...and are you still improving?

At what age do the PB's stop, or become more difficult to achieve?

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100k on a Crosstrainer.. for the bears
https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/100kcrosstrainerchallenge

I ran my first half-marathon without any training (I played basketball then) when I was 17.
One year later I ran the second and have been running ever since.
So I think I would say 18.

Almost all of my track PBs date back to 1999 but then I guess I never had the will nor health to train so intensely for the track.
Same goes for the road. It's been a few years since my best results (except for the Marathon but that's still a new event for me) but I haven't trained properly for any (again - except for Marathons).

I feel that I have a lot of PBs ahead of me still.
And I am planning on - may injuries stay away - attacking 4 or 5 of them in 2008. 1.500m, Steeplechase, 5K, 10K and maybe half/marathon or Marathon.
Wouldn't that be great...

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If you and a friend are in the forest and a bear appears, try to run faster than the bear! But at least run faster than your friend...

I must've been about 6 or 7 when running captured my imagination (1969/70?). I remember being mesmerized by a 5k or 10k track race on TV... Probably involving Dave Bedford. Since then, running has been all I've ever wanted to do.
First organized and competitive running was probably primary school cross-country when I was 9 or so.
Joined the local athletic club at 11...
... Stopped improving sometime in my early/mid 30's (mid 1990's); although this was due to a dip in enthusiasm brought on by a long-term injury (which never actually stopped me completely, but prevented me from doing the training necessary to maintain the "upward curve") rather than a "natural" peak.
Nowadays, all the effort is centred on trying to slow down the decline.

Good idea for a poll, Trinity: should be interesting.

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GONE RUNNING

Only a couple of years for me, hence 30 - 40, so I'd like to think that there is plenty of room for improvement.

Really wish I had taken it up sooner.

Started running at 43 in 2005.(best way ever to give up smoking.)

First race October 07.

Nearly 20 races on and I`m still improving.Although I honestly don`t think there is much more to come.

I started running in 2005 at the age of 30, my running is improving, and has been helped alot my not smoking too.

Like Granty hope to have more pb's than not at the moment, I know I can do alot better than what I am currently doing now.

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A loser is not the one who runs last in the race. It's the one who sits and watches and who has never tried to run.
Bird in Boots Oh what have I done FLM09

I used to be competitive with the best at school over a number of distances but never did any training, so I think my true birth as a runner was 31, although I've always followed athletics avidly. My inspiration was the 'Cramy' kick of the mid-eighties, glorious times for British middle distance running!

My last PB (10k) was in August this year at 34 and I think I still have decent chunks I can knock of my times as this is the first year I have trained even vaguely consistently.

Dave - you've only scratched the surface! You've got a massive 1/2 marathon PB waiting for you in 2008 if you convert your latest 10k performance.....

Yes.Looked at that myself LJ. Really should be room for a few minutes off that one if I can stay in shape next year.

you'll breeze it

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A loser is not the one who runs last in the race. It's the one who sits and watches and who has never tried to run.
Bird in Boots Oh what have I done FLM09

I've gone for 20-30,
I first ran at school and absolutely loved it (any distance), my dad was a runner/triathlete who'd started in his mid/late 30's and I always wanted to be like him. I never trained and always did well at district XC events. I didn't run as I got older (my grammar school promoted rugby, rugby, and more rugby, any other sport was a waste of time - except cricket in the summer!) though I did get the school record for 3000m without any training! After that things went downhill once I'd learnt to drive.

I started running properly aged 21; well I say running 'properly' when I really mean running regularly... my run was more 'waddle' like back then when I was 3 stone heavier Anyway, I'm still progressing fairly rapidly and most races I enter are PB attempts (typically with success). I still feel I have quite a bit in me to progress and ultimately I'm aiming to podium at a race one day. I think if I didn't have this goal i'd be much less focused on running and more focused on playing as many different sports as I could (e.g. I've just given up a weekly football session to allow for another 8mile run).

Perhaps I'm being over-ambitious but I can't see any reason why I can't get there with determination and hard work!

This is proving to be quite interesting

I hated all sport at school...I was the chubby one who never got picked for teams and was useless at everything else.

