The next track and field season is a little over a month away. The off-season is usually a time for athletes to rest and recover without the pressure of upcoming competitions. But for elites like Noah Lyles, the off-season is far from a break. It’s when he works on improving himself. While speaking to the Guardian in September, he said, “If I really push everything I want out of every year and month and week and day that I have, I don’t think I’ll ever regret any of the years.” That shows in his latest practice run – a glimpse of what it looks like.

On Instagram, Lyles shared a training video of himself and fellow PURE Athletics athletes running 300 meters. He invited his 1.6 million followers to join in with the caption, “Let’s go for a run! Can you keep up?” In case you’re planning to take Lyles up on his challenge, like ‘iShowSpeed’, then let us remind you that while Lyles is the sprint king in 100m and 200m, the 300m is not uncharted waters for him. Lyles, back in 2017, at the age of 19, ran through the finish line ribbon for a first-place podium finish at the US Indoor Championships, clocking a then-record time of 31.87 seconds.

Now the question begs, is Lyles eyeing a comeback in the 300m to pick up from where he left off? Or is it just a tease? For anyone tempted to try keeping pace, he even guided viewers through the distance as “I Run” by HAVEN played in the background. This wasn’t his first practice run since the 2025 season ended. On November 11, coach Lance Brauman also posted a clip of Lyles training alongside Jeff Erius, Jordan Anthony, and others.

Training with teammates like Daryll Neita and Jareem Richards is a motivation in itself. But for Lyles, off-season work carries deeper meaning. This is when the 200m champion focuses on strength, balance, start mechanics, ankle angles, and muscle asymmetries—areas he can address without the pressure of races. Back in 2023, Men’s Health revealed that biomechanist Ralph Mann used to fly in from Australia regularly to help Lyles refine his form. It’s clear Lyles leaves nothing to chance.

And he has a mission driving him. At the 2025 World Championships, he matched Usain Bolt’s record by winning a fourth consecutive 200m title. But that wasn’t enough for him. He vowed to return next year to claim a fifth straight title and surpass the Jamaican legend.

Still, the human body has its limits, and Lyles has already faced them. Early in the 2025 season, an inflamed tendon derailed his progress and cost him weeks of training. He returned mid-season and still won gold at the World Championships in Tokyo, but the injury made him think seriously about retirement.

Noah Lyles drops a major hint regarding his retirement in the near future

Lyles has eight World Championships gold medals and three Olympic medals, along with many other achievements. So it was only a matter of time before retirement became a topic. In a conversation with Speakeasy in September 2025, he said, “I know I’ve run my last lap when I leave a World Championships with zero medals. And it wasn’t because of injury or something like that…” Now 28, he’s entering an age where recovery slows and the risk of injury rises. That gradual decline is what he believes will signal the end.

He laughed while discussing retirement, but he suggested it would likely come sometime between 2028 and 2032. He added, “When I leave because of zero medals, or I failed to make a team for a reason of just not being the top dog, or I wasn’t good enough to make the team, I’m like, ‘All right, it’s time. Next year, it’s time for the swan song, and it’s time to let the next generation have it.’” Still, his determination to improve remains unchanged.

Every rep, every drill, and every training run may lead to something bigger. For now, Lyles continues to chase dominance and define his legacy. Injury may have tested him, but his hunger drives him forward. And with history still ahead of him, Noah Lyles is nowhere near done.