I once ran sub 30 for 10k. Now I'm 40 & I let myself go. Can I get back in reasonable shape?

Smoove wrote:

Here is the workout I suggested:

"You may want to consider the race modeling workout I posted on last week's thread early this week if you want something that build some confidence but won't be overly taxing. I know your style is a bit different than mine, but you might actually like that one because of he 200s that are involved. 3-4 sets of 200 at mile pace, 200 jog, 1600 at 10k pace, 200 jog, 200 at mile pace. Full recovery between sets (4:00 or so). Works your turnover to help with feeling crisp, locks in race pace, and also models what happens on race day (get out hard, settle in, finish strong)."

Thank you.

Smoove wrote:

I honestly wonder how much of it is physical, and how much of it is mental, with the mental part being half a lack of willingness to hurt and half a self-defeating belief that since one is older, they must be slower.

The discomfort is addictive, always trying to test and better ourselves gives life a purpose.

Depending on your current eating habits, the 20lbs can come off without exercise. Just eat mostly plant based. Try to eliminate all processed foods. Limit meat/dairy.

Great advice is not to overdo the comeback.

Take days off. Start every other day.....keep you wanting more.

Then go 2 on 1 off

3 on 1 off

4 on 1 off etc.

Vary where you run so it is enjoyable.

Don't wear a watch some days.

The Achilles sucks. not much more to say, all the more reason comeback easily. think about a year, not a month.

Pick all the things you like about running/cross training/working out and just do those things. Make it "your time"

rojo wrote:

What I'd like to do is get in shape so I can run for an hour and enjoy it at 40 year old person pace and maybe able to go run for an hour with a college team at 7 minute pace if I really concentrate - and not fall over. Not sure if that will ever happen again.

What's 40 year old person pace? I know plenty of 40 year olds doing 6:00-6:30 min/mile on their long runs. 50 year olds? Now that's where it all falls apart. I don't envy 50 year old runners.

OP can get back to decent shape, but he won't be running sub-30. 33 is possible for this guy. That's reasonably good shape.

Isymfs

Time to no ninja and drop the weight and have some minor discipline.

Go make yourself run a 5k next week during the 4th... walk it jog it I don't care... look around at the people you are running with...get a bit disgusted.

Less whisky,alcohol, and a 1 hour less of sleep.

Just commit to moving 60 minutes per day and going to bed slightly hungry.

Look in the damn mirror take a picture... send it to the forum...life is to short to be old and wickedly slow.

You were a stallion before and can be again... you just need to think long term. It took a 10 years to get where you are at....it will take 2-5 years to get back... nonproblem.

"What's 40 year old person pace? I know plenty of 40 year olds doing 6:00-6:30 min/mile on their long runs. 50 year olds? Now that's where it all falls apart. I don't envy 50 year old runners."

Agreed! I could still break 5:00 for a mile and ran 2:49 for a marathon at age 46. The drop off came when I turned 50; The effort is there, but I can barely run 7 minute pace for a 5K now.

Besides watching the diet and following a careful progression, back filling with cross training will help the weight come off and the running return. When I could only handle +- 20 mpw after a similar comeback I rode my bike everywhere, took the dogs for extra walks, jumped on the elliptical and treadmill, basically got a lot more active.The weight came off and the fitness came back pretty quickly. Eventually I ditched most of this extra stuff in exchange for running, although the dog wants his walks.

old guy 71 wrote:

You've gotten some great advice, especially about not trying to do too much to soon.

20lbs is nothing. I've gotten up as high as 193. Currently 155.

Don't forget how important it is to have the right shoes. What worked 10-20 years ago may not work anymore.

Had to double check that this wasn't me. Born in '71 and currently weigh 193. Was 155 in college. It's a sign. Need to get back in shape!

The secret of being always in shape:

1. Do not run a lot of miles. Do short runs of 2-4 miles consistantly on most days. Never stop doing this.

2. Make daily runs very convenient. Part of daily life. Treadmills are very convenient for example.

3. Eat a low-calorie diet.

4. Weight yourself few times per month.

Lots of good advice here and many of us are in similar boats.

