Originally Posted by dminor

OK, I'm going to dredge this back up from last month's posts. I've been doing my roadwork runs for probably almost 2 years now without a stopwatch - - too cheap/lazy to buy a new one and I didn't want to mess with my HRM. Well, last week a cheap little sport watch on clearance caught my eye ($5) and I decided maybe it was time to see how much I'd atrophied with age and without the impetus of timed runs to spur me on.

So, I've done a few of my familiar lunchtime loops now back 'under the gun' and it's been interesting. Turned my benchmark 4.3 mi. loop in 32:36, or a 7:35/mi pace; and did my 3.5 at a 7:30. So, then I dug out some training logs from 2000 (when I was a spry 45) and '02-'03 and was pleasantly surprised. I was turning high 6 mins./7 flats nine years ago and have stayed about the same since my late 40s. Not that those times are going to set the world on fire but I was shocked that I really hadn't slowed all that much.