: 3:38 in 2010 to 3:10 in 2013
Half Marathon: 1:57 in 2006 to 1:28 in 2012
5K: 27:56 in 2005 to 19:18 in 2013
Mile: 6:18 in 2009 to 5:25 in 2013

Conventional wisdom states that it takes about 10 years for a runner to reach their peak of fitness. So, runners in their 40s are still able to improve if they are Adult Onset Runners like me.

Personally, I think I still have some room to improve. Most of my PRs were set when I was in the low 120s. I'm not there now. I'm focusing on getting back there to take a run at some more PRs in the spring.

This is Carson--make friends with him :drinker:

I am 67 and began running last December at the age of 66. I was introduced to running by my local Fleet Feet store after buying a pair of shoes for walking when I began the process of losing weight. The owner and my coach for a C25K class and a 101 Half-Marathon class calls me a "freshman" runner. He thinks that my speed and endurance will both improve despite my age. All I know is I have come to love running, cannot imagine not being able to run and look forward to my next half marathon.

Reading the responses here I think the differences are less about how long people have been running and more about what they are running for. The people who seem to be recreational runners who are mainly concerned with fitness have seen decline while those who view running as a competitive activity have maintained or made improvements despite going over 40.

For those who are finding yourself more prone to injury: us older athletes have to dedicate more time to general fitness than the youngsters. The only injury period I've had in the past year was when I cut out my cross-training to spend more time on distance running. After I cut my mileage back and getting back to a regular cross-training schedule I have been much healthier overall leading to consitent training and better times.

You have been injured this year. And, it was when you started increasing your running.

No, it was when I stopped cross-training. I haven't had issues since I added that back to my routine while maintaining 50-70 miles per week. I also routinely beat the pants off runners literally half my age and I'm not even close to being the fastest old guy out there. You are right that 40 year old you is not as fast as 20 year old you but I reject your notion that masters running is limping along from injury to injury while struggling to perform.

You have been injured this year. And, it was when you started increasing your running.

No, it was when I stopped cross-training. I haven't had issues since I added that back to my routine while maintaining 50-70 miles per week. I also routinely beat the pants off runners literally half my age and I'm not even close to being the fastest old guy out there. You are right that 40 year old you is not as fast as 20 year old you but I reject your notion that masters running is limping along from injury to injury while struggling to perform.

Amen! Pass the ice pack!

God, you old farts get cranky about stuff. Jeez.

Just a note; regardless of your level, running history and current lifestyle, there is no absolute advice on here. Even the accomplished runners on this thread, who have a ton of experience, can only give you the sum of their shared experiences. It is then up to you to decide if all, some or none of it applies to you. There is no "one way of running" ; listen to your body and enjoy the journey!