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

YMMV wrote:

Now that I eat 95-99% whole animal foods only, my health and running are the best they have ever been. There is no way I could have done at 23 what I now do easily at 63.

Cool story bro.

all myth wrote:

YMMV wrote:

Now that I eat 95-99% whole animal foods only, my health and running are the best they have ever been. There is no way I could have done at 23 what I now do easily at 63.

Cool story bro.

It actually is.

YMMV wrote:

all myth wrote:

Cool story bro.

It actually is.

settle down gimli

YMMV wrote:

all myth wrote:

Cool story bro.

It actually is.

That's a lot of meat. Do you eat Rocky Mountain oysters? Would you? Would you if you had to choose between that and a vegies all day?

Charlie wrote:

62 2019 may 16 131 lbs running 50 minutes a day mostly jogging but can still run relatively fast sub 6 mile and sub 20 5k

Nice mile, Charlie, and getting to 131 pounds. May I ask how tall you are?

I use portion control, and am interested in your use of the OMAD. Do you follow that plan every day?

I was fine running 40 minutes a day, 11 miles on hills on the weekends, then all of a sudden at age 69 got a twinge on my knee and had to stop running 3 or 4 years ago. I swam for a year but didn't enjoy it that much, plus the inconvenience, chlorine, crowded pools, and didn't like the different type of exercise. I use a bike wind trainer off and on but the movement is somewhat restricted, i.e. sitting etc. I'm currently doing 90 minutes a day on a ski erg machine at age 73, usually around a 120 heart rate, but twice a week in the 170 to 200 range. The knee and leg pain has disappeared.

Call me Chubsy Usbee wrote:

Armstrongdies wrote:

Do you really think if there is a gene or genes that it is currently a top priority to identify?

Yes, the skinny gene.

I doubt most with these outstanding training regiments and superb performances are over 150 pounds .

Super impressive , nonetheless .

Kudos to all still out there!

I'm a solid 165-170 and have been since 20.

67 years, 69,000 miles, 52 years of running, now only 4 to 6 miles each day, 5 days per week. That's all my body can take. 24 hours is required for recovery- no less. Glucosamine fixed my knees; a good PT fixed a torn hamstring and changing shoes fixed achilles problems. Basic four food groups diet, 2.05 weight to height ratio-same as high school. Past 7 months since retiring my age group rating for 5k is rising a half percent per month, now at 77.23%. Only change is moving more mileage to faster medium length intervals rather than steady runs. Fully expect to reach 80% in six months.

Thanks that was a FUN mile!

I still am 5'7"

OMAD is hard for some people to do and easy for others. OMAD is easy for me to follow. I do shift the 2 hour window now and then and always finish eating at least 4 hours before bed.

If I follow you correctly - you were always in the ~130 lb range and then stopped running gaining all that weight back? If so, what made you stop running at that time?

130 is really light, even on a 5-8 frame. In the Master's club I belong to all of the faster guys 5-8 and under weigh about your weight - maybe a few at 140 tops. There's considerbly more heavier guys in that height range who are consequently much slower and seem to be injured more frequently (myself included in this group).

Wasn't Whitlock pretty short and had a racing weight less than 130 lbs? And this speedster tearing up the roads; Gene Dykes, looks short and very thin also.

"Thin is in" for Master's racing wrote:

If I follow you correctly - you were always in the ~130 lb range and then stopped running gaining all that weight back? If so, what made you stop running at that time?

130 is really light, even on a 5-8 frame. In the Master's club I belong to all of the faster guys 5-8 and under weigh about your weight - maybe a few at 140 tops. There's considerbly more heavier guys in that height range who are consequently much slower and seem to be injured more frequently (myself included in this group).

Wasn't Whitlock pretty short and had a racing weight less than 130 lbs? And this speedster tearing up the roads; Gene Dykes, looks short and very thin also.

When I was running seriously about 130 but I have a higher body fat now at 130 cause I have lost some muscle since early 40s. The weight gain was really a result of a crappy diet late night snacks high fat high sugar processed foods. This crappola food is addicting . Glad I quit eating crap feel way better.

I quit running because I had a tachycardia event near the end of a 5 mile killer run. I was running a route I often ran in my early 40s and trying to hit the same mile splits . It was an unusually warm day. At 4.5 miles my heart just took off beating but not pumping. SVT I guess . I did a soft landing and passed out even had the presence of mind to stop my stop watch;) My heart beat normalized I got up off the ground restarted the stop watch took about 10 running steps and then stopped. Walked the last half mile and quit running. Restarted with the idea that I was going to take a more relaxed approach cause I really missed running. So far so good!

I think Gene is about 5' 10" or so.

Holy cow! You guys talking weights of about 130 to 140 pounds for a 5' 8" masters male - that sounds very light to me, lighter than i have ever been. I weigh in at 152 pounds, 5'7", and always thought that was just about my ideal weight (within maybe 5 pounds). I lift a bit - mostly lower body - and do a lot of conditioning so that bulks me up, but i am truly surprised to hear Master runners in the running club mentioned that light. It makes me wonder how much faster one would be in that weight range.

Coyote Montane wrote:

Random old person here, 5K PR 15:11, HM 1:11; have run 40+ years (minus a few from injury) and XC skied another 30,000 or maybe 40,000 miles (although we count by hours in that sport, so who knows).

Since turning 50 here's a summary of annual best 5K and HM times:

50 - 17:23, 1:19

51 - 17:01, 1:18

52 - 18:06, injured for 10 months of the year

53 - 17:42, 1:20

54 - 17:17, 1:19

55 - 17:18, 1:20

56 - 17:52, 1:19 (also retired from xc skiing up to half the year)

57 - 17:43, 1:20

58 - 17:50, 1:24 (high A1C, changed diet, then fell and got injured!)

