Things that suck about being an aging runner

I'll be 50 in Dec and still hit pr's since I first started running at age 33. I've just taken my first day off this last Monday since Memorial Day 06. I was never injured during that time, just wanted to take a few well deserved days off before training hard again to compete in the 50-59 age group. I'm hoping to set new all time pr's in the mile, 5k and marathon in my 50's. Yes it's still fun. The pr's are harder to come by but I'm healthy and still motivated. Life is good!

Pey wrote:

I'll be 50 in Dec and still hit pr's since I first started running at age 33. I've just taken my first day off this last Monday since Memorial Day 06. I was never injured during that time, just wanted to take a few well deserved days off before training hard again to compete in the 50-59 age group. I'm hoping to set new all time pr's in the mile, 5k and marathon in my 50's. Yes it's still fun. The pr's are harder to come by but I'm healthy and still motivated. Life is good!

You're an exception to the rule. The fact that you started running later in life helps, too.

Sadly, most people who have been training hard and racing since youth eventually see their running turn into what the OP describes.

I agree with the weight gain issue.

Extending my tapering and recovery periods have become issues, too. I used to get in three hard workouts a week, but now two is all I can handle.

My slowing down has had more to do with family and job demands than my aging.

How about the morning after every run having piriformis so bad you can hardly move for the first 10 minutes you get up. Same thing for after sitting at a desk the office for 8 hours. Never had this stuff in 28 years of running until now.

Evidently, aging also impacts spelling ability.

No shite to all of that!

The problem with having trained at a high level for so many years is that it takes so much more stimulus for your body to maintain a decent weight than if you'd never trained at all. I swear there is something in the thyroid or hypothalamus or whatever that makes you have to work that much harder. The people I know who are successful at keeping the weight down are the ones who can now diversify their training so that they do the same amount of aerobic minutes per week. They get on the pool and the bike to make up for what they can no longer do running wise.

I also hear a bunch of people my age (mid 40's) who pop ibuprofen like it's candy and I'm thinking that just can't be good for the digestive system.

Good to hear there are others out there in the same boat.

1. Try age-grading your results:

2. Being able to run at all is a bonus. I had to give up completely 7 years ago while still running close to 60 minutes for 10 miles. I'd love to be able to run a couple of miles at ANY pace.

3. Goes with the age! Why exhausting? Burn more calories in non-impact activities like rowing and cycling.

Then you CAN eat more.

4. Why are you getting injured? Hasn't your age and experience made you aware of what is causing the injuries?

5. See point 3.

If you are lucky enough to be able to run in your later years enjoy it. Compete with yourself and accept the changes.

Chicks hate on older guys too.

I used to train w/the Varsity guys...now I'm a back of the pack JV girl.

Here's a question though. When you run, do you envision yourself as you are now, or do you think of yourself back at a younger age when you were running tougher. I tend to picture myself the latter when I'm out running...

oh no wrote:

3. Fighting weight gain. In the younger days, diet meant nothing - I could (and often did) eat anything without consequence. Today, if I even contemplate one extra serving, BAM - 5 extra pounds pile on. If I let my diet slide for a full day or two, I'm a complete whale. Maintaining weight is a constant, never ending, and exhausting struggle.

This is the one that gets me. I read all these young guys on here calling every overweight person a glutton without realizing how good they have it. I run 70 mpw and count calories to get within 5 lbs of my weight in my early 20s, when I ate like a pig and did absolutely no exercise.

I definitely break down more than i used to. Things that I have done to combat this include

1- More recovery time- I only run three times a week, but I make them fairly intense-1 shorter speedwork, one longer speedwork, and one long run. In between I cross train lightly, or not at all.

