At 50 or 56 is your days numbered? Are you looks fading? Maybe your health too? Do you even run anymore? What motivates you to keep going? I feel depressed seeing the hot chicks that used to excite me on TV as a young man that are now totally unrecognizable old hags. I stand behind hot women at the store that are in their twenties wondering would they give me a chance? It was only a few years ago that I would dare go up and talk to them, but time is moving so fast. Should I even try to strike up a conversation with them?
At 57 I have to say that it can be very depressing. All your "bests" are well into the past, you will never have sex as good or better than you have already had, you will never run as fast, you will never have a better meal, you will never be as good at your job/career, you will never be as mentally sharp as you were.
At this age you are in decline, you are indeed "Over the Hill".
The only thing that seems to improve at this age is the anxiety from social pressures often felt by the younger crowd. By mid50's you stop carrying about what others think about you and you are less likely to compare yourself to others.
I would quibble about "will never be as good at your job/career.."
I'm 67 and would say I am better at my job than I was 10 years ago, a 10 year period over which I've gained a lot more experience and knowledge (despite this career being a near lifetime journey).
I've been working on two Machine Learning programs that will launch this year which will better enable me to serve my clients.
I'd admit I'm fortune to have ended up in the situation I'm in, and working with some younger and smarter people, who do value my experience.
I also gain inspiration from my wife, who is older than me and wrote a commercially published novel, her first, at 75.
I think if you find something where you can bring your experience and wisdom to bear, and perhaps help others to achieve their goals at the same time, you'd feel a bit differently about that.
Since this is a thread about being in one’s 50s, I wanted to mention something hilarious (in a humbling sort of way).
Carroll O’connor was 46 years old when he began playing the role of Archie Bunker. Jean Stapleton was 48 years old when she began playing the role of Edith Bunker.
At 50 or 56 is your days numbered? Are you looks fading? Maybe your health too? Do you even run anymore? What motivates you to keep going? I feel depressed seeing the hot chicks that used to excite me on TV as a young man that are now totally unrecognizable old hags. I stand behind hot women at the store that are in their twenties wondering would they give me a chance? It was only a few years ago that I would dare go up and talk to them, but time is moving so fast. Should I even try to strike up a conversation with them?
I’m thinning on top, but otherwise i feel like I’m aging pretty well. My wife and i trekked in Nepal late last year with a group of young ‘uns, none older than 37, and one of them called me a “silver fox,” which i took as very high praise. I gave up racing 15 years ago but still love running. I can look at pretty young things all day long but wouldn’t trade my wife’s graceful beauty and wisdom for anything. I’m really luck to be pretty healthy for my age; lots of little things but no major health worries. I hope to live into my 90s alongside my wife, but I’m not afraid to die, even though i understand that’s the actual end, as i don't believe in fantasy. I’ve had a really good run, in spite of many very hard knocks along the way. What motivates me every day is the chance to learn more new things. The world is full of wonders.
I count my blessings. Yes, any random person joining our running group outruns me within 2 months, but on the other hand, if I look at others of my age who do not exercise, I see the difference in level of fitness increase in my favor. I enjoy slowing down the slowdown.
I have picked up some kettlebells to maintain strength and power and am working myself towards the strongfirst certification standards. Once you are 50, they let you do them with a 20kg kettlebell instead of a 24kg one. I managed to drop my 200m time in practice from 32 to 30 thanks to the ketttlebell swing. runningwise, I am roughly in sub 19 shape, and I am happy to maintain that with fairly low mileage [20-30 a week]. I broke 18 for the last time 2.5 years ago. I still feel a dedicated block of training should bring me close to that.
I felt a huge change after turning 50. Hair wasn’t as full and face showing its age and also body slowing down. In my mid-40s, I could still break 16 for 5K, but in my mid-50s now I’m thrilled to run the 17’s. Lowered my mileage a lot in the past year, but luckily that didn’t slow me down any. 80,000 lifetime miles and scores of injuries along the way, but hanging in there! Married over 30 years and children all grown and gone. I’m just trying to hang on and enjoy the ride as long as I can.
