Older Runners: When Did You Notice You Were Finally Aging?

When I was about 40 I'd get out of bed and I felt like I was 85. Granted I was never really built for distance running. When I was really thin I was 6' 170. Ended up turning to other sports like rowing and CF style workouts which I still do today at 48. Never feel any aches or pains, but I would also struggle to jog three miles without taking a walk break. I'll take feeling better any day though.

56 here. been running since summer of 77 when I was still 15. A couple of things that started in my mid to late 30's was that 1) it became more & more difficult to not gain weight, and my ability to run really fast over shorter distance was starting to say bye-bye. At 50 years old and above, it's nearly impossible to lose weight and training seems to have less adaptive effect on my body--I liken it to a wet book of matches that refuses to light no matter how hard I try. It utterly sucks to not be able to run a single 400 at the pace of my best marathon. My aerobic base pace is at a such a slow speed I **never** imagined I'd ever be running. One thing that is a positive is that I seem to have less aches & pains now.....sounds counter-intuitive, but since I'm no longer bashing my body with really hard workouts, there is less trauma to my muscles & joints. But I'd really rather be 28 and be beat up sometimes if I could run "fast" again.

doctorj wrote:

Kerplunk wrote:

When I sat on the toilet and my balls went into the drink.

Priceless!!!!

+1 LOL.

AND YA gotta pee a lot and at the wurst times.

skylon69 wrote:

56 here. been running since summer of 77 when I was still 15. A couple of things that started in my mid to late 30's was that 1) it became more & more difficult to not gain weight, and my ability to run really fast over shorter distance was starting to say bye-bye. At 50 years old and above, it's nearly impossible to lose weight and training seems to have less adaptive effect on my body--I liken it to a wet book of matches that refuses to light no matter how hard I try. It utterly sucks to not be able to run a single 400 at the pace of my best marathon.

Similar time line, somewhat similar play-out:

Also age 56; starting running to keep aerobic fitness for other sports starting in 1978 (age 16). No track of XC. Was a regular runner, with occasional road races up to 10k, until age 31. Upped dedication/miles trying for first marathon and thereafter; last marathon in 2012. Definitely not a runner's build, but thankfully not constantly injury-prone.

Younger me: had arthroscopic surgery on R knee in my mid-20s and able to go full-bore again the following May.

First noticed slowing down just after age 40; took a layoff from everything after birth of first child. Previous layoffs had no noticeable effect, but after that one, I remember huffing up a small hill and thought that didn't seem right.

Over the next couple years, into mid-40s, had achilles issues, and, even after full healing, could not come back to fast paces I had taken for granted.

Late 40s and into early 50s, all paces continued to decay slightly, and it seemed I needed more recovery time. While I'm sure it was all gradual, I remember thinks coming into stark focus 3 years ago at a 10-mile race: was shocked that my actual paces were c. 20 sec/mi slower than perceived. It seems that way since and I keep losing a few sec/mi each year.

Definitely need more recovery time. Weight mgt. is OK, but it seems it's tougher to maintain/rebuild muscle mass now.

54. In my 40's I thought the aging thing was truly a myth, I wasn't really getting any slower in training or racing.

Then, at about 54 easy 6:00 per mile became easy 7:00 per mile. Races felt the same but were slower.

I couldn't train as intensely and it took me longer to recover from the hard days.

Biggest change is the inability to recover which folds right into the ease at which you can get injured.

In my early 40’s I was still hitting times equal to my 20’s, but like everyone else has noted the niggles slow you down. Achilles issues became worse requiring long layoffs in my late 40's. I moved over to bike racing for 5 years. At age 55-56 I could still run some okay times (but definitely getting slower), but this past year (age 57) the times have gotten slower for no apparent reason other than aging. I’m weaker, I can’t process as much oxygen, I'v e gained 4 lbs. In some ways it is depressing, but then I figure it’s normal and if I can jog a few times a week, walk with my wife and dogs, and ride my bike and do the fast club rides —then my fitness life is pretty good. Do I need to torture myself in the local races? At some point you gotta say what’s the point? I walk away with first or second in my age group in almost every race so it is fun. I even took 3rd overall in the local turkey trot. But when my 5K race pace is now slower than my marathon race paced used to be, ugh! I really just want to be able to “exercise” on a daily basis, like my 84 year old father still does.