2-Make sure i get enough sleep- Sleep is an amazing recovery aide- people should use it more

3-Vitamin supplements that are supposed to aide recovery (Optygen, Recovox, Nuform) and supplements that are supposed to strengthen immune system (Wellness) Contoversial yes. I use them. I breakdown less and get fewer colds than when i didnt. Placebo or not, it is effective

4- Stretch more

5- More fluid replacement after hard runs

6- Watching weight hard

All these things not only help running, butwill help overall longevity, something i didnt care about back in the days of 100 miles a week and 3000 calories a day

Im glad that at 50, after more than 30 years of running hard, i can still do it pretty intensly, albeit more slowly than before. I hope to continue on as long as I can. My current goal is to run a marathon with my 2 sons (8 and 3 years old)

great thread here:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2335768&page=0

lester I was thinking about that very same thread while reading this. I have tried a bunch of new things since that last thread earlier this year. Never give up!

oh no wrote:

3. Fighting weight gain. In the younger days, diet meant nothing - I could (and often did) eat anything without consequence. Today, if I even contemplate one extra serving, BAM - 5 extra pounds pile on. If I let my diet slide for a full day or two, I'm a complete whale. Maintaining weight is a constant, never ending, and exhausting struggle.

semi old guy wrote:

This is the one that gets me. I read all these young guys on here calling every overweight person a glutton without realizing how good they have it. I run 70 mpw and count calories to get within 5 lbs of my weight in my early 20s, when I ate like a pig and did absolutely no exercise.

Have you guys tried lifting weights?

oh no wrote:

1. Race times.

2. Always hurting.

3. Fighting weight gain.

4. Injuries.

5. Knowing that, no matter what I try or how hard I train, I have no hope of ever getting faster. The best I can hope for is to slow down the rate of decline.

The bottom line: young guys, enjoy running now, because it flat out sucks when you get older.

I'm 50 and still enjoy running after 32 years at it.

1. Age grading and runners rankings help. It also helps if you have come good competition in your age class. You have rivalries, but it's more commaradarie.

2. For some yes, other no. Get to the root of the problem (alignmnents, imbalances, etc.). Cross train.

3. Cross train, and watch your diet. I weigh 10-15 lbs more, but haven't slowed that much.

4. See #2.

5. Again, age grading, age group competition, and keeping in mind that if you had it in your youth, then you can still beat most everyone out there even with advancing age.

Jesus. I'm definitely going to kill myself when I turn 40. I admire that you have stuck with it. Mentally, I just can't deal with that.

Well THAT thread hurt...

really.

TxXC Coach wrote:

Here's a question though. When you run, do you envision yourself as you are now, or do you think of yourself back at a younger age when you were running tougher. I tend to picture myself the latter when I'm out running...

This is pretty funny. I usually run by myself early in the morning and I can definitely say that I'm in the delusional category. My mental image of myself when I'm out running is of a much younger me, just a little past my peak. Nothing that a couple more miles a week and some track work wouldn't cure.

So you can imagine my surprise when I eventually enter a race what a shock it is. It's almost as if I want to tell the person next to me that, in all seriousness, I should be with the lead pack...

1. Definitely! I can barely run a flat out mile at my best marathon pace.

2. I've got my share of aches, but I can usually run OK with them, although the day after "hard" runs can be pretty slow and sore.

3. Luckily, my weight is almost the same as it was many years ago. I still run a lot of miles, and I eat pretty well; but I think a lot of it is just genetic.

4. Injuries are definitely a challenge, but as I noted in #2, most of them have been manageable. I believe that if I just went out and ran, and didn't train to race, I would rarely be injured.

5. I take joy in trying to run faster than I have in the last year or two. This fall I've had a few races on road and xc courses that were my best in five years, so that's the closest thing I can experience to a PR.

TxXC Coach wrote:

"Here's a question though. When you run, do you envision yourself as you are now, or do you think of yourself back at a younger age when you were running tougher. I tend to picture myself the latter when I'm out running..."

Usually when I get lost in that daydream, I'll run past a storefront plate glass window, see my short, choppy stride in the reflection; and that will quickly snap me back to reality.

My non-running GF keeps me grounded. When I complain to her about how slow I've gotten, she likes to point out to me that I should be thankful I can still run, and I suppose that's the bottom line.