How does a older guy balance his return to running with adult responsibilities (keeping a balanced life)

I generally plan 2 workouts during the week that I will do, no matter what, (one is typically a long run during the weekend) plus an optional third that I will try my best to do if I get a chance. If I end up having extra time, I will do easy runs here and there. Usually, I end up running 3-4 times every week and I found this level of commitment sufficient to reach a fairly decent level of fitness without impacting too hard on my life. If you can run to/from work, this could be an efficient way to add extra miles with minimal impact on your schedule.

I am currently coaching a talented kid who can't make practice. he is one of those very sporty kids who is in every sports team at school (cricket, soccer, tennis, basketball, hockey, you name it he plays it) and there is not time in his life to come to practice. so I send him a sheet with half a dozen workouts plus his gym schedule and other stuff that we need to get through and every other day or so he emails me to say he has a slot in his schedule at x O'clock and we meet up and go through whatever he has time for that day.

you could try a variation on this. don't make your schedule a fixed Mon = x, Tue = y type of thing, but have a set of things you want to get done and mix them up and slot what you can do into your schedule as and when you can.

it's also a good idea to focus your training on what is going to be most beneficial. instead of trying to do intervals and tempos, and progressions and fartleks and hill sprints and sprint drills and gym work and planks and any other kind of thing you can think of, just pare it down to the bare essentials. do a long run, two or three easy runs of around 30 - 40 minutes or so, and a session of long reps with short recoveries. you can make a surprising amount of progress with a simple schedule like this and it doesn't take a lot of juggling.

cheers.

cotton shirt wrote:

do a long run, two or three easy runs of around 30 - 40 minutes or so, and a session of long reps with short recoveries. you can make a surprising amount of progress with a simple schedule like this and it doesn't take a lot of juggling.

+1

What are you training for? Rather than shorter distance, but probably more time consuming and physically draining workouts, perhaps moderate paced mid-distance runs with strides would provide better results (longer distances + quicker turnover with the strides).

Fueling properly and rigerous planning are absolutely essential. You may not be consuming enough or properly prior to your morning workouts, hence the lack of energy.

Also, maybe get a heart rate monitor and see if you're really working as hard as your mind is telling you . I was shocked to discover that even though I felt worse durning morning workouts, my heart rate was actually lower... I discovered it was just mental. I didn't want to be up so early and my mind was making excuses. Adjusting my mental outlook plus better diet and fueling made a huge difference.

Your body should also adjust to the physical demands with time, and you may ultimately benefit from more energy if you're able to stick with it.

What is your job and do you watch any TV?

In similar boat here (over 50y now, not returning to running but starting for the first time at 45).

First, you shouldn't be aiming for short distance. Their competition is generally not open unless you're in a club, and that takes more time and overhead. Aim for 5k to marathon. This is open to anyone (at least the local ones) and you can train on your own (big time saver without having to schedule/coordinate). These are also easier on old man's joints and tendons, and rely on patients and judgments (an old man strong points).

Learn the principle of good training and listen to your body so that you can improvise. The overall quantity (mileage or time), balance and variety (whole range of paces at the right dosage; varying time of the day, running surface, duration, weather) are more important than the meticulous details of a workout plan.

All that leads to: just run when the opportunity present itself. Look out for these "holes" in your life. Half-an-hour here and there (in the middle of business travel, canceled meetings, before picking up the kids, etc.). The type of training: mostly easy (I mean, real easy) first. Until you can do consistently. Use GPS watch with online account, so you have automatic logging, and can quickly see that you can get mileage up by these random schedules. Once they become a solid baseline (without causing accumulated fatigue or loss of energy at other things in life), then start sprinkling with strides and intervals (at flexible number of reps, no need to set a target in advance). Again, don't be pre-occupied by details of the workouts. Just do weekly review on how much you spend easy running, moderate and fast. The distribution should be heavily on the easy side.

Also helpful to sign up to local races few times a year, just to keep the rhythm. No need to have a particular goal of distance or time. Just enjoy the ride. I started with 10ks just to finish at the bottom 15%. Now already finishing HM in the top 30%. On to my first marathon soon.

Remember in college you could eat whatever you wanted and it melted off, you could drink like a maniac until 4a and then pop out of bed at 7:55a for your 8a class and feel fine, and you couldn't sit down without a good looking girl landing on your c0ck?

Yeah. That's not life anymore. You're not going to trip your way into finding a new groove. I don't have time for this sh*t either, but I make time. Don't set a planned run, just set a planned time (45 mins or an hour) and run whatever you damn feel like running. Once you get consistent then maybe you can throw in some planned training runs. We all have a lot of sh*t going on with work, kids, family, house stuff, etc. You aren't busier than us. We (those of us who are married with kids and own a home and have a demanding job) make time or it doesn't happen. That's just how life is now.

i agree you just have to make time for it. though i lean towards the 'have an exact plan' approach. i set out my clothes the night before. i'm up at 5am to get miles in. home before kids are even up. i go to bed early so i can be up early. if i have to miss AM run i have a flexible schedule at work to run at lunch. i get it done. and in case you ask, i have kids/house/job/wife/pets/inlaws/all the responsibilities.

You’re 47, welcome to the world of the 20 min hobby jog. No need for worrying about complex workouts, just jog 20 min a few times a week. This is your new reality.

In my experience, the only way to do it is wake up early every weekday before work, 5-5:30am, and get in your run. When I’m training for a race, I’ll do two workouts each week. On Sunday, get in your long run early so you’re not missing much time away from family. I’ve been able to get in 50-60 mi/week on this schedule.

Yeah. I get up at 5:30 and run before anything else sucks away my time.

Makes for a busy morning, but that's ok - important stuff is done first.

I do a long run on Sunday, a longish progression run on Wednesday,

some kind of fartlek on Saturday, and easy runs otherwise.

At 63, this almost gives me enough rest.

An occasional easier week helps.

Another marathon seems hard to imagine right now,

but 5K to 1/2M are pretty plausible.

How do balance you come back wrote:

I am 47 and I returning to serious running again.