I first started running when I was about 18, don't really know why, it was a fitness thing I suppose. Shortly after I watched the first ever London Marathon and it caught my imagination. The following year I took part in the 2nd London marathon. I then spent the next 7 or 8 years running obsessively at all times of day and night...it wasn't unusual for me to go out on a 20 mile run at 10pm! I ran 12 marathons in those years, 5 of which were London.

Consequently I burnt out and at the age of 27 I hung up my trainers for good...or so I thought.

Then at the age of 38ish I had a bit of a mid-life crisis and started running again...just to get fit.

Before long I was training for the Bristol half...and then something sparked in me and before I knew what what going on I'd joined a club, was running marathons again, then ultras and racing regularly.

It's been really tough being injured since April 2006 and although this year has proved that I can be quite successful at shorter distances, I am a long distance runner at heart, and as I see the weeks, months and years slipping away unable to train like I need to, and run distances that I want to, I'm wondering how long I have left when it comes to improvement and setting new PBs.

So, setting up this thread poll was also for selfish reasons...trying to give myself some hope, but it's also interesting to see people's motivations and how they've got to this point in their running

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100k on a Crosstrainer.. for the bears
https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/100kcrosstrainerchallenge

As I said in a previous post, I took up running as an alternative to work after being made redundant in Maggie Thatchers reign. Until the age of 54 I'd never run in my life, but I had to do something to get my body back into shape. Stepping out of the door and jogging (as I called it then) was all I could afford to do.
Someone happened to notice I could jog rather fast and invited me to run a two mile fell section of a 4-stage relay as part of a pub team. I'd never even heard of the pub I was representing, but I agreed and we came away with first pub team prize and 48 cans of ale! Two weeks later I ran my first 10K (43.09) followed the very next day by my first half marathon (95.21). One week later I lowered my half marathon time to 92.56 - and one week after that lowered my 10K time to 42.34. I've run a lot faster than that since.
In 1987 I had my first 'proper' win when taking the MV55 title in the Pennine Marathon. The following year I broke the MV55 course record. I ran the 'Pennine' with it's 2,000ft of ascent five times and won my category on every occasion. Winning had become a habit! I hated to lose. A Sikh friend persuaded me to run 'London' which, being a country bumpkin, I was reluctant to do. But he insisted - "You'll beat them all" he enthused. In 1993 I went, was given board and lodging by his Sikh relatives, and duly arrived home with 1st MV60 prize. To prove it was no fluke I repeated this win two years later with an even faster time, my PB of 2.53.04. Ajit, my Sikh friend, was right!
At 75 I'm still maintaining the winning habit, having won 15 of 18 races in the last six months. The three races I lost were to a World Champion sprinter, a European 1500m Champion and the current English Fell Race Champion.
I doubt whether I'll go on much longer. Over-use aches and niggles make training more difficult and less pleasant. I'm currently working out on a treadmill and all the phantasmagorical machinery of my local gym - which is less stressful than pounding the hills and fells of my preferred training haunts. As yet I have no racing plans for 2008.
Cheers!

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Give me the hills!

As always, inspired by Running Fox's story!

I took up running this year, at the age of 31. Was always rubbish at all sports (and still am ) but wanted to get fit and found running was actually pretty good fun. Have had a few problems with back injury this last few months so running has dropped off somewhat but still have no intentions of giving it up and am determined to improve all my times in 2008...and beyond...

[quote=GoSlow] still have no intentions of giving it up and am determined to improve all my times in 2008...and beyond...[/QUOTE

Love your positive approach, but whatever happened to the more positive 'poetry in motion' avatar of yours? The 'Slow' one doesn't do you justice!
If you're having back problems it might be a good idea to formulate a set of exercises to improve your core stability. Have a look at this website to give you some ideas: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/corestab.htm
Cheers!

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Give me the hills!

A latecomer, much like Runningfox, and still some improvements to come I feel. (though wouldn't expect to quite achieve RF's Pbs, but then I suspect there had been an undiscovered international class athlete lurking inside him ! ) I suppose we all may have aptitudes never, or late, realised.

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Don