I’m 31. I was a half decent runner in HS, but due to a variety of reasons stopped participating in the sport once I went to college. I decided to pick it back up 3 years ago, and despite being pretty overweight and extremely out of shape, I was really surprised about how quickly it all came back.
After 6mo I ran a half marathon and my 5k time was on par with some of my worst races in HS (saying that as an accomplishment). By the end of last year, I ran a full marathon and was getting pretty close to my all-time 5k PR. My goal when I restarted was to just be able to hobble through an occasional 5k at a somewhat respectable pace, so I’m thrilled with how things have gone.
I just finished my second marathon and I get really reflective after every big race. I know for the time being that I want to run for the sake of improvement (chasing PRs) for as long as I possibly can. In a way, I also look forward to eventually running races at an easier level of intensity, just for enjoyment rather than anything else. The idea of actually enjoying a marathon race course, instead of putting myself thru hell, is something I look forward to once I reach the point where I don’t care about time anymore.
For people who’ve reached that point, how did you know? Was it injury, lack of time for training, mental state, etc?
Edit: Didn’t mean to imply that I’m an older runner! Was more looking for insight from people who are older runners on when they knew it was time to change the focus and how aging as a runner happens