Happy to be 60 rather than 20. Why? The world is undergoing some massive changes and I don’t believe that they are for the better. It’s getting hotter. People are getting angrier. The population is getting collectively dumber and less emotionally mature.
I grew up and got to experience some wonderful things in an era where freedom and mobility existed. Nowadays, we have constantly broken supply chains and a shortage of people with valuable skills. Factor in that AI will obsolete even its own creators within a decade and that the obscenely wealthy ruling class have no desire to share, it’s going to get very ugly and soon.
I shall depart this Earth and my final years will not be too awful thanks to some frugality and, because I grew up and went to college in an affordable era, the ability to save for my retirement. Many of you will owe huge sums at usury rates while desperately seeking work that no longer exists thanks to automation and incredibly smart machines. Do you really think that Musk, Bezos, and their ilk will suddenly create a Star Trek like utopian world where all human needs are met at no charge because technology does all of the heavy lifting?
Enjoy your llama haircuts and your washboard abs! Have fun hurting your livers while hunting for easy sexual prey. Run that time that no one bit you cares about and history will not remember. Good luck with whatever indentured servitude you can find. The party is coming to an end and this wrinkled and bald old dude is happy that he gets to leave it relatively early by comparison.
Love this post. Times nobody cares about so true. The times are challenging now, more so than when we were 20. At 56 here's my summation: I broke the school record, ran D1, was sponsored pro triathlete in late 80’s and 90’s. It was somewhat satisfying, I guess. Nobody cared so much but me. I have two kids in their late teens, now. Neither of them were as fast as I was, but both of them are FAR better people, more interesting than I was, and have had childhoods I would have traded for any day. If you’re still running in your 50’s, my advice is watch out. We build our cardiovascular system and strength in out late teens to early 30’s. No sense in trying to get faster after that. After 30’s you should be enjoying that cardiovascular platform you created in your 20’s and 30’s to get you through your 40’s, 50’s, 60’s.
Because I had a massive cardiovascular history, I sort of dominated sports and activities I played in my 30’s and 40’s. Ultimate frisbee, whitewater paddling, and surfing. But don’t work out in your 40’s and 50’s like you did in your 20’s and 30’s, with extended periods above 150,160 bpm. Your heart can take it, but your arterial system can’t. If you work out over 140 bpm at this age, you’re cooking your system. The runners that have died “he was in shape, he ran marathons” in their 50’s or had heart attaches was because they cooked their arterial system. Your arteries get brittle after age 40. Face it. We stop producing collagen after age 35. Your arteries, tendons, cartilage don’t have the same elasticity. You can go over 140 bpm, but don’t stay there. The increase in blood pressure that high hear rates have sort of slam the various lipoproteins carrying cholesterol through your system and can embed them in your arterial walls. You did not have much plaque build up in your 20’s. If you’re over 40, you do now to some degree. Age 56- in the past 6 years I frequently sleep in the car in poached slopeside condo spots, get up at 5 am and skin up to the top of the mountain (125 bpm avg) to get the fresh track powder run down on the snowboard. I surf big waves and wing foil at the beach down the street 3-5 times per week. I set a world record in a 1986 video game that NOBODY cares about. But my kids are my life and I doubt 5 minutes ever go by in a day where I don’t think about them or how proud of their lives and how they live and treat people. In my 20’s all I thought about was myself and my times (insignificant to everyone but me). I’m still having fun and kicking butt, but people need to come to terms with the fact that at age 40/50 your athletic relevance is OVER. I had a hard time coming to terms with that as you can probably tell. If you have kids, raising children that are a better version of yourself is not that hard. We know where we were limited and why. Support their athletics. Do what you need to do to stay happy by snowboarding and surfing or stuff like that, but don’t blow their events off to do something you want to do, like a track workout at age 45. Their athletic relevance is what’s important, not yours.
Maybe get an angiogram to see what the health of your arteries are? Maybe they’re better than you think and you can hit the track again.
