I have a deep respect for anyone who runs, but especially those who continue (or start) to run after the age of 40. Just one quick question:
What's the biggest challenge for runners over 40?
I have a deep respect for anyone who runs, but especially those who continue (or start) to run after the age of 40. Just one quick question:
What's the biggest challenge for runners over 40?
Kdiddy wrote:
What's the biggest challenge for runners over 40?
Getting old.
Kdiddy wrote:
What's the biggest challenge for runners over 40?
personal responsibilities and all-around apathy
Aside from your body trying to fail on you? That as you get older fewer and fewer of the weekend warriors continue to show up; your age group pool isn't as big but everyone is competitive.
Kdiddy wrote:
I have a deep respect for anyone who runs
Even the Quaker Lube guy?
Fending off the women when you are the only non-obese guy around.
I'm midway between 41 and 42, and right now my biggest problem is finding the motivation to get back in shape. I ran a 1:26 half at 39, and right now would probably have trouble breaking 2.
Not because my "skills" have diminished so much as the fact that I got lazy, gained weight, and since March 1 have 15 weeks in which I ran 0 miles, and 0 weeks where I ran more than 20 miles.
So, Motivation is my answer.
It is way to easy to gain weight. I'm in great shape but 15 pounds extra pounds makes me slow.
You can't do stupid things and get away with it as far as training goes. The biggest difference between the 48 year old me and the 28 year old me is the pace of my easy runs. While I've slowed some with age it hasn't been THAT drastic. I'm actually injured less now because I'm smarter but I have to be much more mindful of the little things.
Oh, and piss off. Don't patronize over 40 runners. It's not that big a deal to stay fit and active if the desire is there.
The biggest challenge for over 40 runners? I guess that depends on where you're coming from. If you are new to the sport you will have all the same questions and issues as any new runner, piled on top of that you will have to particularly careful about over doing it and getting injured.
If you are a former collegiate or competitive runner then you have to deal with slowing down and accept that you just can't do what you used to. That sounds easy but when you go to the track and you're "busting" 400's in .80, man.. that's hard to take. But that's more mental.. physically the risk of injury goes up COMBINED with the fact that when you do get hurt it takes longer to recover from them. I'll bullet point a few others:
-weight gain
-sore stiff joints
-stress life from other parts of life- you aren't just going to school and running now. You have a house, wife, kids, job, relatives..
-Time: related to the above, but if you start cutting a 20 back to 12 so you can get to Jr's baseball game, dropping a work out here or there due to work... cumulatively it eats away at your fitness.
-Recovery: probably the biggest and most noticeable is that a hard work or race will leave you totally flat for days on end.
Kdiddy wrote:
I have a deep respect for anyone who runs, but especially those who continue (or start) to run after the age of 40. Just one quick question:
What's the biggest challenge for runners over 40?
My biggest challenge is 1) motivation. Been running since high school. Ran a little in college. Im not running those times again. "Masters" prs don't really interest me.
My AG is pathetic here. Mid 19s win most 5ks.
Don't see the point in putting all the miles.
2) losing that that last 10-15lbs. It's been a bit&$&&ch
Alternative is to be like every other older runner and switch to trails/ultra. But hate trail d-bags counting "vert"
Kdiddy wrote:
What's the biggest challenge for runners over 40?
For myself, it's training with younger runners in workouts, but reminding myself that I can't do everything they can do in a week. We can do the same workouts in terms of pace and number of reps, but I need more recovery time between workouts, and my easy run pace needs to be much slower.
Biggest challenge: dealing with all your other obligations/responsibilities while also trying to stick to a training schedule. Can't remember when I first realized how much free time I in fact had (and wasted) when younger.
And recovery. That can suck.
40 is an arbitrary number. I was flying when I was 40. The big challenge is trying to figure out whether you are just being a wussy or whether you need to back off. Likewise, training can get stale and you can get easily discouraged when you are not hitting times like you did a few years ago. I have done 6x800; 6xmile; 5 mile tempo, etc. a zillion times in the years I have been running. When I do one of those workouts and struggle to hit what I expect should be my splits, I will often bag it and DNF the workout. The challenge is then finding new workouts so I won't have expectations of what my times should be, but still get a good workout in and not make it too easy.
Yeah somehow I was running fast for me at 40 and feeling great. But...life. Family and career obligations are a priority and it sucks when it's such a hassle to make the time to get out there. I didn't have a kid until I was 39, so if your kids are older I'm sure it's also different.
Weight becomes hard to get off and easy to put on as mentioned. But that is also a great motivator for me. I like being in shape and know that for me I need running to keep me slim.
You know what, though? I still enjoy running just as much as I did when I was 20. Lots of days even more because there is no pressure but I still have the desire to run as fast as I can and run faster than other runners.
In a few years my career will be more settled and my kid will be older...and I will be older. I plan to get out there and run as I can. I suppose it's a challenge to not run your fastest but I'm totally ok with that. I guess more than the numbers I like the feeling, which I suppose at some point it won't feel as good, but I am not expecting that until my 60s? I don't know so far 40s feel good; it's just a bit slower.