Here's what has worked for me:

- Don't expect it'll come back at once. I built up gradually over 2-3 years and so far (knock on wood) haven't had serious injury.

- Take more rest between workouts. I can't get in 3 quality days per week anymore between needing more recovery and family commitments. Yeah, I'd be fitter with more quality, but my race efforts are okay without it.

- Track your weight. From college and marathons in grad school, I was up about 28 lbs. Now I'm at a good weight. Get on the scale regularly (e.g., once a week) just to know where you are. It feels good when the miles go up and the pounds go down.

- The speed took a while to come back and my leg strength is still down. It's sad, but be realistic.

I'd also suggest signing up for Strava or Smashrun or other good training websites. When you see friends get out and put down a quality 10-miler, I'm competitive enough to drag myself out the door. (Smashrun is less social, but has some great stats to keep me motivated.)

Thank you to all for your replies.

RoJo, I actually have a picture of us running beside one another at XC nationals in your letsrun singlet in Vancouver, WA from early 2000's. Our stories are similar as our goals. I was 132-138 in college, upped the mileage and weights and bumped up to 145-ish. Once I shut things down but was still running regularly & lifting a bit I was 150-155 and looked "normal." I'd like to get there, as you said, I'd like to keep my wife.

As someone mentioned, it was seeing a picture that spurred me to start running again. Those 3-6 milers hurt. I'm sore. And I'm slow. I ran 9 min pace to start and once I warmed up got down to 8:45s. Sad part is I felt like I was pushing pretty good.

I've had a friend (over 40) said he despised gallow-walking but as a master he would take a 30 sec fast walk break ever mile and felt great running. I will try that along with the biking, increasing activity and shoes.

The hardest part for me is food. Damn I love Mexican food with a cold coke.

Thanks guys.

Speed is not the real measure of how much you push. When running on a treadmill you get calories per hour or watts. That is the real work you are doing.

Don't call it a comeback wrote:

As someone mentioned, it was seeing a picture that spurred me to start running again. Those 3-6 milers hurt. I'm sore. And I'm slow. I ran 9 min pace to start and once I warmed up got down to 8:45s. Sad part is I felt like I was pushing pretty good.

You probably were pushing really good. I run-commute most days, and when you add 15-20 lbs. in a backpack, it's hard to run fast. That's when I realized what the extra weight was doing to me.

A bit extra weight, less fitness, and lost strength and you'll obviously be slow.

It's now been 5 years since I started again after kids. Each year, I've dropped about 30-45 seconds from my 10K pace. Hard to explain to people at work that my "good race" is still 3 minutes slower than my best, but it's fun to kick past people at the finish.

Eat your tacos, but eat in moderation and get in some weekend long runs.

OP, consistency is going to be key to your comeback. Don't fall into the trap of taking-a-few-days-off because you are tired/sore and let that stretch into a couple of weeks. If you are too sore to run, go for a long walk with the wife and kids, get the bike out, hit the pool, jump on the elliptical but just make sure you stay active. You only put on 20 pounds, you can lose that relatively easily, but starving yourself and jumping into a new workout regime at the same time might be too much of a change and make you quit. Get the exercise going first, then work on the food, but make sure you eventually get around to addressing your diet--clean it up.

Rojo, watch out for those extra pounds, especially around the belly. My dad used to be very fit, then he got busy with work, thought he was too old to "push it" anymore, then stopped working out, built a middle-aged beer belly and now he has three stents in his heart, atrial fibrillation, and he looks like a shell of his former self. Push away from the table and the beer--it's just fuel, that food doesn't love you.

And to guys who think their wives won't love them without the extra pounds--REALLY??? You think that your wife won't be bragging to her friends about your 40+ year-old washboard abs? You think she would rather have you dead in a box at 60 with a heart attack? Stop making excuses for yourself and get out there and do what the website says: LET'S RUN.