Happy to be 60 rather than 20. Why? The world is undergoing some massive changes and I don’t believe that they are for the better. It’s getting hotter. People are getting angrier. The population is getting collectively dumber and less emotionally mature.
I grew up and got to experience some wonderful things in an era where freedom and mobility existed. Nowadays, we have constantly broken supply chains and a shortage of people with valuable skills. Factor in that AI will obsolete even its own creators within a decade and that the obscenely wealthy ruling class have no desire to share, it’s going to get very ugly and soon.
I shall depart this Earth and my final years will not be too awful thanks to some frugality and, because I grew up and went to college in an affordable era, the ability to save for my retirement. Many of you will owe huge sums at usury rates while desperately seeking work that no longer exists thanks to automation and incredibly smart machines. Do you really think that Musk, Bezos, and their ilk will suddenly create a Star Trek like utopian world where all human needs are met at no charge because technology does all of the heavy lifting?
Enjoy your llama haircuts and your washboard abs! Have fun hurting your livers while hunting for easy sexual prey. Run that time that no one bit you cares about and history will not remember. Good luck with whatever indentured servitude you can find. The party is coming to an end and this wrinkled and bald old dude is happy that he gets to leave it relatively early by comparison.
Love this post. Times nobody cares about so true. The times are challenging now, more so than when we were 20. At 56 here's my summation: I broke the school record, ran D1, was sponsored pro triathlete in late 80’s and 90’s. It was somewhat satisfying, I guess. Nobody cared so much but me. I have two kids in their late teens, now. Neither of them were as fast as I was, but both of them are FAR better people, more interesting than I was, and have had childhoods I would have traded for any day. If you’re still running in your 50’s, my advice is watch out. We build our cardiovascular system and strength in out late teens to early 30’s. No sense in trying to get faster after that. After 30’s you should be enjoying that cardiovascular platform you created in your 20’s and 30’s to get you through your 40’s, 50’s, 60’s.
Because I had a massive cardiovascular history, I sort of dominated sports and activities I played in my 30’s and 40’s. Ultimate frisbee, whitewater paddling, and surfing. But don’t work out in your 40’s and 50’s like you did in your 20’s and 30’s, with extended periods above 150,160 bpm. Your heart can take it, but your arterial system can’t. If you work out over 140 bpm at this age, you’re cooking your system. The runners that have died “he was in shape, he ran marathons” in their 50’s or had heart attaches was because they cooked their arterial system. Your arteries get brittle after age 40. Face it. We stop producing collagen after age 35. Your arteries, tendons, cartilage don’t have the same elasticity. You can go over 140 bpm, but don’t stay there. The increase in blood pressure that high hear rates have sort of slam the various lipoproteins carrying cholesterol through your system and can embed them in your arterial walls. You did not have much plaque build up in your 20’s. If you’re over 40, you do now to some degree. Age 56- in the past 6 years I frequently sleep in the car in poached slopeside condo spots, get up at 5 am and skin up to the top of the mountain (125 bpm avg) to get the fresh track powder run down on the snowboard. I surf big waves and wing foil at the beach down the street 3-5 times per week. I set a world record in a 1986 video game that NOBODY cares about. But my kids are my life and I doubt 5 minutes ever go by in a day where I don’t think about them or how proud of their lives and how they live and treat people. In my 20’s all I thought about was myself and my times (insignificant to everyone but me). I’m still having fun and kicking butt, but people need to come to terms with the fact that at age 40/50 your athletic relevance is OVER. I had a hard time coming to terms with that as you can probably tell. If you have kids, raising children that are a better version of yourself is not that hard. We know where we were limited and why. Support their athletics. Do what you need to do to stay happy by snowboarding and surfing or stuff like that, but don’t blow their events off to do something you want to do, like a track workout at age 45. Their athletic relevance is what’s important, not yours.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an increasingly popular form of aerobic exercise which includes bouts of high-intensity exercise interspersed with periods of rest. The health benefits, risks, and optimal design of...
