Plateauing as you get older

Sunday with Herb

There’s a concept we use with Maffetone method run training called “plateauing”. That is when after several months of improvement, (Your pace improving at your calculated MAF heart rate), you don’t see any more improvement.

It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve reached the apex of your aerobic development, often times, a brief stint of speed work will reset your aerobic metabolism and allow for continued improvement.

But what if you have reached the apex of your aerobic development, what happens as you age?

Looking back at my marathon history, I’ve noticed a different pattern of my marathon times plateauing as I age.

I was running 3:20 marathons when I was in my 40’s. Then, after my first heart attack in my 50’s, my marathon times were around 3:45’s. I didn’t get into low heart rate training until my 60’s, but even with that increased aerobic development, my marathon times hovered around 4:00 hours.

As I’ve aged, my marathon times have slowed. Which I believe is a natural progression.(heart attacks aside!).

On the other hand, in my 60’s, I was in the best shape of my life due to my Maffetone training.

Now at 71 years old, I’m wondering how long I can hold my current plateau of 4 hour marathons with my aerobic conditioning maxed out, but with father time starting to take it’s hold.

Have you experienced declining running plateaus as you age?