Older Runners: When Did You Notice You Were Finally Aging?

At age 46, I no longer could put a mile under 5:00 (for the first time in over 30 years). OK, so I became a dad in my mid-40s, fatherhood turns your life inside out.

Happily, I discovered the half marathon at age 58, so now at 60 I can still get a PR in my new event -- there is still motivation, and fun to be had. I'm turning 61 in a month and will hit 60 mpw this week in my quest for the next HM PR.

That's what I love about being a hobby jogger man. You all get slower, and I run the sameeeee pace.

alright! alright! alright!

Personally, 25-26. Back to back hard days became next to impossible, long runs and workouts took longer to recover from.

On top of that, I started noticing more aches and pains, especially in the mornings. The days of being able to roll out of bed early in the morning for an easy 20-30 minutes were no longer possible. Now, I've got to do dynamic stuff and a little rolling out before heading out for a morning run.

Also, I feel like motivation has taken a huge hit too. I had little issue getting out and running 80+ mile weeks in college and just after college. Now, I struggle to find motivation to run longer than 40-45 minutes by myself. If I'm with others, I have no issues with 10+ mile runs. Same with workouts. Any workout I'm soloing, I need to do on the treadmill or times slip and motivation to finish drops.

lollerama wrote:

R V Winkle wrote:

37-38.

No reason to kid yourself.

This is probably true if you started running in your mid-20s. If you started running competitively in your teens, the age likely is more like 30-32. It's all relative. I started running at 30, and my best years were 43-45.

Very true. I started running at age 30 but didn't really train semi-seriously until I was 45. My very best years were 48-52.

46 and Growing wrote:

I´m almost 47 now & noticed--like a light switch--that my body is changing! I gained 10lbs out of nowhere (over these winter months). And, this is the strange one, I can´t handle alcohol anymore. Two craft beers knock me on my butt! (Recently, I actually fell down a couple stairs in my house after two beers.)

I can still run (even with the extra weight) without injury. (I am now 6ft, 170 lbs.) But, I´m probably running 35+ miles a week. I pretty much stopped drinking. I´m trying to eat cleaner too, including taking salads for lunch now.

But, can anyone give me some insight into your aging?

I stopped running after college. Started running again when I was 35 - and of course noticed that things were not the same. Started to train real hard and set PRs when in low 40's in half marathon (which I never ran seriously in college) and marathon (which I had never run when I was young). Then noticed that I was more susceptible to injury in late 40's while still going about 45-55 mpw. Now, at age 52, I noticing that I can still handle 45 mpw, but only if I cut back on intensity. Whenever I start increasing intensity of interval or tempo work, I get small injuries that keep me off my feet for a few days (I'm good about stopping now whenever I feel something bothering me more than a day or two).

I do put weight on a bit more quickly if I stop running, but thank God I can still handle alcohol pretty well!

it's complicated..

Running competitively since age 15.

Exercise-induced asthma kicked in at 46 and had a major impact, got that under control and was still running ok until 50. However sub-20 5k got harder and harder, needed more and more training to maintain.

At 51 had to stop running due to achilles insertional pains, took over a year to rehab that, came back much slower - 22min 5k at best.

Since then it has been 2-3% a year, now cannot break 25min at 57. Each setback that causes a running layoff (broken ribs, new asthma, flu) causes significant slowdowns which do not seem to be recoverable. The only thing I do fast is to get slower..

weight was high 160s until age 53 or so, now low 170s. no change in eating/drinking patterns, workouts about 10-15% increased.

I realized I was aging September 17, 1984.

When did I realize I was aging to the point of no return?

Short answer: Soon after turning 55.

Longer answer: When I started getting injured more often. when I would run a decent time, and then follow that up with an injury and be out for 2-3 months.

I disagree with you!

Weight is right there with volume and intensity when it comes to running injuries. Obviously, genetics play a part, but the older runners I see who remain relatively injury free, are quite thin. (Thinner than what the average person can comfortably maintain.)

It hit me all of a sudden at 44.5. Went from 2:32 marathon to 2:39. Times at other distances also impacted. I also can no longer handle alcohol, one or two drinks wiping me out. However, no weight gain. Still only 130 lbs. at 5'10".

62 here and similarly interested that the speed decline is more noticeable than endurance. In my 30s it was rare that any run was over 8 minute mile pace, which is now hard tempo pace and in the future that will be race pace and then impossible but for the shortest distance. The secret to slowing down the inevitable decline is to gradually change your training as you age. Keep the speedwork up, reduce total mileage, more days between hard sessions, slower recovery runs, more sleep, don't put on weight, don't get injured.

I knew I'd never run another PR in my early 40s - 5k times were in the late 18s from mid to low 17s in my mid 30s. The decline was gradual to 55 when I was running around 21 minutes. At 60, a lot slower in the mid 22s but when I'm racing now it still feels like I'm running 17s. Feels fast and I'm puffing hard just as an overweight 20-something jogs past.

