Are you surprised by your age?

You do write great posts and I enjoy reading them. You certainly are right.

I like to think I am balanced but maybe I was just describing the person I hope to be. If my wife passed, who knows. Who really knows how they will be until they really experience a great loss. I know my wife would want me to move on and enjoy life.

In 2007 I was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. PSA 250+. Prostate cancer is very survivable if caught early, not so much if already spread like mine. Been on hormone treatment ever since. 10 years ago I started running, partly because of hormone treatment side effects. Many miles and 27 marathons later, including 4 Boston marathons I'm still alive with a PSA of 0.01. Yes I am surprised by my age.

61 and have the same thoughts, mentality, sense of humor, sexual appetite as I did in 30's. I sometimes have some brief anxiety attacks when I cannot remember what I did in my 20's or 30's etc, basically where did life go by so fast. I still remember lyrics to songs from the 70's, all my friends from the past, old girlfriends, all my dogs, all my cars, past jobs but tough to comprehend I only have 15-20 good years left. Sometimes I worry about when Alzheimers is going to kick in, will I know it has kicked in? If my wife dies will I die alone? Will my kids come to visit. One reality check is how many friends my age are dying off.

Had health problems early on and thought I'd be lucky to reach 60. Started running in HS and everything seemed to change; got stronger and life's been good until last year. Three surgeries and

a pinched sciatic nerve last year took what feels like 20 years off my life. Looking in a mirror is a horror story for me now. I'll be lucky to reach 70, 18 months from now. Really enjoy your running/jogging while you can.

I turned 40 last Autumn.

I'm neither old nor young...

While I was forced to accept and understand death from a very young age (i went to my first funeral at 3 and went to at least one funeral per year until hitting my 30s), I've accepted that I'll probably die alone. For some people, the meaningless and pointlessness of existence gives them essentially carte blanche to fully embrace life and live in the moment, for me it had the opposite effect...That is to say, since it's all so empty anyway, why bother doing anything?

at least there's running.

Boy, that's worth thinking about... Good ones!

I'd hope i would move on, too. There's just no way of knowing.

But what i don't want to do now is go through life taking for granted those i care about and enjoying those things that give me joy. Another words, knowing that we are all fading (that vast sadness) has made me feel that our time together is that much more important, and try not to let it slip away. As you said, it could happen suddenly and unexpectedly, and i try to figure that in, too.

Good stuff to consider. Got me thinking i should be treating time as even more preciously than i have.

Take care and good talking with you.

I'm 57 now. When we were cocky 25-year olds, my buddies and I would say things like, "Well - I'll probably stop doing races when I can't run such-and-such a time..." And then the standards kept changing as I got older. I'm grateful to be able to put in a few 35 mile weeks, and while I'm so much slower than I used to be, I get such a kick out of being able to run an occasional race and till compete. Yeah - I don't mind being this old, but the years sure have flown by.

[quote]45 yesterday wrote:

I just can't compute that people in important positions (politicians etc) are in many cases younger than me.

I'm 57 and that thing you said about politicians, etc. cracked me up. I feel the same way. I haven't had a supervisor that was older than me in about 20 years.

I hear that.

Old depends on your health span.

For example if your health span is 100 years then 66 is NOT OLD. That is you would still have 33 good years left.

But wait there is some beef on this bone

For the last 4 years (just shy of 64) I have worked on improving my health .

Results:

-HbA1C 5.7 down to between 5.0/5.1

- Fasting Insulin 4.9 down to 3.2

-Blood pressure 13x/8x down to 115/75

-Weight 180 down to 129

-Triglycerides 80 down to 40

-Lipids way better based on the ION Mobility blood test exact particles size and number

-Seborrheic Keratosis my back was covered in them now only have a couple.

-Resolved cold extremities and tingling hands and feet

- Mood way less anxiety way more relaxed

-Cognition as good if not better

The big mistake most older runners make is relying too much on running for good health.

Example , a group of older runners who are now in their mid 70s ,I have known for 20 years.