59 - 17:35, 1:18

60 - 17:27, 1:19

61 - ??:??, 1:17

So not even sure what my point is, other than this is how I'm holding up. The diet change, move to altitude 5 years ago where I live high train moderate, and race low, plus some training tweaks in the past year+ have helped maintain fitness and consistency. At last for an erstwhile scrub.

Coyote...forgive me if you have already answered this...I saw in a couple of posts that you changed your diet and that it helped your blood profile...as well as your running...but what did you actually do to change your diet? Many thanks...

PS Your times are sensational by the way.

Charlie, thanks for the feedback. What kind of foods do you eat on the OMAD?

Charlie wrote:

I quit running because I had a tachycardia event near the end of a 5 mile killer run. I was running a route I often ran in my early 40s and trying to hit the same mile splits . It was an unusually warm day. At 4.5 miles my heart just took off beating but not pumping. SVT I guess . I did a soft landing and passed out even had the presence of mind to stop my stop watch;) My heart beat normalized I got up off the ground restarted the stop watch took about 10 running steps and then stopped. Walked the last half mile and quit running.

That happened to me about 15 (?) years ago after doing a nice 19 mile run over a hilly course with some relatively short 15 to 20 percent grades on a country road. I had done 17 and 18 miles on the previous two weekends. I gradually increased the pace throughout, changed into the finish as usual and felt great - gradually slowed down to a walk, turned around and my heart rate took off, which scared the heck out of me.

I kept walking around back and forth but nothing was working. I got in the car to drive home and was having a really hard time to keep focusing, think I ran a stop sign about a quarter mile from my house because I didn't remember stopping, then missed the turn and had to drive an extra block to get home. I laid down in the shower for an hour drinking water and juices, then got up, dried off, got in bed and covered up, my heart rate still racing.

Gradually my heart rate came back down to normal.

I was fine after that, kept running, and it never happened again.

A few weeks later a nurse friend said I was probably just dehydrated, which made sense.

Thus in retrospect I should have drunk much more and laid down on the ground, instead of walking around.

PTF - here's what I posted in the 50+ thread the other week

Diet changes -

Avoid most sweets, most of the time. Eat low glycemic carbs instead of high glycemic (whole wheat, brown rice, whole fruits and vegetables). Cut back on sugar in tea, often using Stevia or nothing. Go for high fiber foods with no additives. Eat egg whites (about 5 days a week) and infrequently whole eggs. Eat even more salads. Lots of fish, esp. salmon and tuna. Not much red meat, but maybe once every two weeks. Alcohol consumption about the same, a drink or two about every other day. Eat/cook with unsaturated oils. Cut out cheese and ice cream almost completely, but some cheese on occasion. Don't each much candy, cake, or cookies. Chips only once a week or so, instead of every other day.

As for height and weight per other's discussion - 5'9.5" and about 140, my weight hasn't fluctuated much in 3 years. Before changing my diet I was 150-155, with race weight at 150 but felt that that I had to "work" at it (cutting back on meals and such) to get there. Now I eat just whatever and weight seems more stable.

Dykes is about my height, or maybe a bit taller. Looks to be in the 135-140 range

I am 60+ and I used to run and race a great deal but I can't understand other old guys still married to running. There are so many active and athletic things to do why are so many stuck on running.

Doing one sport at the extreme at this age is just not smart. Just move on and stop trying to hold on to something that isn't in your best interest.

There is a wide range of great things out there, sailing, swimming, cycling, hiking, tennis, golf and others. Broaden your interests people.

^Hey, some people can still do it, and do it well. Besides I find most of the activities you mentioned less taxing and in some cases boring. I live on a golf course and only use it for running.

its all pointless wrote:

I am 60+ and I used to run and race a great deal but I can't understand other old guys still married to running. There are so many active and athletic things to do why are so many stuck on running.

Doing one sport at the extreme at this age is just not smart. Just move on and stop trying to hold on to something that isn't in your best interest.

There is a wide range of great things out there, sailing, swimming, cycling, hiking, tennis, golf and others. Broaden your interests people.

Haha, know you're trolling, but I guess that's the thing. I'm mid 40s and wonder why I'm out there Sunday running 20 miles. I could be at the coast surfing, yet I'm worried about running a good marathon time. As if it really matters. But I enjoy it. It's actually better than fighting for waves with hordes of people in crappy blown out surf. Golf, pickleball, and cycling just don't interest me. I want to run. Could I keep this up at 60-70? Honestly, I don't think so. I think that's why top 60-70 competitive runners are new to the sport.

J73 Afib incident account was interesting .

Typical day eating between 2-4 or 3-5pm:

1 cup of nuts half walnuts half almonds,

Large salad with various cruciferous veggies maybe some salmon or chicken ocassionally grass fed red meat and always apples cider vinegar+ good olive oil

about a half hour or so later I eat my carbs

beans a small loaf of bread I remove the soft part and just eat the crust

oatmeal with frozen organic strawberries

Also eat eggs on a regular basis and sometimes cheese

You might find autophagy interesting

Good video on OMAD

https://youtu.be/Gm626MgpveI

Thanks very much.

My weight is good and has actually come down a bit...127-128 lbs at 5'7"...but cholesterol has recently shot up to 260...so I was interested in how you got yours to drop so much.

I'm eating a lot of butter, cheese, eggs, red meat etc...so that may be the culprit.

Thanks again.