Old Dudes: At what age did you start feeling old?

I'm 33 and don't feel old but a few weeks ago I was looking in my training diary and found out that on the day 10 years ago I was rounding off a 115 mile week with a piss off at the bar. I even managed to start a fight and a few hours later get laid. Sunday, monday and tuesday was zeroes "due to 12 beers yesterday and dislocated yaw"...

90 miles/week and a glass of red wine is just about it for me nowadays.

i am not going to feel old for a WHILE. i'm 25 right now and last year one of my mom's co-workers asked what HS i go to, and you better believe i get carded everytime i buy beer

Groucho Marx is reported to have stated, "A man is no older than the woman he feels."

Actually I feel younger now than when I was 40 (I am now 65) and working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. I believe exercise,diet and attitude is the key to staying mentally alert and feeling your best. If you are running more or faster than you can handle or eating junk food then you are going feel old, tired and crappy. Attitude is the other 'aging factor' that is by far the most underestimated variable in this equation. An undertaker once said that he had buried at lot of people at 70 who died at 35. Mortality is a once in a lifetime experience; seize the moment and enjoy the challenge or pleasure it brings and don't worry about factors of which you have no control.

Bottom line: I feel younger and better today than I have at any time in my life but it requires effort and focus. IOW, it ain't free and easy.

Best wishes to all, (particularly HRE)

Bartman (another Old Dude)

A few years ago I ran a 5k in 19:11 but after hitting 60, I'm having many more aches and pains.

Cool post, thanks.

I know it sounds like a bs answer, cliche, etc., etc., but it really doesn't matter. You're aging, I'm aging, we're all aging, it's just happening. The only thing that would make one feel "old" is how you compare to another person's aging process. To compare yourself to your younger self is sort of silly, because it's not as if you're wishing you'd done something differently. It's not as if you can truly regret the aging process.

We all do it differently, too. I'm faster now than I was at any point in my life, but this is because I did the classic "smoke and drink and damn near hill myself in my teens and 20's" bs routine. I just turned 40 and I'm not trying to sound like a Hair Club for Men commercial when I say I've never felt better.

Will I run this fast when I'm 60? Duh, no. Do I care? Not really, as I'm just going to continue to do whatever it is I can do to keep life good.

Unless you really wreck something one day, the "decline" is so gradual, that's it's hardly worth noting unless you're constantly regretting your life or wishing you'd fashioned it like someone else's, in which case, you're already old (and you're screwed.)

OrvilleAtkins--age 74.5 wrote:

I just got back from 90 minutes in the gym. Tomorrow morning I will jog/walk for about 70 minutes. I have been aging for a couple of decades now but I did not think I was old until this year.

I have had an ablation to clear up atrial flutter. I tire quickly so I take a couple of 45 minute naps most days. I blame the fatigue on my medicine and allergies.

Life is still great fun!

I have a friend in his nineties. He maintains that the seventies is "young old", that the eighties are "medium old", and it's only when you're in your nineties that you are really "old old".

I wonder if he'll revise the table when he hits a 100...

May you stay forever young.

Sticking to running, I have to say at age 40 I noticed that races and real hard workouts really really really took a toll. After a half marathon, I'm wasted for a good 3-4 days, maybe a week. A marathon, forget anything for 3 weeks.

That was really scary to how similar that is to my life. Almost to a t. Even the PB's and salary.

I'm 35 now and the only real difference I feel now versus 25 or younger is I am more prone to getting injured or having repetitive stress type issues. Also recovery is a tad bit slower. Only other thing I can think of is my ability to bounce back from drinking. When younger, I could stay out till 4am, get hammered, and then wake up at 7am and run to sweat it out of my system and be fine the rest of the day. Now, on the rare occasion I do that, I'm hungover all day and feel like death warmed over. This could be b/c of being domesticated several years ago and not being used to going out often anymore, however.

I have to say, the one thing I found that really helps stave off the aging process is sprinting. It's amazing, I hadn't done it in so long, then started up again due to chronic foot issues made higher mileage impossible, and I love them. It really has toned me up and made me feel strong and athletic again.

"As far as mixing it up on the open scene, if this what you refer to, it was age 35 for me. I remember flying out to the River Bank Run 25k on the race director's bill and feeling a little guilty, like it shoulda been spent on a twenty-something fresh out of college and hungry. My third Olympic Trials run was over and I knew my last.I started to feel silly for the first time in flashy short shorts and the hot, elite women began to look like kids that night at the bar (The Bob).It was a long flight home."

River Bank Run is a great race! I ran my best time there at age 43.

There is a guy here in Houston (Sean Wade) who is about that age (43) and regularly breaks 15 for 5K, so I would imagine there are others out there.

You're an inspiration as is Orville. And any quote from Groucho is inspirational. And a reduced or terminated workload is revitalizing.

Your comment about the benefits of sprinting is 100% accurate. Short sprints and hill sprints in particular have been proven to naturally activate HGH and are a tremendous boost to staying young and toned. There are a number of individuals that are now promoting this exercise on a regular basis. At nearly 50 years of age, I have three workouts that I rotate (sprints/hill sprints, yoga, and bodyweight exercies) throughout the week. I will also incorporate a tempo run every 10 days or so. I really don't do any serious/high mileage anymore because I don't compete and my primary motivation is health. I'm just thankful I can still sprint because many of my peers are long past that ability.

BulldogU wrote:

socalcush wrote:

i just turned 43, weigh about 3 lbs more than in college, still break 15s in a 5k, and i have yet to ask that question. i suppose when i feel the need to ask that question is when i'll start feeling old...

You're breaking 15 for 5K at 43? So, we must have heard of you based on your WC performances?

You've probably heard of him...Cush is still tough!

erniebomb wrote:

Old Dudes: At what age did you start feeling old?

35, just now when I presumed this thread was directed toward me.

HC wrote:

erniebomb wrote:

Old Dudes: At what age did you start feeling old?

35, just now when I presumed this thread was directed toward me.

I think a lot of us clicked this thread fearing everyone would say they started feeling old at [whatever the reader's age is].

I'm going to say today (age 46). Yesterday I dug up several pounds of sunchokes and today my back hurts. It's not just because my back hurts, but also because I have a garden and was excited about how many sunchokes were waiting underground for me. And tonight after dinner I'll have tea instead of grappa.

Mid 30's here. I still feel nearly the same physically. I'm a changed man as far as everyday life goes though. Every year I find myself turning into how I remember my dad being when I was growing up. It creeps me out!

Somebody mentioned music earlier. It's pretty amazing for me. I used to be have so much passion for music and take a lot of pride in bands I liked. In the last 3 or 4 years I've gotten to the point where I don't care about music at all. On the rare occassion that I want to listen to some music I play the same shit I played growing up. The way I dress is about the same as the music. I find myself wanting to buy the same shit I did 10 years ago even though I know it's 10 years out of style!