Over 50 - How to increase stride length?

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.

+1

Exactly. Late 50s with decades of running and I haven't changed the foundation of my workouts much. I've had to cut back on mileage, speedwork and number of days running replaced by some good workouts on a spin bike (running the next day after a spin session feels great for the legs as oppossed to back to back run days like I could get away with in my younger years).

And you're right that attrition is a big factor for aging competitive runners. About half of the guys I ran and competed with 30 yrs ago are no longer running presently. Most due to chronic injuries including some OA cases that required joint replacements. A few others I talked to said they couldn't handle the age-related slowdown and just quit cold turkey. Many of the chronic lnjury cases and joint replacement recipients have moved on to competitive & club cycling.

And as the saying goes: What do you call a highly competitive cyclist over 50?....A former runner. Lol.

Damn...I'm 3 years younger than you and I'd blow up into a million pieces attempting that workout. LOL. I could do that stuff about 20 years ago, but I haven't found the fountain of youth a lot of you guys have seemed to have found. I've never seem so many middle-aged dudes on this thread doing workouts like they were back in their 30s...are you dudes "really" middle agers & Seniors, and don't you ever get injured? I'm an injury-prone old stiff who's running on barrowed time and feel about as disgruntled on this thread as the "Top Guns" 50+ Masters Forum thread....who could have imagined.

58 Is Great wrote:

To all you guys eating starchy foods, not doing yoga, deep massage or not wearing Hokas:

Sorry if I kick up some mud or dust as I blow past ya.

One other thing: "You are only as old as the women you feel."

You're not by chance that "DFF" character that hijacked the Vegas shooting thread, are you?

Most American drills and plyos are geared towards power and speed. Kenyan drills are geared towards resiliency and efficiency, and seem more appropriate for older runners in particular, since they don't have the risky explosiveness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR2MyqYs1pA

(don't watch the white boys lol)

Older Budwiser wrote:

Most American drills and plyos are geared towards power and speed. Kenyan drills are geared towards resiliency and efficiency, and seem more appropriate for older runners in particular, since they don't have the risky explosiveness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR2MyqYs1pA

(don't watch the white boys lol)

C'mon man....that's silly; those are flexible younsters! I'd certainly injure something trying to do stuff like that at my age! It takes me all morning just to loosen up after waking up "stiff" as a board. I can only run every other day now due to decades of running and tens of thousands of miles on these legs. But when I do get down to the park for a run, I use these stretches & warm-ups....most effective for some of us crusty old farts.

Hopefully I can keep speed through age 60. (11 years from now). I know I'll slow down, but by how much? Really I am an 800 runner at least that is my best distance. Will be interesting to see the decline from 50 to 60 in the 800- 6 seconds I'm guessing and maybe 3 seconds in the 400.

Let me put it this way- if I had only slowed 6 seconds in the 800, I would be ranked #1 in the world right now for M60 ;)

The deal-breaker for me was a serious achilles injury at 50, which kept me from anything more than a jog for 7 years, only now can I sprint again, but it is pretty ugly. I have gone from 58-59 at 50 for 400, to maybe 66 now, although today I got in some "flying 50s" that peaked at 13.0 100m "pace", so maybe there is some upside there still. It still felt great to have the wind in my face on a perfect sunny Fall day on a brand-new track.

In any case, thrice bitten a hundred times shy and I will progress literally one step at a time. May your journey from 50-60 be a much smoother and more bouyant one than mine, in any case enjoy your present fitness and health as they are precious beyond any material price.

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.

+1

For myself I think the secret is to not "push" speedwork etc. Forget about how you used to run intervals and hill repeats in the old days. I like to warm up thoroughly with easy jogging then ease into an interval session while listening very closely to what the legs are saying. If they're not liking it I'll either change the session to an easy run or slow down the speed.

For the OP, a short stride length isn't a huge limiting factor if your race distance is 5k or longer. There are lots of fast cadence 50+ runners well under 20 mins for 5k. They get there with big aerobic engines (lots of miles). If you have a longer stride you can get there with fewer miles. If your race distance is a mile or 800m then a short stride is a big limiting factor.

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. Doing drills, weights etc. makes you feel good, and for we long-timers it's a relief from the big miles of old, but it won't actually increase your stride length worth diddly. They just increase chance of injury. Just get fitter in the usual way.

