The Advantage of Losing a Step

I'll never forget my first run on the treadmill. I stood on the treadmill and entered my age and weight. Then I had to decide what pace I was going to run at. Twenty years ago my training pace was about a nine minute mile. I ran 5ks and 10ks faster than that, but my day in and day out pace was about a nine minute mile. It was a pace I could keep up for miles and even hold a conversation with someone.

I entered "9:00", 3 miles and pressed "start." The treadmill chimed and the belt began moving faster and faster. My legs sped up until it felt like I was sprinting. I could've slowed the treadmill down, but that would have been admitting defeat so I kept up what felt like a three mile dash. Twenty-seven minutes later the treadmill stopped and I collapsed, red-faced and gasping for air. It took another twenty-seven minutes to catch my breath.

Either the treadmill was wrong, or I was seriously out of shape. The next day I went out and measured off a three mile route, started my watch and ran it as fast as I could. When I crossed the finish line I pushed stop and paused for a moment to catch my breath. I figured I would finish in about twenty-five minutes, proving that the now stupid treadmill was wrong.

34 minutes.

I was seriously out of shape. And so I began training in earnest. After overcoming a variety of obstacles I finally got back to fairly decent running shape. During the warm months I'm running 25-30 miles a week and can knock off a ten miler with minimal pain. I am training as hard as I did in my twenties and feel great.

But I cannot sustain a nine-minute training pace. My training pace is a steady 10 minute mile. In my twenties I figured that those slow old people just weren't running as hard as I was. Now I understand the impact of getting older. Sure, some people quit exercising or aren't trying as hard, but there are physiological changes that take place as well.

One of the key changes that affects runners is a decline in the maximum heart rate. As you get older, your maximum heart rate decreases by about 1 beat per year. Simply put, the heart cannot beat as fast, so aerobically the body cannot do as much. You can increase efficiency through, but you cannot increase your maximum heart rate. Effort is a percentage of your maximum heart rate. Put simply: An "in shape Karl" at 45 must work much harder than an "in shape Karl" at 25 to sustain a nine minute mile.

This isn't all bad. I actually like a 10 minute mile pace better than a 9 minute mile pace. Let's say that you are running marathon and you are wondering if you are "on pace". Believe me, at mile 17 it is difficult to multiply 9 minutes times 17 miles and then convert it to hours and minutes. 10 times 17 is much simpler. So simple I can do it!

So there are advantages to losing a step. It makes life much easier.