You Haven’t Even Peaked Yet
I lost a few years there—thanks to the arrival of my beautiful daughter, Aila, in September of 2022. Not that I’m complaining. She’s brought more joy into my life than I ever thought possible.
That said, it’s probably not a coincidence that I put on 50 pounds right around the same time this sweet little human entered the world.
No big deal, right? I was 33, and I was a runner. I figured that sympathy weight would melt off as soon as I laced up the Asics. But one core element of my old training routine had vanished:
Time.
Flash forward to 2024. I’m still clocking in at 200 pounds—happier than ever, sure, but struggling to get back on track. Could I eat less fried chicken? Definitely. But I live in West Seattle, and Ezell’s and Ma‘ono are right there.
Besides, I’m 35. My best running years are long gone… right?
That’s when I remembered a passage from Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. In it, McDougall interviews Dr. Dennis Bramble, who shares a surprising insight:
“We monitored the results of the 2004 New York City Marathon and compared finishing times by age. Starting at age 19, runners get faster each year until they hit their peak at 27. After that, they gradually decline… But the age at which runners return to their 19-year-old pace? Not 36. Not 45. It’s sixty-four.”
Sixty-four!
There’s no other sport where someone in their 60s can still compete with teenagers. Try putting grandpa on a football field against a bunch of college students. It’d be a death sentence! (He was a good man, although putting him on the field against the Fighting Irish may have been a mistake…) But us human beings are wired for endurance—not just in youth, but for decades.
“We’re a machine built to run,” Dr. Bramble said. “And the machine never wears out.”
Reading that again was a breath of fresh air. Here I was, 50 pounds overweight, two years removed from my last race, and thinking my PR days were behind me. But this study reminded me of the hilariously naive line from Dumb & Dumber -
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
Now we know, marathoners peak around 27. But what about the longer stuff? The grittier stuff? That’s when I found the 2018 study:
"Age of peak performance in 50-km ultramarathoners — is it older than in marathoners?"
Short answer: yes. By a lot.
Marathoners peak at 27
50K ultrarunners?
• Women: 40
• Men: 39
Speed by sex and age-group considering top ten finishers in 5-year age-groups.
View full article and additional charts at Pubmed
That’s when Peak 38 clicked into place. Sure, technically, I rounded down a year—“Peak 39” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it—but the point stands:
If you’re 38, you’re not done. You’re right on time.
So here we are. My toddler still takes up a ton of my time, and while she falls every third step, now she bounces back like a little weeble wobble. I’m less afraid she’ll just…break — which means I’m able to get back on my own footing back too.
I’ve laced up again— now older, but with more determination than before.
Not just to lose the weight. Not just to run. But to climb—to go further, longer, and deeper into the kind of challenges I never had the confidence for in my 20s.
And I want to bring others with me.
Wherever you are in your fitness journey—whether you’re in your 20s, 30s, 40s, or beyond—we were born to run.
And there’s still so much ground to cover.
Join the climb.
Find your peak.
Welcome to Peak 38.
