The idea
Recovery takes longer as you age, tendons adapt more slowly, and warm-ups matter more. That doesn't mean training easier — masters runners who keep training hard hold onto their fitness remarkably well. It means recovering smarter. If you tell Pheidi your age, it adjusts the recovery timing around your hard efforts rather than capping what you can do.
The four brackets
Pheidi groups runners into four age brackets:
- Under 40
- 40–49
- 50–59
- 60+
Age is optional. If you'd rather not share it, Pheidi treats you as the Under 40 bracket and your plan is built without age adjustments.
What the bracket changes
- Recovery between hard efforts. Pheidi keeps a minimum gap after a hard session — about 1 day under 40, 2 days through your 40s and 50s, and 3 days at 60+ — so the next quality day lands on rested legs.
- Warm-up length. Warm-ups stretch with age: around 10 minutes under 50, 12 minutes in your 50s, and 15 minutes at 60+, because older muscles and tendons need longer to get ready to work.
- Heat sensitivity. Older runners feel heat more, so weather pace adjustment scales up modestly with age.
What it doesn't do
Age adjustment is about recovery timing and warm-ups — it doesn't slow your goal paces on its own, and it doesn't shorten your plan. Your experience level and race goal still set the shape of the build; age just protects the gaps between the hard days.
Age adjustment lives inside the Pheidi app — sign in and add your age during setup.