What does getting old "feel" like?

When I am running, it feels the same at 59 as it did at 15. I still love it.

It takes me about 15% longer to run 5K, but my usual third or so in my age group has changed to usual first.

My warmup used to take 5 minutes, now it takes 20. More of my workouts need to be lower intensity. I have a long list of little athletic aches and problems, but I get huge physical and psychological benefits from continuing to be fit and active.

gettingolder wrote:

OP here, and like the last poster said, thank you to everyone who has honestly shared their opinions. Here are some of the conclusions I've been able to draw:

1) Getting slower with age is inevitable, but your perspective on speed -- and life in general -- changes, making running even more enjoyable.

2) Being a lifelong runner will help you remain fit and energetic, especially compared to your non-runner peers

3) Men and women who run into their 40s, 50s, and 60s tend to be content with life and, judging by the quality of writing on this thread, very intelligent.

Bottom line: Keep lacing up the shoes. We are in the right sport.

You might be confusing the cause and effect here. It may not be that being a lifelong runner keeps one fit and energetic. But rather the ones who are fit and energetic are able to keep running into old age. There are many runners who quit running because of injuries or other health issues, Those people are not likely to post on a thread like this.

And if you cannot run for health reasons, probably enjoying life in general is also so much harder, especially if running was a big part of one life in early years. So take care of your health by all means if you want to keep running.

I'm 52 and have less injury trouble now and am fitter than ever before

I do mostly hard hill repeats and xc type training.I cut back on high mileage and don't run on consecutive dsys

S&%^t! Thank you.

Turned 50 this summer. For me, my running ability dropped off a cliff in my mid-40s, so I gave up competitive running completely. But I still love to run, something about the motion that feeds an addiction or something. I try to run every day, and am happy if i manage 5 days. Runs are rarely very long anymore, and I doubt I've hit 40 miles in a week in 2-3 years (I used to average in the 60s and 70s throughout the year, occasionally crested past 100). Most of my running is pretty slow, not because it has to be but because I choose to do most of my running with my wife.

These days I can't train myself to run a decent distance race, but I still have pretty good top end wheels and like to blow the carbon off with a fast 100 or 200 from time to time, mostly for shits and giggles and to show myself I still can. But I do have to be careful... I ran some indoor fast 300m repeats a year ago and it wrecked my achilles / calves for about two months afterward.

I don't think I "feel" any different than I did when I was younger, just notice limitations with capabilities and health that were never there when I was young and invincible. :-)

Turned 50 this summer. For me, my running ability dropped off a cliff in my mid-40s, so I gave up competitive running completely. But I still love to run, something about the motion that feeds an addiction or something. I try to run every day, and am happy if i manage 5 days. Runs are rarely very long anymore, and I doubt I've hit 40 miles in a week in 2-3 years (I used to average in the 60s and 70s throughout the year, occasionally crested past 100). Most of my running is pretty slow, not because it has to be but because I choose to do most of my running with my wife.

These days I can't train myself to run a decent distance race, but I still have pretty good top end wheels and like to blow the carbon off with a fast 100 or 200 from time to time, mostly for shits and giggles and to show myself I still can. But I do have to be careful... I ran some indoor fast 300m repeats a year ago and it wrecked my achilles / calves for about two months afterward.

I don't think I "feel" any different than I did when I was younger, just notice limitations with capabilities and health that were never there when I was young and invincible. :-)

In a word (or two!) - bloody awful!

Age 58, arthritis in right hip virtually precludes any running at the moment. However, the physio holds out some hope of a return to moderate levels of running, say 3-4 times a week.

Even before the onset of this problem frequent niggles prevented serious competition; it was impossible to get in a stretch of decent training. My advice, for what it's worth, is to run as often as possible, even if some days it's only a few miles jog. Stretch, do weights, yoga whatever you can to avoid an injury that means you can't run for any significant period because it's hell trying to get back into it and in my case one injury simply led to another! If you do have to take time off be very, VERY patient when coming back.

On the positive side, if you can run a few miles, no matter how slowly, you are better off than the fat slob who spends their time slumped in front of the TV and finds walking up stairs difficult!

I'm 51, been running since 1979, more than 100,000 lifetime miles. On track for just more than 3,000 this year.

What feels most different for me is much less of a feeling of being capable--that I can go out any day and execute whatever it is I've told myself I'd like to do that day. How I'll feel, and where within the range of what I can run for pace and distance is much more unpredictable now. And the consequences of doing something like sticking with an interval workout or long run on a day when I don't feel great are much greater--it's much easier now to realize a few days later "I've been dragging since Thursday, and I know exactly why."

That can make knowing how to proceed more difficult: Am I just a little off and should suck it up and finish the workout as planned, or am I getting legitimate signals to call it a day?

The greater range of day-to-day feeling, and the unpredictability, make racing less satisfying. I can no longer do X, Y, Z and be reasonably sure that will mean feeling ready to go on race day.

Subjectively, my motor doesn't rev as high. By that I mean what feels most comfortable is more often toward the easy end of the effort scale. It used to be more toward the medium to steady state end for daily runs. I finish very few runs with that run-to-the-barn feeling of everything clicking; they used to happen a couple times a week.

Mentally, running regularly is much easier than it used to be. I have that much more experience of getting out the door regardless of what's going on, and, perhaps because of age, I have the wisdom to know any excuse I come up with that's not injury or illness is almost certainly BS, and that at the end of the day I'll be happier for having done even a token run.

One change over the last decade is that morning runs feel easier than they used to. I used to do a short run before work, then my main run, including workouts, after work. Doing a 10-miler before work was a big deal, and a workout was unheard of. Now when I try to do something longer or harder at the end of the work day it doesn't go well, even if I've done nothing in the morning. I really like this change.

Mechanically, I don't feel much different, although I know I look worse. I most often feel noticeably worse when I haven't run in the morning and have sat in front of the computer for too much of the day and then go run, even if I do a good stretch before the run.

I always loved running, but now I appreciate it more--all the things that initially attracted me still exist, and it adds a layer of pleasure to my middle-aged life that isn't there for most of my contemporaries. One aspect of the latter is that, thanks to getting much slower, I have a broader range of potential training partners. This makes for more varied conversations and social experiences than I would otherwise have as a 51-year-old man.

Just curious, how old are you?

brofest2015 wrote:

fat old guy wrote:

If you're one of those young guys who has to work really hard to gain weight, there will come a day when it becomes really hard NOT to gain weight, and even harder to lose it once gained.

When bro? Need a date

You sound like all the other losers on here who cannot get a date. Try being a little less socially awkward, and/or make some serious money.