Unless, of course, you are Regina Jacobs. Then, a little THG, a little modafinil...heck, you'll set your PR at the age of 40!

Stay tuned...it's only just begun...

I believe this whole approach of developing regression tables based upon the world records of people of different ages is fundamentally bogus. By definition, the guy who sets the world record for a given age is not representative. He is going to be a guy who likely is several standard deviations off from normal age related slow downs, not someone who is going to be typical. The result is that these tables are going to be badly skewed toward much higher levels of performance than most can achieve over time.

I am way below what these tables say I should achieve, as is the author of the tables. I am wagering most of the old timers on this board have a similar experience.

In his article, the author blames a chronic thigh problem for his under performance. Guess what. Most old timers have some chronic injury they are fighting. More than likely, the WR holder had no such problem slowing him down the day he set the record.

"Guess what. Most old timers have some chronic injury they are fighting."

Yup. It's called a right knee. Keeps me mostly on the bike rather than running. One of the nice things about starting tri quite late in life is that in each of my past three years of participation I've been getting faster. Still damn slow in the big picture of things, but my times have improved each year and I suspect likely will for another year or two until I plateau, but at that time I'll be bumped up to another age group. This contrasts to the aging former elite lamenting over the fact that he's not as fast now as he was in his prime fifteen or twenty years earlier.

Well, I actually did try that one for a while. My feet ache a little, but I'm finished using it as an excuse.

The best excuse I can come up with is that me wee little leggies just won't move along as fast as I want them to.

I'm in the best shape of my life! I run 50 miles a week! I can run 20 miles and feel great the next morning!

I just can't go more than a few hundred meters at a pace faster than 9's.

I need some modanifil. I'll call Kelli White right after my nap...

Julian, I thought you were going to do Dan's speed work schedule. I am sticking with it, though this week is out since I did a half IM last weekend. I still am not making the distance yet though. I have the speed, but can only do half the workout of 400's. He setup an eight week program to regain speed. I am hoping to do it in eight months. Dont' think I will make it, but I will give it a shot.

I chickened out. Actually, I'm working through a slight variation that I think won't involve quite as much pain and suffering.

While continuing the two 90s and one 150 minute run each week, I'm dedicating two other workouts to short, fast uphill runs. About 60 meters with a walk-down and complete recovery. No lactic acid buildup -- just trying to stimulate some "basic speed" without worry about the endurance aspect. No recovery cost either; I can stay on track with the aerobic runs the rest of the week.

I did two of those and am now stuck on the sidelines until the smoke clears in San Diego. But the plan is to do four more of those, and then move to the track and do 150s and 200s twice a week for three weeks. Again, the idea is to see if I can shock some speed into my system without getting all burned out and hurt doing tempo runs and 400s.

THEN I'm going to start the threshold interval work.

This is basic Lydiard. On first reading, I skipped this "basic speed" stuff, but a Lydiard devotee coach that I know stressed how important it is for the "mature" runner to go out and run fast short repeats throughout the year. Since I've never done it, I thought I'd try it.