Older runners: When did you start feeling old?

I was pretty much injury free until my mid 30's. My calves starting going around 35 and I never had a stress fracture until the late 30's. You just deal with what you've got, take different approaches (ice baths, more massages, eat better, supplements). Now I'm in my mid 40's and it's hard to run enough miles to keep your weight down and the only way I've ever been successful losing weight is by increasing miles - it's a quandary or a paradox if you will.

It really hit me in my late 40's. I was pretty consistent throughout my 30's. Then I noticed I needed more recovery days. Now, I'm 51 and have finally accepted slower times and can consider a race a success with a slower time.

On the other hand- I have a lot of friends in their 30's who can't match me physically at anything.

Do like some of us older running chicks. We do some serious hormone replacment therapy!!!

I hear you Jack, same here, mid 40's and 10 lbs more than 10 years ago, but cant put in the mileage to lose weight because I weigh too much and will get injured. (only other way is to give up beer..hmmmmmmmmm. nope.

Wheels came off for me at between 38-40. At 37 was able to put in 70+ and run 10 secs close to 5k pr.

Coach, is that you?

Worried about getting dropped by us this fall? ;)

Ever since turning 45 (3+ yrs ago) it has been a struggle to feel good and race up to my expectations. Good days and Bad days. I am just dealing with it and enjoying running/fitness as much as I can.

Cheers

When I started doing more miles!

The bad (worse?) news is that a friend of mine told me that at 53 he REALLY started slowing down and was unable to run as far.

Oh GAWD, I'm 51. But still. I weigh 142 and was 137 when I graduated High School 33 years ago.

I've cranked a few 40+ mile weeks out recently and had a 50 mile week a couple weeks ago.

I notice a difference. 50 mpw was easy in my 20's/30's- now, I record it in my running log with an "!"

Came in phases over different distances:

1500/800 - at 31-32 I just couldn't do the workouts and races quite as fast compared to 27-28.

5K - it started to hit at 33. I remember hitting the workouts just fine, but racing I was struggling to keep within 8 or 10 sec of times I did at 30-32. But actually ran a little faster at 8K and up at 33.

All distances - things started falling off noticeably at 35, partly due to real life committments and injury, but latter probably related to age. Took forever to recover from injuries, and they came right back as soon as I'd start feeling good.

I'm really surprised at those who say they feel great through 40 or 45 or 48. Did you really run as fast or faster at that age compared to 25 or 30?

I'm 56 and don't feel old. Just pounded out a 20 mile bike followed by a very easy 6 mile run to get ready for a future tri. When I was 50 I was injured and felt old. If you exercise smart, know your limits, stay healthy, and are lucky with genes and such.......you don't feel old.

knowsers snausers wrote:

I'm 32 and I'm noticing that I can't recover from a hard workout like I used to. But then again, I'm not training as much as I used to, so perhaps I'm just outta shape. At what age were you certain that your age, and not just your lack of shape or training, had started catching up with you? How did you know?

I don't know about my genetics because family members on both side aren't athletic and they've got the paunchy old bodies to prove it. As I hit my mid 30's my running became more about fighting this body metamorphosis than fast times. Now in mid 40's and still fighting that fight.

I get that--and do feel much the same; nevertheless, I simply can't do the things I did 20 or 25 years ago.

Conundrum wrote:

I'm 56 and don't feel old. Just pounded out a 20 mile bike followed by a very easy 6 mile run to get ready for a future tri.

When I was 50 I was injured and felt old.

If you exercise smart, know your limits, stay healthy, and are lucky with genes and such.......you don't feel old.

knowsers snausers wrote:

I'm 32 and I'm noticing that I can't recover from a hard workout like I used to. But then again, I'm not training as much as I used to, so perhaps I'm just outta shape. At what age were you certain that your age, and not just your lack of shape or training, had started catching up with you? How did you know?

I'm 42 and don't feel old at all - I don't think I've ever run better and I started at age 14. Still feel quick and zoomy.

I started feeling old when my ewections became as flaccid as old yeller's tongue on a 95 degwee day and I couldn't wabbit a turtle wace in the village.

do you think that we're peaking our athlete's too early?

Maybe 39 to 44 instead of 23 to 30?

(okay, I'm just kidding there)

I'm 55 and am still doing best mileage in last 30 years, but within last year or so my pace has really slowed (damn those young runners who now pass me). Once i get going it's not too bad but it takes me at least 2-3 miles to crank it up.

53 y.o. it's all relative....

in the last few years i've been able to compete at a pretty high level.. all american status in olympic -- ironman triathlon w/ overall top 10 times in swimming and biking; a 1:30 1/2 marathon last october; etc....

50 is the new 30!!! not....

prostate cancer diagnosis and subsequent surgery 3 months ago put the whole aging thing into a very different perspective -- a tectonic shift to say the least

appreciate every day...

I am 51, had a PR of 32:12 at age 20. I took 10 years off prior to starting running again in 2006. I started at zero and now am hovering at 18:47 for a 5K. However, I've taken it slow and have gotten progressively faster over the last 5 years.

Here is my personal list of impediments to running much faster:

1) Mass. It is very difficult to stay lean. I am 150 now and raced around 142 in College. So, I'm close, but not quite there.

2) Injury. By trial and error I’ve found I CAN stay healthy (No injuries now for a year) but I have to be smarter at avoiding injury. Like adding superfeet inserts, or altering my training to allow more rest. Being more aggressive and proactive in treating injury is critical. I was very poor in treating my own injuries in my 20’s. The answers and solutions are out there if you go get them.

3) Reduced metabolic efficiency: read; some minor restriction to blood flow throughout the body occurs with age. My VO2Max is not high as I cannot deliver O2 as efficiently as before. To simplify: we all clog up a little with age, deal with it.

4) Motivation. This is the biggest. I have a very active life and running is just a small part of it. It’s not as important to me as it once was.

5) Fear. I remember in my late 20’s I’d let myself get way out of shape. I would just bust 10 a day and I got it all back in a month. I can’t do that now, the risks of injury are higher so I scale back my training. I don’t want THIS injury to be the last one…EVER.

6) Social expectation. Our society does not expect or think we can run as fast as we already are! This is a powerful force. It’s hard to believe in yourself when your peers are; dead, obese, nay-sayers and critics.

To the people who say they feel better than ever at 40 and up, how intense was the training in your 20's. I trained at a pretty high level from about 16 to 26, and I noticed a huge difference in what I could do in that decade.

Now, certainly I was much faster at 26, but the work I could handle was different. In high school I could do speed work three days a week, race on Saturday, and feel great doing all of it. At 26 I could only handle one speed workout a week, needed to do lots of endurance stuff, and struggled to recover from workout to workout.

Now, there are several variables in there other than age, but it certainly is one factor. My initial thoughts (which could be completely wrong) about people who say they feel great at 50, is that they didn't trash their bodies chasing times in their 20's. Because I will say this, while at just under 30 I can still crank out 80+ mile weeks if I want, I'm certainly no where close to the runner I was 8 years ago. I hope the decline does not continue at this pace because I will be in a wheel chair at 40 at this rate.