I've had a few cliffs:

- I broke my wrist (slipping on the ice) when I was 53, and when i started running again (2 weeks later, still in a cast), it was still winter, so I was ultra-cautious about falling. That slowed me down considerably. Somehow, even when was over & the wrist was healed, I never really regained my previous pace.

- Then a couple of years later a started having problems with my hips, or, as it was eventually determined, my hip abductors. Despite 45 years of running, somehow they were weak, making leg turnover difficult. That make running not only even slower but extremely awkward.

- then last year (age 61) I had a heart attack, despite no known risk factors and no prior symptoms.

I've kept running throughout all this, although it isn't anything I would have considered running when I was younger.

I'm fortunate - no injury, but I realized in my 40s a certain tiredness that just grew and grew, and is still growing now that I'm in my 60s. Yeah, I'm little - 5'6" @ 128lbs - always have been. But, after 40+ yrs of running, frankly, I enjoy it but I'm just not that all-consumed by it anymore. Being in the Blue Ridge, I prefer mountain hiking/running. I think at my age, weight training should take precedence, so I pursue that several times weekly. (Last week: 30 miles @ 8:40 pace)

I'm just shy of 57 and I never felt a 'cliff' of reduced performance. It's been a gradual decline from my peak years, which were my late 40's early 50's. I'm a fairly big guy (5'9" 155) compared to my running friends but those guys are constantly fighting injuries whereas I am relatively injury-free despite running much more than they do. I still log from 50-70 mpw with occasional 80+ mile weeks. The weight thing is huge though ... at my best I was in the mid-140s but now just can't dip below about 152 or 153 no matter what I do. It might just have to do with my reduced desire to get down to 145 again for a slower time than when I was last at 145. Who knows? I'm just glad to still be out there and able to enjoy a couple hours of running in the mountains and a race ever couple weeks.

First noticed things at 31-33 when I found I couldn't hold 1500/5K pace that I had been doing for a number of years. Endurance was still good but holding faster pace for a race became more difficult.

Wheels really fell off in my mid-30s, and despite a successful masters comeback, again in my mid 40s. Got over those things into my later 40s and have held fairly close to the same level for over a decade (now late 50s). Mile to 5K times have slowed but longer distance have been as good or better than during late 40s. Secret is consistency, not too much speed work (a little can carry you a long ways), and good diet to keep the weight off.

Aging appears to be very individual. I PBed at the age of 25 with 31:20 for 10k, 71:40 for HM etc... Then I took a break of almost 25 years, just jogging 2-3 times per week.

I never gained more than 4kg vs. then, but I started to feel really sluggish when I just did my fitness jogging program, with an all-time low between 40 - 45.

Then I did a 3:57 Marathon at the age of 48 (accompanying a friend), did another one in 3:51 at the age of 50 (accompanying the same friend), and 3:27 at the age of 51 (when the same friend cancelled one week before). Last year at the age of 52 I did 40:10 for 10k and 90:20 for HM and I am pretty sure that I can get to 37-38 for the 10k.

I really started to enjoy running again when I ran a bit more, plus some faster stuff. And I tell, you, I enjoy running fast as much as I did 25 years ago if I forget the clock (because a tempo run today would have been an easy jog 25 years ago).

But I learned my lessons:

• I can’t do my 7 day cycle, i.e. 2x fast plus long on weekends, I changed to a 10 day cycle.

• Easy runs must be easy, no watch, just body feeling

• I need to do strengthening work, especially for my ankles

• I need to listen to my body carefully and if it says no – then it’s no

So actually I feel much better and stronger at 52 then 10 years ago, and I will challenge age-related slow down for another few years ;-).

Cheers

Stefan

old is as old does wrote:

R V Winkle wrote:

37-38.

No reason to kid yourself.

