If you look at the race rankings, you will see that the master categories are one of the largest fields. Then look at their completion times and you’ll see how blazingly fast they are.
If you want to be on top of the podium in the Master 40 category, you must train hard and compete smartly.
Our bodies change as we age. Aerobic capacity and lactate threshold decrease. We experience a decrease in muscle fibers, strength and loss of muscle mass, and most of all, the biggest impact on training that we experience as we age is a slower recovery rate.