🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan7.152811.1@iowa.physics.uiowa.edu> theisen@iowa.physics.uiowa.edu writes:
>
>	
>	I just turned 30 and have a question for older runners, or anyone
>who might know.
>
>	  At what age will my body start falling apart?
>	  (this is assuming i maintain a good level of fitness until i die)
>
>	Let me clarify this just a little first.....  I know there are
>many cases of runners performing well in their mid to late 30's etc. But 
>there aren't any 50 or 70 year-olds out setting world records (excluding
>age group records) in the 100m or 1500m  etc.  So at about what age
>does being able to perform start to decline and why?  And at what age
>do you lose your 100m speed? 

Eddie Hart is over 40 and still runs sub 10.5... I did four days a week last
summer and ran 10.8 (hand timed) last summer. I was 32 at the time. My personal
best in college was 10.51 (full-auto). The strange thing is that my training
was not nearly as intense as it could have been due to having a full-time job
and really only training at lunch for 45minutes or so. Your body is not going 
to fall apart any time soon. Stay in shape and lift a bit and I'm sure you'll 
have good speed well into your 40's. We know that muscle tissue regeneration 
slows down gradually after we hit our physical peak at age 27-32 but the rate
at which that decline occurs is probably an individual thing. Tony Dorsett ran
4.3 in the 40 yard dash in Denver training camp at age 35! Because we all are 
different, we age differently. I believe maintaining good fitness slows it 
down like you wouldn't beleive. Nobody believes me when I tell them my age 
after they run with me. 32 year-olds simply aren't supposed to be that fast. Or 
that well-conditioned... I play in an 8-man flag football league and always 
amaze these guys with my conditioning.... sometimes during tournaments I play 
six or seven games in two days.. both ways... my body really hurts on those 
days but during a normal season i don't even get tired during the games. You 
can look forward to having similar fun at some youngsters' expense!!! 


>(is it something to do with vascularization of the bones???)
>	just curious.		- t.

I think it's more a matter of loss of explosive muscle tissue and the inability
(due to age) to regenerate. 





-- 
Ronnie
-------------------------------------------------------------
Whenever the fates hear someone say, "It can't get any worse than this..." 
They just laugh and double your misery!