I am 67 and probably right about 20:00 5k (6:27 pace) right now (based on the XC times I have been running the last couple of months). At age 60 I ran 30:29 for a road 8K (6:07 pace) compared to running 6:00 pace for it at age 50. As SoCal Pete posted, a lot of maintaining stride length relates to strength and. to a lesser degree, flexibility. My experience has been that maintaining strength through from age 50 to age 60 by doing quality interval work was not that difficult . Doing so after age 60 is a very different story. Training that worked from 50 -60, involving mostly running, has not been sufficient after 60. After age 60 specific strength work is necessary to hang onto as much speed as possible. Resistance training with weights to supplement running is absolutely necessary. Weight work also is necessary to reduce injury risk from high intensity workouts ( which I have learned the hard way).

Bump

G-bare wrote:

Bump

Nothing has changed. 2+ years later still doing plyos and year round speedwork.

I have a session planned tomorrow and will post the specifics.

200 time is the same or faster- I have a 200m outdoors on Saturday so we will see. I am not and never will be a sprinter, more an 800m type, but the 200 shows my raw turnover and speed.

Found it interesting to go back and read through this thread. Seem to be few pessimists. Just get out and do it, start and progress. life long mileage for me is about 81,000 miles and I used to belt out 85+ mile weeks forever when I was younger, even running ultras in high school. Doesn't matter you can work on form - sprint form that is- power, stride length and turnover even in your 50's. Do it, before you lose it!

Same here on no change in approach 2+ years later. I do squats and lunges with a modest 25kg in free weights 2-3x/week. I do 2x25 one-legged squats almost every day as part of my warm up before I run and I do 12x100-150m strides on the 3 days per week that are my recovery days. It seems to be working reasonably well. I ran 2200 miles in 2019, and other than getting a hamstring mildly strained in a July 10k, I was injury free. This was enough to get me 2nd in the 70-74s at USATF XC yesterday.

Same here. 72 now. I lift harder than before, taking the sets to exhaustion. I've added weighted sled sprints (pushing). My weight workouts are sometimes done using the "Sprint 8" approach of all-out effort for 30 seconds or less. Other times, I'll do sets to complete exhaustion. Studies show extreme HIIT (not crossfit-type HIIT) boosts T levels.

I continue to do 15 minutes or so of dynamic drills before running. I continue to believe that competitive marathon training is detrimental to your health after age 50. 2019 was a disaster, running-wise... 2 surgeries, one very severe injury, two more injuries that put into PT for weeks, and a serious breathing issue that set me back months. Only one of these setbacks was running-related.

Still, my teammates and I will go for the M70 World Record in the Indoor 4x800m this month. I must be doing something right.

Charlie wrote:

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.

Well I no longer do the eccentric downhill but they do work really well. Which brings up the question just how much time and energy is one willing to put into this . Enjoyment is important. Variety is what I enjoy. Since the above post I have done all kinds of stuff. Also realized that as we age good health plays a big role for maintaining .

WAG at age 63 FASTER at 200 than when I was 61 .

So 2 years from now we all post again ;)

Generally something supplemental for strength other than just running.

fisky wrote:

Same here. 72 now. I lift harder than before, taking the sets to exhaustion. I've added weighted sled sprints (pushing). My weight workouts are sometimes done using the "Sprint 8" approach of all-out effort for 30 seconds or less. Other times, I'll do sets to complete exhaustion. Studies show extreme HIIT (not crossfit-type HIIT) boosts T levels.

I continue to do 15 minutes or so of dynamic drills before running. I continue to believe that competitive marathon training is detrimental to your health after age 50. 2019 was a disaster, running-wise... 2 surgeries, one very severe injury, two more injuries that put into PT for weeks, and a serious breathing issue that set me back months. Only one of these setbacks was running-related.

Still, my teammates and I will go for the M70 World Record in the Indoor 4x800m this month. I must be doing something right.

I would like to start incorporating sled sprints. Great stuff.

Best of luck.

These things work. My 200 time has only slowed 2% in 11 years.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Generally something supplemental for strength other than just running.

Walking. If you can't walk with a long stride, how the heck etcetera...

This so much. Even Tinman was talking about sleds:

"Anyway, my point is run hills. Lydiard was right, hills are the best, most specific hill strengthener runners can do. The exception, in my view, is running with a harness and pulling a sled behind you. We used to do this in football, when I was in high school."

The thing is not everyone will have the opportunity to train with a sled in a harness. Hills are the next best thing and can be done by more people (still not all tho, sorry Florida people).