OLDER – Definitely.
WISER – Debatable.
FASTER – Possible?
I did not start to run on a regular basis until January, 2012. I was 35 years old and weighed about 25 pounds more than I do now. Obviously the loss of extra pounds helped to improve my speed. But there is a proven method to become a faster runner at any age. It is not a big secret or anything. Are you ready to hear what it is?
- Run a lot – You’ll get faster.
- Run some more – Faster still.
- After that, keep on running – The more miles, the better your overall speed will be.
I noticed the most improvement in speed when I trained for my first marathon. I trained over the course of the winter preparing for a March marathon. During that time, I was running 5k’s every other week in the local running club’s winter series (www.svrunners.org). My times kept getting better and better. I started in the 20:00 range and by the end of the winter, after my marathon, my PR (personal record) was 18:25.
This past weekend I ran a race that I had done last year and was 36 seconds faster a year later. That is a big improvement for a 5k distance.
Like anything else you want to succeed in, you have to put in the work. It takes a lot of commitment to be able to get in the extra miles to build on your running fitness.
If you add miles, you can subtract seconds or even minutes from your race times.