In their 50s they were in great shape just by running. Now they were all in sad shape. They still try to do the same workouts. They think running is the main RX . It can be a piece of the puzzle at best. Afib, arthritis , Neurodegeneration, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and on and on.

I still run and consider running part of my health span strategy but I do not take a traditional approach to running . My race times are not great but my primary objective is health span not age graded PRs.

The big lie we runners tell ourselves is if we can get fit and run fast we must be healthy.

So what I do to get these results is pretty easy NOW but took a lot of trial and error.

I believe most runners who want to maximize health span can do so on their own initiative . The information is out there .

No I am not selling anything nor am I giving specific advice. One sure sign of decline is a negative closed mind. See that on here all the time and I will not waste my time replying to the negative Neds.

Finally there are no guarantees . Accepting and being ok with this reality is key to getting the most out of our last quarter.

64. The only thing that is changing, almost perfectly in line with the AG tables, is running speed. Otherwise I feel and think about the same as I have since I was what -- 30?

Four kids and a career didn't change much.

Well over 40...it's funny when I think how breaking 16 for 5k is good....then I think about 10 years prior when that was marathon pace :(

kids make you old wrote:

I’m 38 and feel old AF. I feel like my 30s flew by in a haze of babies and toddlers and work. I also had my first kid at 30 and now have 3 of them. I actually suspect once my kids are older, I will feel younger, primarily because I will sleep through the night and they will be somewhat self sufficient. Kids under age 6 are a ton of work.

I'm 36 and feel the same way. Had my first one at 29 and it has been a blur since. I love them and feel like I have grown a lot as a man since I have become a father, but my running has suffered. Was 150# in college when running, hovered between 155-160# for a number of years after, and once I had kids I shot up to 180#. I do lift a bit more, and still run about 30 miles per week, but running is a lot harder.

To posters over 50, what is your outlook left on life? I have worry that once I get above a certain age I will be depressed because I am not young (mid to late life crisis), but maybe the thought of it is worse than the actual thing.

Yeah, I'm already 32. Or is that 96? Nah, I think I'm 58. Or am I 16? Oh, just forget it. I certainly have.

I turned 50 two weeks ago - ran 20:06 for 3 miles that morning. I only run 15 miles per week, 3 miles at a time so I'm pretty happy with that. One year ago, I was 30 pounds heavier, not running and not liking myself. I decided to get control of my sh*t. The difference a year and attitude adjustment can make....

I am surprised by my age, when I talk to myself I still feel 20 somethingish.

Turning 60 later this year. Started running competitively in 8th grade - ran for college team and raced a ton afterwards.

It blows my mind. I've done well in life, mostly by showing up and having some good luck, but I can't believe I'm staring 60 in the face.

I'm as close to 40 as I am to 80. I don't feel 60, but 40 was a long time ago! The numbers don't lie.

Good thread!

Dropping Out wrote:

Less extreme than the rest of this thread, but I'm 25 and can't seem to shake my 20/21 temperment. My instincts tell me to act the same as I did back then but sometimes lucidity comes in and I feel like I'm not acting in a socially acceptable manner. Good example is I go to see my old xc team and end up chatting with the freshmen. I fall into speaking with them as peers and tell them about all sorts of seedy stuff, only to suddenly realize I'm actually 7+ years older than them and that I might seem creepy.

Grow the F@ck up.

Kids are bloody hard, but worth it. You have my sympathies. 50+ is good. Better. Not decrepit yet, and life to live.

Born in 60 wrote:

Turning 60 later this year. Started running competitively in 8th grade - ran for college team and raced a ton afterwards.

It blows my mind. I've done well in life, mostly by showing up and having some good luck, but I can't believe I'm staring 60 in the face.

I'm as close to 40 as I am to 80. I don't feel 60, but 40 was a long time ago! The numbers don't lie.

Good thread!

Unless someone has an illness or chronic injury it's very common for people to think they look and act much younger. Maybe runners do look younger.