Runners in your 60's & 70's - How are you holding up?

Yes we are all old enough to have heard and seen it all. Our parents ate eggs, bacon, toast with butter every morning. I remember going to the doctors office with my mom and the doctor offering her a cigarette at the end. Now according to some, runners are doing damage by running. If I stop now will I live to be 100, but then I will be alive , but not living. To each their own.

Charlie, thanks again very much for the details.

Yesterday I was (probably falsely) concerned about eating enough for a hard workout today, and finished my portions by 2pm in the afternoon. Normally when that happens, I continue to eat extra until 6pm, which has held me back from being the weight that I want to be. Yesterday I thought, aha this would be a good time to try OMAD.

So I did that, no more food after 2pm. I didn't really get all that hungry the rest of the day and I slept well last night. This morning I had a really good workout and my heart rate recoveries appeared to be lower than usual, which makes sense as there was probably less residual food in my system, due to it having more time to digest. My weight was slightly lower than it would have been otherwise, another positive result.

Today I'm trying the same thing again.

How did you lower your A1C to more normal levels, i.e. low 5?

I am doing I.F. mostly 16/8 and hope that will lower it. I was around your level and my aim.is lower A1C to sub. 5 level.

The OMAD people seem to.have lower A1C, but I am still very active with basketball, hill walking and swimming. I am mostly 2 meals a day, 12 noon and 8pm.

Did you know around 30% of Americans are pre diabetic ? That is a scary stat.

Ghost in China

(1:50.49 for 20 miles road, 1978, Finchley 20, England).

vladimir wrote:

Yes we are all old enough to have heard and seen it all. Our parents ate eggs, bacon, toast with butter every morning. I remember going to the doctors office with my mom and the doctor offering her a cigarette at the end. Now according to some, runners are doing damage by running. If I stop now will I live to be 100, but then I will be alive , but not living. To each their own.

Eggs, bacon, toast with butter every morning... It seems you have/had well fed parents. I tend to believe the healthiest people had much simpler foods on their table. Mostly carbs, then fat, and protein was a holiday thing.

the past wrote:

vladimir wrote:

Yes we are all old enough to have heard and seen it all. Our parents ate eggs, bacon, toast with butter every morning. I remember going to the doctors office with my mom and the doctor offering her a cigarette at the end. Now according to some, runners are doing damage by running. If I stop now will I live to be 100, but then I will be alive , but not living. To each their own.

Eggs, bacon, toast with butter every morning... It seems you have/had well fed parents. I tend to believe the healthiest people had much simpler foods on their table. Mostly carbs, then fat, and protein was a holiday thing.

Where do you get "mostly carbs" when three of the four foods are eggs, bacon and butter? Or were you saying something else?

What kind of "serious injury" are you talking about? Acute musculoskeletal trauma? Osteoarthritis? Cardiovascular problems?

I think serious injury is a word you need to define when applied to a sport like distance running. What you may think is serious to one athlete may not be to another. Even the medical community can be split on what type of athletic injuries can be interpreted as "serious."

Btw, you're spot on with running & knee health: There's very good data that a high-impact activity like running prevents OA in an otherwise healthy joint. However, any previous major joint trauma or surgery predisposes the joint to degenerative changes leading to OA which running seems to exacerbate in these cases.

In addition, running reduces the risk of osteoporosis, which is another growing epidemic in this country.

I was just taking a shot at what we have been told doesn’t always stand the test of time. I was pointing out that many of our parents & grandparents ate items that we are now told to avoid. It will go full circle- live your life as you feel is correct.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

If I thought I was damaging my health I would stop. The way I figure I am more likely to exercise at what I enjoy. Besides I like competing and I am pretty good at it.

I am glad for you. If you listen to your body and how it recovers from hard racing and this tells you its no problem you just might be an anomaly. Keep on doing what you are doing.

If you say I can't stand the idea of not racing and competing, then you are stuck and not really listening to your body.

Most of bodies over 60 don't recover well after hard racing and are prone to increasing injury. Cross training is the smart way to go.

Hey, I'm not causing this, I'm just telling you what happens.

I'm not a mean person, but the effects of aging are real, and what the body needs, should not be dismissed too quickly. Don't let all the praise for beating father time cloud your judgement. Older people break down from hard racing and don't fully recover.

vladimir wrote:

I was just taking a shot at what we have been told doesn’t always stand the test of time. I was pointing out that many of our parents & grandparents ate items that we are now told to avoid. It will go full circle- live your life as you feel is correct.

Will smoking come back full circle? Sometimes we learn some stuff is just not that good.

its all pointless wrote:

Older people break down from hard racing and don't fully recover.

I don't agree with your statement.

Hard racing doesn't case people to break down, regardless of age.

Being unhealthy, lazy and close minded can cause people to break down.

Injuries cause people to break down, and running through injuries can cause them to increase.

I agree with being well rounded, but there are many better ways then riding a mountain bike

Your welcome . Good luck and please do keep me posted!

Here is my old man daily pace 40 percent of mhr barefoot on the sand for 50 minutes a day. Easy on my heart, blood pressure, cortisol levels as well as low impact.

https://youtu.be/MZVxPEpG-WI

I read with interest your comment about Osteoarthritis. At 58 and running for about 40 years, my knees have been really hurting over the last year or so. I was never a high-mileage person and over the last 10 years, probably didn't average 30 mpw. That was on 5 days a week. I have had hyrolonic acid (sp) shots (the lubricant Eufflexa) but that offers only temporary relief. I think one's genes, more than anything, affects the ability to keep running into your 60's and beyond .

Ghost1 wrote:

How did you lower your A1C to more normal levels, i.e. low 5?

I am doing I.F. mostly 16/8 and hope that will lower it. I was around your level and my aim.is lower A1C to sub. 5 level.

The OMAD people seem to.have lower A1C, but I am still very active with basketball, hill walking and swimming. I am mostly 2 meals a day, 12 noon and 8pm.

Did you know around 30% of Americans are pre diabetic ? That is a scary stat.

Ghost in China

(1:50.49 for 20 miles road, 1978, Finchley 20, England).

I posted some diet changes up thread, but more whole wheat, whole grain, salmon, etc., and less processed food. Just basic stuff that they've been telling us for 45-50 year years already.

Charlie,

I would benefit from some barefoot grass runs. Thinking of joining you in Portland for the 5k.

Igy

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Charlie,

I would benefit from some barefoot grass runs. Thinking of joining you in Portland for the 5k.

Igy

Hey Igy it should be fun,here is the Link

Charlie,

Thanks. Already download the entry form. Ran it twice in my mid-50s. Always had a good time, it was a two day meet back then. I doubled, one year ran the 10k one day, 5k the next. It may be my only chance to do a track 5k this season. So, I’ll see how the next week or two goes.

Igy

Some days I feel crushed that I only started running at 27 and that I really missed out my best years. Often think to myself 'How great would I be now, if i'd had ten years of aerobic training behind me?'

This thread makes me feel pretty stupid about feeling like that, with so many of you running such inspirational times and distances at over double my current age.

Looking forward to many more years!

No reason to look back, does no good. Look forward, that is your destiny.