Run your Age

In some sports, by the time you're old enough to drive, your best performances are in the rearview mirror (women's gymnastics comes to mind). Not so with running. Last year's top 10 performers in the 10-K were about 22 years old, while the fastest marathoners were, on average, 29. True, these athletes are a long way from retirement. But physiologically speaking, a little maturity can help running performance in endurance events.As children grow, exercise capacity and maximal oxygen consumption increase slowly. At puberty, hormonal changes result in greater muscle mass and bone density, as well as dramatic increases in VO2 max and running economy. Our capacity for endurance training continues to increase as we approach full physical maturity in our early 20s. It's then that we theoretically begin our golden decade of running performances, since sometime after 30 our peak physiological function can start to decline.But anecdotal evidence suggests that we can maintain our running peak well into our 30s and beyond if we choose our race distances and training strategies carefully. That's because certain age groups are physically better suited for some running events than others.Early to Mid-20s: 5-K and 10-K races are great for 20-something runners. The body is physically mature enough, and certainly strong enough, to race fast 5-Ks regardless of whether or not you ran in school. For runners who have been competing since high school, a step up to the 10-K distance is the next best challenge, as the body is now ready to handle more mileage.