Carroll O’connor was 46 years old when he began playing the role of Archie Bunker. Jean Stapleton was 48 years old when she began playing the role of Edith Bunker.
I love that fact. Back in the 1970s, a lot of 50-60 year olds looked like ancient, elderly people.
They had fought in WWII and worked in heavy industry while drinking and smoking. They weren't as obese as people today (even young people) but they looked old.
My great-grandfather looked so old when he passed away but he was only like 62.
I feel fantastic! No health issues and no medications or even supplements. When I was young Jack Lalanne was an idol. I remember at 20 looking around at my teammates and thinking, but how fit will you be at 60? I have another 46 months to get there and quite frankly looking forward to my 60s. I'm happier and more content than in my 20 and 30s. I couldn't do a set of 40 strict pullups back then, like I can now, that's for sure, but I was a faster runner of course.
I had a lifelong plan to stay fit. I never think about mortality, why even acknowledge it?, it's so far off. Maybe when I'm 100, I'll have to, but until then life is a blast- I wake up excited every morning. I'll circle the track twice this year in 2:16, which is good enough for me. I stay active with my teenage kids, travel, love my job and have a great marriage.
I definitely think I got lucky being born in '68; this has to be the best 100 years or so to be in this planet. I've had great aunts and uncles almost make it to 100, so decent genetics. Who knows and who cares? Life is just an adventure- enjoy and be happy.
I felt a huge change after turning 50. Hair wasn’t as full and face showing its age and also body slowing down. In my mid-40s, I could still break 16 for 5K, but in my mid-50s now I’m thrilled to run the 17’s. ..
I felt a huge change after turning 50. Hair wasn’t as full and face showing its age and also body slowing down. In my mid-40s, I could still break 16 for 5K, but in my mid-50s now I’m thrilled to run the 17’s. ..
I should hope so
You'd be surprised how many 50+ can run 17:xx. I ran 17:32 in the 5000m USAFT Masters in Sacramento when I was 54 and was about ninth. Ran a ton of 17.xx high in road races in mid-50s.
You'd be surprised how many 50+ can run 17:xx. I ran 17:32 in the 5000m USAFT Masters in Sacramento when I was 54 and was about ninth. Ran a ton of 17.xx high in road races in mid-50s.
How many are those guys are using TRT/HRT? Of course, they're not going to say anything about it & keep it relatively quiet.
About 10 yrs ago when I was activity involved in a local masters running club. One of the faster guys in the club (35xx for 10k) early 50s was using TRT (he ran mostly club races & local 5ks/10ks).
We worked out with the weights at the same gym together and became friends. He just flat out told me one day he was using testosterone gel & actually showed me one of the gel packs he had with in his gym.
He did tell me that he preferred his using TRT didn't get around the club. Lol.
Ask Bill Belichick lol. 20 something yr old women are dating and marrying men your age and older. What is a 20 something yr old guy gonna do? take her to starbucks?? Its 2025 look around you.
Bilichick is simply leading with wallet - net worth $72m & his twentysomething financee nothing (he bought her a $75k Porsche to drive to the gym).
She's eventually going to take him to the cleaners (imagine that. Lol). What would an attractive twentysomething former NFL cheerleader see in a overweight, balding, gruff 72 yr old man? 🤔....😆
If you're rich like Rupert Murdoch you can be an old shriveled prune and still attract much younger women but you probably wouldn't be posting here if that was the case.
63 here, and yes, best of many things is behind me. Married 35 yrs, kids grown with graduate degrees and on their own. I get more exercise now than ever, but not enough, losing some hair up top, no debt, set for retirement, working another year or so. The young women look great, even a lot of women in 50s look good to me! But, sex isn’t as good as body fails, things don’t work as well as they once did. I hope if I ever lose my wife, that I will be content with having female companions, not remarrying. At my age, I want my money to go to my kids and future grandkids, not left to a late in life wife. I also no longer want more stuff nor do I care about status, what others think, no longer care about having so much house, pretty much just want to travel, ski, run, bike and do nothing if the mood hits me.
