Why has my running suddenly become a disaster? Answers ASAP!?

[eddis]

I love running a lot. I started running when I was a junior in high school. I did the 5k for cross country and the one and two mile, my two mile record being 12:18 in the eleventh grade. My PR mile was 5:44 for track that year, then in my senior year I lowered my time to 4:49. I was now just focusing on the mile. I went to a 1A school so I did really well. I was eighteen when I graduated. Two years later my PR was mile was 4:21. I again began cross country and lowered my 5k time from 19:43 in eleventh grade to a 16:02. I kept working, getting gradually faster and when I was twenty five I ran a sub four minute mile, getting 3:58.9, three minutes fifty eight point nine tenths of a second. That was a very hard run. I can't imagine how I did that now. A few months later after a few other time trials I ran my second sub four minute mile, getting 3:59.5. I did cross country, my 5k time didn't improve just because my mile time did, which was a bummer. A year after my third sub four I ran another sub four, getting 3:59.1. Keep in mind I was barely under four minutes but it hurt like hell! Within the same month I did another 3:59, then four months later after being trained by a personal trainer I ran 3:54.1. That's my lifetime record, unless I beat that which I highly doubt at this point. I ran a few more sub four minute miles but that was it. Almost a year later I did a 3:57.3, and a 3:59.4. I did a lot more timed miles in my running career besides those. I also did cross country and I ran a few marathons. I tried some sprint races in track and I did ok. Now I'm thirty one and I can't even run a sub five minute mile anymore! Its really a huge bummer. I just started getting slower suddenly, so I stopped for a few years to just train and now my times are in the 5:40-6:00 minute range. Recently I've been having injuries and some sicknesses, nothing bad, just a cold or some muscle tears. Now my peak mile pace feels like my all out gut sprint pace and its really sad. Does anybody know how I can possibly achieve my old form back, or at least become close? I shouldn't have stopped doing time trials. I NEVER wanted to run in the olymipics or on some team because I've always had a lot of anxiety and running brings me enough pressure as it is, I probably would've had a heart attack if I ran on a team. My family and friends often watched me and timed me but that was it. Can somebody please help?

[rolfe16]

Because the earth revolves around the sun in its electromagnetic orbit.

[urian27]

As we age, our body seems to lose its energy. The problem is not u but the natural aging of our muscles, which in most cases will lessen our performances as athletes.

[webb]

If you were running sub 4 minute miles there's probably a coach or trainer of some kind out there you should be consulting instead.

But your body is simply going to slow over time, though you might find your endurance improves. It's going to accumulate years of wear and tear, and you're going to start needing more recovery than when you were back in high school. It becomes much easier to overtrain, etc.

Sooo, the injuries and sicknesses sound like your immune system has issues, and you're possibly overtraining and trying too hard. It's unlikely in your 30's you'll ever get back to the body of a high schooler, and you're only going to wear yourself down and get hurt trying.

You might try reviewing your diet to see what you can improve for recovery, or what your body needs assistance with more than once upon a time. But otherwise I'd frankly try to get into some kind of sports doctor for their thoughts and monitoring... even if it's just for them to tell you that it's pretty normal for those in their 30s to no longer run sub 5 minute miles.