Middle Aged, "High" mileage and Fatigue

53 here and currently running about 40/wk. At your age, I was bumping up around 70/wk in my heaviest training and like you, was exhausted all the time. I am not today. My work responsibilities are far greater now but my parental duties are far less so. I think there's some very good practical training advice given here. I'd just add to it not to underestimate the stress of being a parent. Those little bundles of joy take a lot of focus and energy and may not be directly related to your fatigue but my guess is they're playing a bigger factor than you might imagine. Make sure you're appreciating that run time as "your" time and don't let it get to be a drag. I've found it to be hugely beneficial in my life as it informs and betters every area of my world.

You are running too fast. Get a hr monitor and learn what easy is.

Have your blood work checked out.

38 is not middle aged WTF dude?

Weighing yourself before and after a run can tell you if it's a hydration issue. It can take many hours to rehydrate if you sweat a lot during a run.

I walk to start and end a run now to warm down, and then walk to work etc, it seems to help recover my legs a bit to keep them moving.

I'm 60, coming back from 3 years on and off injuries- walking to start my run is a huge benefit.

I even start my watch and count it in the miles. My first mile ends up being about 10:10-10:40 (I start barely running at 1/4 mile then gradually pick it up.

But it has helped me a lot.

38 is too young to blame age for being tired. It's something about your body or training that isn't working for you.

I’m also 38, with 2 kids. You’re overtraining. Give yourself a rest day every week. Run only as fast as you feel like on easy days - if it’s 8:30s with no stroller, so be it. Every 3rd or 4th week needs to be a down week. Also, it sounds like you have a really young kiddo if you are pushing a stroller. Guaranteed you are not getting the amount of sleep you need if the kid is under 18 months old.

I experienced something similar when we had our youngest - kept going merrily on my way as if I could train like I always had while being blown out from parenting and no sleep. My performance cratered. Both running and life felt real hard. It was very demoralizing. It was only after I missed my marathon goal that year by 25 minutes that it clicked. I stopped pushing, was nicer to myself, and my performance very quickly came back around. Also helps that the kid got older.

38 old? You're kidding right?

The fatigue is something I struggle with too. I did high volume this winter hitting 110-115 a few times and though I handled it OK the fatigue caught up eventually. One thing I'm going to try now is something I heard on Marcus's and magness podcast that they will use a +,=,- to categorize their athletes work so you're balancing rest/work well. Even though I'll do easy runs easy I'm going to count those as an =. Workouts and lifting are all - with days off and yoga, short smell the roses runs that are true recoveries I might count as +, ice baths,eating well etc all pluses. I'm planning on adding that in to my run log to better balance things.

Also jogs with the stroller are not recovery...they aren't easy and I'd count that as a minus. Nothing wrong with running with the stroller...my kids love the stroller but it is more physically taxing even at a jog.

get more sleep. if not an option for you due to life obligations you will have to deal w being tired or cut back. its part of it.

I'm 38, no kids, but long work hours.

45-60 miles per week isn't too much of a problem for me. I'm tired after a really long run, but otherwise, nothing abnormal. Good luck, I hope you figure it out!

40 here and sometimes feel the same thing as the OP. I have found that my mental fatigue has a lot to do with things. When have a specific goal race upcoming and feel somewhat in the zone in terms of focus on that, I am much less fatigued. I am a high-school teacher, so at times I get bogged down in planning, grading, etc. My fitness might not change, but doing life tasks can get much more difficult.

Things might be more physical, but I recommend considering the mental aspect and trying to find some time to do mindfulness exercises now and then. Or pick a goal race and sign up. I always feel more energized when my brain knows there is something specific to shoot for.

“Pushing a stroller” tells more of a story than the mileage.

When you have young children it is expected that you will be tired all the time.

Try to stay fit, eat well, and get what sleep you can. When your child is older you can expect to have a little more energy.

could be running low on Glutathione...damn near no runner knows bo diddly about it. Research it. You're welcome.

I agree with many of the posts here. 1 day a week OFF. 3rd or 4th week easier by around 20%. Sleep, eat properly. Carbohydrates are your friend, do not avoid them, but eat whole grains and fruits.

One other thought. It sounds like you basically race a 1mile every now and then. (5:10 based on your training is racing). A hard effort can be a very good thing and actually make you feel fresher a few days later and snappier on your feet. However, that is when you do 85-90% workout. Do a structured workout at 85% once a week. Race on race day only. Recovery from near 100% efforts takes many days even if only 1mile.

Do a few strides a few times a week. These will help you tremendously and have a very low energy cost.

Check the Age Grade tables and you will see that 38 has an almost negligible adjustment. Other factors in your life are contributing to fatigue more than age.

Good luck.

You're joking. I get it. But you're talking like you're already 70+. 38 is young. I'm 6 years older than you and feel better now then I did at 25. Stop thinking 38 is middle aged or that being middle aged means an inevitable decline. Studies have shown that older people who have a positive attitude live happier and healthier lives.

As far as physical things you can do, get at least hours of sleep. Quit alcohol or drink very little and not everyday. Slow your easy runs way down and consider not wearing a watch at all unless on the track or racing. Why are you bothering running faster miles if you have no specific race plans?

I run 70 miles a week and sometimes less, sometimes more and I have no problems walking up stairs or going for several hours long walks with my girlfriend.

Slow down. As someone else said, run 8:30 ish for easy days, bump up the carbs, monitor protein intake, try to sleep more.

I’m a fan of not ever running more than 5 days a week. I might do 6 if I’m doing 70 miles in a week but 50 mile weeks can be done in 4 days (I did 3 tens during the week and a 20+ on the weekend) when I was first building up to 50 miles. Honestly, some people struggle even with 9+ hours sleep when running 6-7 days a week. Others totally thrive off it, such as ah of my friends.

I’m a bigger runner - 5’11 and about 193 but I lift heavy weights twice a week and have a pretty muscular build. I feel good running 5 days a week but 6-7 makes me feel like trash. I was up to 100 miles per week earlier this year and it finally resulted in stress fractures. Even before that, I was feeling a higher level of fatigue than I did when only running 50-60 miles per week. I say this because I think people need to recognize that we don’t all function the same. Some of my friends can run 17 min 5ks with little training while others work their butts off with 70 mile weeks. It just is what it is. I felt like having about 20-30 grams of protein every morning provided a huge boost for me, however. Maybe try having some diced chicken or something if you’re trying to watch calories.

I’m a bit younger than you but I assume we both have some life perspective at this point. We’re not pro athletes, even if we’re placing at races we enter. When it’s gotten tough in my longer races, my mind always goes to what I have waiting for me, not really the race itself. Running 5 days a week is enough to balance racing/running goals with the parts of life that really matter.

Is interesting the different approach of Europeans and Americans for what it concerns mileage.

In United States people (amateur) runners do a lot more miles than in Europe . I wonder if is something to do with the fact that we use metric system, while the imperial system use miles.

An example in my area there are amateur runners and the fastest are like 32'/33' for 10K , or 1:10' /1:11' in the half

and max they do 70/80 km per week. another guy in my club trains 3 times for week , doing 40km a week. In two years with

no running experience he improve from 38' to 34'30" in 10 k, while in the half is at 1:19 (of course here he needs a little more km). This to say if it really worth while do a lot of km at an amateur level. Of course for the marathon mileage become more important, but here I see that also the fastest guy (amateur) sub 2'30", dont run more than 100km per week at max.