Can You Still Get Faster as You Get Older?

Getting older doesn’t mean you have to stop chasing performance. But it may mean letting go of the training methods, numbers, and expectations that worked earlier in your endurance career. In Part 3 of our aging athlete series, we look at how masters athletes can keep pursuing speed and performance while adapting training for strength, recovery, durability, and longevity. The goal isn’t to preserve your old training—it’s to preserve your ability to perform. What You’ll Learn Why body composition matters more than simply chasing a lower number on the scale How to adjust training volume, intensity, and recovery without giving up performance Why strength and consistency become increasingly important as you age How to keep pursuing ambitious goals without sacrificing your long-term ability to train and race Timestamps 00:00 – Training updates and learning to let go of pace 14:24 – Body composition vs. body weight as you age 19:30 – Why lighter doesn’t automatically mean faster 29:05 – Stop trying to recreate what worked when you were younger 34:02 – Building muscle, losing fat, and the endurance training tradeoff 41:52 – Is improving body composition worth sacrificing aerobic training? 46:01 – Performance vs. longevity: Do you have to choose? 49:00 – Why a 7-day training week may not work for every masters athlete 53:58 – Consistency, injury prevention, and protecting future performance 56:00 – Sleep, stress, nutrition, and recovery outside the training plan 1:03:33 – Strength training and speed work for aging athletes 1:19:25 – Bringing joy back into training