I started competing at 15 and ultimately got down to a solo 1:48/4:02 at age 25 and then quit competing.

From there I simply ran roads and trails and still felt I could run with anyone until about age 50. Then I began to notice things like feeling tentative jumping off an incline about the height of a chair because I didn’t want to hurt myself. I also noticed going on a 50-mile hike with the scouts (and my son) and not being able to jump from rock to rock with a full pack very well. Also, I started to lag behind the youth on the flat.

At 60 I thought I could still run relatively well on trails until one day two men and two women effortlessly passed me and I couldn’t stay up with them. They seemed about my age or slightly younger. I realized then that I was getting slower and slower.

Today at age 75 I still go out every morning around 5:30 and “shuffle” for about 90 minutes. And it is great!! I could care less about speed; I just enjoy clearing my head and moving every day.

As I have mentioned before, the most important part of your workout, no matter if you are 16 or 75, is putting on your shorts!

Great thread...as the word falling off a cliff seems about right.

I will be 49 in a couple of months, and was running really well until about 46-47. It was weird. I PB-ed in the marathon at 37 (2:35 at NYC), ran 1:11-flat half at 38, and even ran 31:40 in the 10k at 39. The next few years I declined, but still could pop sub 16 for 5k at age 43, and 1:14 for the half at 44, and a 30k in 1:49 at age 46...then at age 47 after a slight Achilles problem. Boom...it was like my old self was gone. My tempos at age 45 were comfortably 17 flat for 5k, became rigorous at 18 mins (seriously killing me.)

And I feel the same! My mileage is about 40 miles a week....It was so bad, that I needed to shift things up. So, I started hitting the weights (3x a week for 45 mins), and I changed my diet about 6 months ago. I have really increased my fat intake (almost a Keto diet- 60% fats, 25% protein and 15% carbs--carbs only after dinner) to jack up my cholesterol (the precursor to testosterone). And it seems to be working. My bench press is back over 200lbs, and my calf raises are back to 350lbs (like in my 20s). My running is still slow, but I managed a 17:30 5k tempo last week and it didn't kill me.

Not saying this is for everybody....but diet and an extra day of rest makes one feel a lot better (for sure drop to 2 days a week of hard running)

ps///I also noticed the booze thing too. I have dropped the ability to throw 'em back (but I still like one or two).

TrackCoach wrote:

Weight is right there with volume and intensity when it comes to running injuries. Obviously, genetics play a part, but the older runners I see who remain relatively injury free, are quite thin. (Thinner than what the average person can comfortably maintain.)

Fat weight vs muscle weight? Two different body compositions at play here. I've seen quite a few older runners in my age group (55+) at the Masters club I belong to that are quite muscular & heavier guys who remain injury free. In talking with these guys, they strength train regularly and keep their mileage down, run on soft surfaces, cross train on a bike, etc. Granted they're not running faster times like the diminutive fellows in our club but nonetheless these bigger, more muscular runners are not injured very often either. OTOH, I've seen plenty of thin, lean runners who seem to be battling chronic injuries on a regular basis. Check out the 50+ Masters thread here and you'll see plenty of the walking wounded among the thin ranks.

Real Old Guy wrote:

Today at age 75 I still go out every morning around 5:30 and “shuffle” for about 90 minutes. And it is great!! I could care less about speed; I just enjoy clearing my head and moving every day.

Very Impressive! ?

^This post is on to something important. Keeping your weight down is vital to staying healthy and vibrant as we age, but not at the cost of our strength. Keep lifting, eat less. Your metabolism will stay active, but nowhere near what it once was. You won’t need as many calories, so choose them wisely. Balance your diet to your activities, and as others had suggested get your thyroid checked. It isn’t like when we were younger and could shake off injury, weight gain, alcohol binges and the like. Stay vigilant about how you exercise, eat, and play. But never take the fun out of your life, be sure to plan on a night of two craft beers. Just stay away from the stairs. As we age we cannot neglect lifting. You won’t bulk up from lifting like you could as a young man, but you need to use it or you will lose it. I have been running and wrestling for over 40 years without serious injury. I did both today, and the only reason I still can is because I have stayed light, strong, and listened to my body when it needed rest. Good luck and welcome to the club. BTW I noticed my aging when the gray hair migrated south! It’s all downhill from here so enjoy the ride and make it last as long as you can.

Not so much a result of older...but after finishing my Dr. and getting a pretty well-off job...the motivation to win the regional $1-2k prize monies went away. So now running isn't for $$ anymore and that's a big loss of motivation that's easy to fall back on. That $1-2k went a good ways on bills in school.

To the OP: when I realized there is no significant reasoning for your question?

In other words, start a program which focuses on compound lifts: squats, deadlifts, bench press. Focus on those compound exercises. A major benefit: Squats increase testosterone levels