I just reread that and I sound horrible, just like the little hot trainer at the gym--preachy and bitchy!

Strengthen your muscles. Legs, back abs, etc.... Like you, I stopped running but tried to start up again. I had pain in my knees( front and side). My theory was I was aging and arthritis has set in. A little research into knee pain; I happen to cross information that my ligaments had simply deteriorated. In addition to short runs, I did lateral leg raises , leg press and calf raises to get my lower body to take the pounding of the workouts. What I thought was arthritis is now pain free running.

Don't call it a come back wrote:

I once ran Sub 30 10k & a 2:26 marathon (15 years ago granted). Had a kid at 32 and stayed in reasonable shape, could still crack 6 min pace for a marathon. Second kid came and between work, & no sleep I shut it down and haven't run in 5 years.

I'm 40+, gained 20 pounds (170) and in the worst shape of my life. After 15 years of 100 miles weeks I have Achilles tendinitis which is not fun. Long story short I'm a mess.

I started running again. I'm one week in running 3-6 milers the last six days.

I want to lose weight & get in shape to enjoy running again. Anyone have a similar experience and can offer some advice/tips?

Doug (yes, Doug),

Your goals are reasonable, so yes you can do it.

Robert Benally and Reality Czech are dead on! Accept that things have changed and do not make comparisons to your younger self as it will only lead to disappointment.

Take rest days. Run on trails. Cross train on a bike/elliptical/pool run instead of running junk miles. Lift weights and strengthen your core. STRETCH! You can still do great things but an aging body requires more maintenance and care. Your aerobic capacity has also dropped off and it will not come back so, don't go chasing those PR times from your 20's cause that is not going to happen ever again.

If you have achilles tendinitis you can't kick, don't run much, it's not worth it.

Yes you can definitely get back into reasonable shape. I would really recommend appropriately defining what is reasonable, but first I think you should set some short term, intermediate, and long term goals and then just be smart about your training. Keep in mind that it's a lot more difficult to lose weight and recover when you are over 40 so just accept that it will take you longer and you will need to be more methodical and strategic with how you train and progress. One simple goal would be to stay healthy and not get injured because it will be easy to get overly ambitious and injured if you aren't careful.

I am in a similar situation, but you were a little faster than I was at my peak (I was just under 31:00 for 10K). I am currently 43 (44 in October) and started running again after a number of years of doing absolutely nothing. My time off was primarily driven by nagging injuries and more recently a DVT/PE scare. After ballooning to 186 lbs early this year (135 lbs when I ran in college) and feeling tired constantly I got really motivated to get more fit. The clot issue had been dealt with so I decided I needed to do something about my health.

I started running towards the end of February. My first objective was to just shed pounds, improve my cardiovascular health and overall fitness level. I knew because of nagging rt. knee and rt. calf injuries that I would have to start slow and be patient. I started out running 1 mile slow (9:00 pace) 3-4 days per week and over a period of a 3-4 weeks worked my way up to running 2 at 8:30 pace and then 3 miles at 8:00 pace. Occasionally I was throwing in some sub 8 miles as my body would allow.

Since March I have lost 20 lbs and I am running 4 miles, 6-7 days per week. I personally wasn't losing much weight until I started running for 30 minutes and that really jump started my weigh loss, but that was me. Since then I have gradually lowered my aerobic run pace down to around 7:50 per mile. I just did a 3 mile tempo run in 20:45 which is not blazing but I am happy. I try to not run hard on back to back days so I can give myself time to adequately recover.

I feel like I have achieved the short term goals I set for myself. I've lost weight, I am able to now run 4 miles at 7:00 pace reasonably comfortably, my resting HR during the day is down to the low 40s. I feel better than I have in several years which was the basis for my return to running. Now I am woking on my intermediate goals and I have graduated to doing some speed work. Again I am going slow with it and only doing speed work 2-3 times per month at most. So I am enjoying running again, feeling healthy, and progressing as my body allows and that's all I could have asked.