Over 50 - How to increase stride length?

I posted this two years ago and it's still my position with the following caveats.

If you are 50+ and a 1:20+ half marathoner, you're in the top 1% and can disregard my comments about avoiding the marathon. (insert smiley face here)

That said, I recently had an epiphany about stride length that might be helpful to older runners. I have several chronic foot injuries that twinge occasionally when doing speedwork. When this happens, I subconsciously adjust my foot strike, push off, and stride to avoid the pain. I suddenly realized that this was hindering my stride length... not much, but then seconds count on the track.

To test this theory, I went to the track with a roll of athletes tape and six pair of shoes. After combinations of taping my arches, toes, and ankles and experimenting with pushing off hard in different shoes, I found combinations that improved my 400m rep times by about 4 seconds. I also discovered that in spite of my leg exercises, I lack the muscle strength and endurance to maintain this harder push off for the entire 400m.

Subsequently, I've replaced the air squats in my routine with weighted squats using two 60lb dumbbells and the jump squats with weighted jump squats with two 25lb dumbbells. I'm meeting a strength coach next week who wants me to start doing some form of weighted bench steps/plyometrics... not sure exactly want he wants me to do yet. I'm hoping this will take my track times to a new level.

I'm mid 50s guy and there is a LOT of junk in this thread posted by obsessive gym-rat and workout-addicted folk. I've done exactly the training I did in earlier years, just a little slower and with longer recovery times after races. As an earlier poster noted, all of the rest of the noise is pure silliness.

All old guys will end up with the old guy shuffle because it's their most efficient form for covering miles as they lose muscle mass. If you're much over 50 and running seriously at all, you're in the top 1% out there already. For years and years I was a pure mid-packer and now I often finish in the top 2 or 3 in most any local race I enter, at almost any length. It's attrition.

Stop wasting time on obsessing and get in some miles while your body still has the ability.

There is a truism in aviation that says that there are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots. For those older trotters who are pushing speedwork and lots of stretching and whatnot, not smart.

There are old runners, there are bold runners; there are no old, bold runners.

JimmyDoolittle wrote:

There is a truism in aviation that says that there are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots. For those older trotters who are pushing speedwork and lots of stretching and whatnot, not smart.

There are old runners, there are bold runners; there are no old, bold runners.

Doolittle cute handle but oh so wrong. Jimmy D was BOLD as in Medal of Honor one way bombing ditch the plane bold and he made it to 96.

Hiking down really steep hills keeps my legs bouncy and I am 61. I mean STEEP as in one false move and you slip onto your butt. I am pretty sure this builds eccentric strength that translates to running really well.

The only possible exception is people like me: runners who took 20 years off from competition (age 26-45, in my case) and then began to train seriously again. Never say never. I hit a heart rate of 190 in my workout yesterday--the highest in 4 years--and am fine today.

But yes: the margins are much thinner. I got faster every year from 45 to 51. Then things began to change. Injuries began to happen. It's all about the connective tissue and joints. That's 90% of the problem. Simply slowing down, gradually, is nothing worth worrying about; avoiding the two-month and six-month debilitating injury is the key.

So yeah, we sort of agree.

RacistX wrote:

54 here. If you want to 'increase your stride length' (without compromising your cadence) then you have to get FITTER. The stuff posted above is nonsense.

This is the correct answer.

YMMV wrote:

skate- what plyometrics do you do and how do you prevent injury (other than the usual build up slowly, etc)?

I add to them to end of speed workouts, but only once a week.

2x 50-60 meter bounding- count bounds, trying to get as far as possible.

2x 50-60 meter power skips

2x single leg hops- at least 30 meters-counting hops and noting any difference between legs

Couple sets of double legged frog jumps, 7-10 for distance.

Sometimes finish with a couple sets of 30 fast paced tuck jumps.

I run low mileage and have at least one if not two cross training days, rower/cycle

Core strengthing exercises and agility work seem to work for me in helping to prevent injuries. If you feel some tweak or strain, immedietly stop running and take a couple days off. Not possible to push through the aches and pains like when I was younger.

If you notice an imbalance or weakness in a certain body part, like hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, etc. Make sure to focus on that and use the Fitness center to isolate and build strength

What SoCal Pete said.

Jiamamanbgaga wrote:

I'm mid 50s guy and there is a LOT of junk in this thread posted by obsessive gym-rat and workout-addicted folk. I've done exactly the training I did in earlier years, just a little slower and with longer recovery times after races. As an earlier poster noted, all of the rest of the noise is pure silliness.

All old guys will end up with the old guy shuffle because it's their most efficient form for covering miles as they lose muscle mass. If you're much over 50 and running seriously at all, you're in the top 1% out there already. For years and years I was a pure mid-packer and now I often finish in the top 2 or 3 in most any local race I enter, at almost any length. It's attrition.