This was the same age that I realized that sub-15:00 minutes for 5k was a distant memory and sub-16:00 was becoming a lofty goal. Now at 43, breaking 17:00 takes way too much work.

Another vote for 37-38. I could still race and train about as well as I ever could at 35 and 36, but now at 37 it's harder to recover, things hurt that didn't use to, and going faster than 6 minute pace feels a lot harder than it used to. Weight has stayed the same, but I feel like I have lost some strength. I know I could get back to a good level of fitness for me (sub 17, sub 2:45), but it would take 8 to 10 weeks of uninterrupted healthy training (70-80 miles/week). The biggest factor for me is that I can no longer live the lifestyle required to hit fast times. Between working 40+ hours a week, owning a home, and a caring for a growing family, getting in the daily 10 miler becomes less of a priority.

This past year - age 38 - I had trouble breaking sub 5-min pace on a few 400 meter repeats. Granted, they were on the blacktop and not on a track. This never was an issue in my early 30's.

I averaged 40 miles a week last year and barely broke 19 minutes in the 5K. Pathetic.

At 50 miles a week 5 years ago I was a mid-17 5K guy.

It's also a pain to keep weight off now. I literally cannot eat the good stuff (deep dish pizza, donuts, milkshakes) without feeling it the next day around my waistline.

I turned 50 in September. Regular citizen athletes are not Tom Brady, Chara, Jerry Rice etc. but the key to prevent falling off the cliff is to try to stay away from the cliff's edge by being consistent and realistic. You also need to make adjustments. I "force" myself into the gym once a week for leg work because I know my fast twitch muscles are going away quickly. In terms of being realistic you can't decide a few weeks before a 5K that you want to return to race shape. That can take 2 or 3 times as long to get ready now.

So I guess I really started to notice this in my early 40s. Still could run low 16s for 5K and 4:40ish for the mile but "always" paid a price. So more weight training, massage and stretching. Times are slower now and honestly I go to do races more out of being social(and for good craft beer) and I guess to get some little competitive juices flowing too.

p.s. the best indicator of when you are really noticing your age is when you stop looking @ a mirror ;>)

40: still bulletproof. Not even vaguely interested in master’s competitors, goal is still to win races. Not afraid of 100 mpw.

45: starting to see why there is a masters category but still able to train hard and squeak out a win here and there. 80 now seems to work better than 100 but spiked up intervals are still a thing.

50: WTF!! This is getting HARD! Still a good race here and there but 3 days of recovery runs are needed after a really hard session, if the next one is going to be worth doing. For the first time in years, have to train with focus to beat 4:age in the mile.

55: Still run to work and back and enjoy it, take the dogs out on a trail on weekend runs. Will never be truly fast again at any distance. Goal is now to get better at other things.

R V Winkle wrote:

37-38.

No reason to kid yourself.

This is probably true if you started running in your mid-20s. If you started running competitively in your teens, the age likely is more like 30-32. It's all relative. I started running at 30, and my best years were 43-45.

.... I should add that there's anecdotal evidence for this surrounding me. I have friends that were 14:30 runners in college and I can crush them now, with my pitiful barely sub-17. They started losing it in their early-to-mid 30s, and slowed down every year. Meanwhile, I kept improving. We met each other around age 44-45. Now at 49, I beat them. We all still train hard.

I started getting injured much more frequently in my late 30s. But, until mid 40s I still felt that - if only I could stay healthy I could probably still set some PRs. I still had some snap in my legs and I could run doubles without too much ill effect (modulo injuries, of course). 47, 48 is where everything started to change dramatically. I'm 53 now. I've gained 40 pounds, despite regular exercise (although not running) and as someone upstream said I can no longer run 400 meters at the pace of my best marathon.

Hopefully the descent will plateau, kind of like adolescence in reverse, which is what the last 6 years have felt like. 48-53 has been like going from 19 to 13 in terms of physical capacity. If it does continue at this rate, I'll be bed-ridden before I'm 60.

Enjoy your youth fellows. You might be an exception like Ed Whitlock, but he really was that - an exception.