Part II
I have already posted a fair amount on my background so won’t get into a long narrative here. Instead, I’ll put it into a table.
| Age Range | 800 | mile | 5K | 10K | Half Marathon | Marathon |
| U20 | 2:08 | 4:41 | 16:24 | 37:30 (xc) | no time | no time |
| 20-39 | 2:03 | 4:25 | 15:15 | 32:11 (31:45) | 1:13 (1:11) | 2:34 (2:29) |
| 40-49 | 2:09 | 4:39 | 16:21 | 35:03 (34:03) | 1:19 (1:17) | 2:44 |
| 50-59 | 2:21 | 5:01 | 17:01 | 35:43 | 1:18 | 2:54 |
| 60+ | 2:33 | 5:14 | 17:28 | 36:20 (37:31) | 1:17 | 3:02 |
The above times are not super great by any means. I started out kind of slowly at 18-19 (was 19 when I ran my first 800 in a whopping 2:11). I did have some rapid improvement at age 20, but then plateaued for almost four years before breaking out again at age 25. From 25-33 were my peak years, and most seasons could at least realistically go for a PR.
Twenty years ago I used to say I had no regrets about those earlier years. However, now with additional perspective I do wish I had made a few more serious attempts at the half marathon and marathon in my late 20s to mid-30s. I think I could have brought those times down. In fact my half PR was my debut at the distance off of just 6 weeks of focused training. And as I blogged earlier, the build-up to my marathon PR had a lot of holes in it.
I also wish I had found a good training group or coach at the time. I have been 100% self-coached since college, but in my 20s could have used some guidance and people to train with.
Comparatively, my age grade times are off the charts, but unless you are over the age of 45, age grading is just a lie and and an excuse. Also have some head-scratch issues with some of the online runners these days, break 17 for 5K/2:52 for the marathon after some 5-10 years of running and they are acting like 13:45/2:15 guys. Something you did years before they were even born doesn’t really count, and age group/age grading is simply shrugged off. So I’m an 18 minute/3:02 guy now. Better to a noob where you can PR every race or two. Maybe some of these blokes could give a nod once in a while.
rrunnin234 