Stop wasting time on obsessing and get in some miles while your body still has the ability.

Over 50 & running competitively/seriously is more like the top one-tenth percent! There are far more people over 50 that recreational jog, fitness run & occasionally run a race (for fun). Many incorporate running with other forms of exercise (e.g., weight training, cycling, swimming, aerobics, etc.).

Many of us long-time competitive runners with significant injury histories are lucky to be running at all in our 50s. So, stride length is least important aspect to be concerned with, as it's difficult to improve with aging anyway. Sometimes shuffle stepping is the natural course of aging for a veteran runner...who would have thought, Lol.

This really is a nonsensical thread for over 50 runners on something that will "eventually" affect ALL aging runners and can't be changed. Father time can have a sick sense of humor and plays no favorites when it comes to the aging process.

Btw, this issue isn't fretted about on the 50+ master training forum...no surprises there.

i'm 51, so I get to comment! Increase in stride length will just happen naturally if you start incorporating plyos, strength training, drills, strides, hill repeats. Gotta get into this stuff gradually, and systematically, otherwise injury risk is high. If you do it wisely, you may actually be less prone to injury than if you just keep running (competitively) without doing some of this stuff. Pete Magill's stuff is great. I got a lot out of the book Strength And Conditioning for Endurance Running by Richard Blagrove, as well. If you want to be highly competitive, I think this is the way you've got to go as you get older.

1) Short steep grass hills done with big rest. This is NOT an aerobic workout. Start small with your sessions and work up the number of reps over time.

Fast sprints

Cherry pickers (bounding)

Frog leaps

2) Hip flexibility exercises. There are many. Even hurdle step overs if you have access to them can be helpful. Again, start at a low volume and work up.

There's a chance--only a chance, but still--that I'll be able to run in the next year or two, after 40+ years of injury. This thread is gold for me.

Thanks to all.

PS--My suggestions, but only as a coach, not from personal experience: reverse lunges and (eventually) Bulgarian split squats.

I agree that hip flexors is one of the big keys. At 52, the flexibility is the key to comfortable extension of stride length, however you can get there. For me, slow deliberate exercises and stretching makes a big difference. I run about 55-60 per week and nothing improved my speed more than 20-30 min of slow stretching, and basic drills.

I agree there are many factors more important than stride length for older runners. In fact, it might not even make the top ten, but it still is a factor. Studies show that stride length declines faster with age than cadence or other foot impact variables. (See attached study.) That said, it's still a factor to consider, since stride can be limited by some variables... hip flexor tightness that restricts range of motion, plantar pain that inhibits push off, or running bent over at the waist, which restricts knee lift and thus stride. Yet all of these issues are relatively easy to address.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2564302/

skate- thanks for all that. Reminds me of when I was you age and able to bounce around a bit still. I turned 50, ran 59/2:10 then my achilles blew up. I recovered enough to run easy mileage, but regaining my "hops" has been elusive at 60+. Just glad to be upright and mobile at this point I guess.

Skate- thanks for all that. Reminds me of when I was you age and able to bounce around a bit still. I turned 50, ran 59/2:10 then my achilles blew up. I recovered enough to run easy mileage, but regaining my "hops" has been elusive at 60+. Just glad to be upright and mobile at this point I guess.

Jiamamanbgaga wrote:

I'm mid 50s guy and there is a LOT of junk in this thread posted by obsessive gym-rat and workout-addicted folk. I've done exactly the training I did in earlier years, just a little slower and with longer recovery times after races. As an earlier poster noted, all of the rest of the noise is pure silliness.

All old guys will end up with the old guy shuffle because it's their most efficient form for covering miles as they lose muscle mass. If you're much over 50 and running seriously at all, you're in the top 1% out there already. For years and years I was a pure mid-packer and now I often finish in the top 2 or 3 in most any local race I enter, at almost any length. It's attrition.

Stop wasting time on obsessing and get in some miles while your body still has the ability.

thank you for this; serious Q: is there a way to avoid or at least largely retard loss of muscle?

TRT

That's the buzzword these days; low-T centers are cropping up everywhere in the U.S. Some are even promoted by retired football players (imagine that, lol).

At the gym I cross train at several middle-aged acquaintences of mine over the yrs have revealed their use of TRT (some even giving out business cards from the low-T center, lol). At the master running club I belong to, things are a little more discrete (though a few have admitted to it over the last couple of years...as if we didn't suspect it in the first place, lol).

As hormonal replacement therapy for older men & women becomes increasingly popular, this is sure to be a hotly debated issue for those that compete in endurance sports. But for those that don't compete, just power down as they're not cheating anyone out of anything.