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Just turned 50
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I have just turned 50 and feel really old especially at the gym. Keep getting injured as my Achilles will tell. Need some inspiration or should I try cycling for a while. Old man who needs help
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If you keep getting injured its a sign your doing too much too intensely for too long too soon.
Prepare before each session with a warm up and end with a cool down. If your competing with others in the gym while training, stop it.The people you see doing more than you have got to that stage through training.
Get you achilles seen to. I had a problem with mine but through stretching and proper training I got it sorted.
Note that I have said nothing specific to your age. Thats because I see this as a straight case of running before you can walk. At 43 I can run faster for longer than most people in their 20's and I expect that to be the same for me at 50.
I only know one person quite as competitive as me and shes 46.
Congratulations mate.
Old - don't be silly! Move over to the Mature Runners thread, most of us on there are over 60, some well over.
Hey Mr Old Guy (Anthony),
I had yet another mid life crisis last year and convinced myself that I was not too old to change my ways. Converted to front foot landing - there was a lot of calf pain. Just achieving the transition renewed my enthusiasm. Yesterday in Gym treadmilled 5K in 19.41 brag, brag, brag and am doing 10k in 42.30 regularily. Road run slightly hilly 10k takes me 45 mins. Have discovered that I have a high arch and underpronate with only one foot so I do get some pain; check out the pain forums. Heel or forefoot strike keep going for it.
I did my first Ironman to celebrate being 50
I started again at 50 initially to lose the weight that I had gained in the preceding 11 years and determinded not to get carried away - was going to run every other day - and not get obsessive - that lasted about a month throughout January 2011 and I was soon out everyday frustratingly slow - I do have a rest day each week which consists of a 2 or 3 mile jog on a Friday morning - and it has taken all that time to get down below 9 minute miles regularly on traning runs - But I will get there and my goal is to get back down below 30 minutes at the Wix 5 in October 2013 (want to run sub 38 this October)
50 is nothing
50 is the new 40
shame I'm 60 next year....
But 60 is the new 50 ...
I don't feel 52 - I may grow old but I don't intend to grow up!!!
Congratulations on the birthday. Just have a look at some race results sometime and see how many over 50s are hitting some good times. Yes you have to accept at a given point you are likely to slow down but I think it is much more with shorter distances, so give the 100m sprints a miss, but distance no problem. It is fact that injuries take a bit longer to get over as you age but with care (and not doing 100m sprints) if you have been running for a long time you probably know how to get over most of them.
I turned 50 six months ago. Nothing much changed!
I've taken up cycling (in addition to running), and my running injuries have healed
The only difference I do notice is my eyesight - having to hold things at arm's length, borrow reading glasses for small print, etc.
Dave - I did the same thing, my first IM at 50.
So much of our attitudes to ageing have little to do with science and more to do with expectations. Expectations based on centuries past when if you even got to 50 it was a milestone. You stood a good chance if you where a man of being killed in a war or injured badly. If not you would be working in a heavy dangerous industry that would wreck your body. If you were a woman basically you would be a baby factory and if you worked again it would be for long hours for little pay and maybe on your feet all day.Not to even mention that over 200 years of industrialization made the environment and peoples eating and drinking habits pretty messed up.
Today most of us work in safe environments we sit down all day are not going to go to war and only have 2.3 kids. We have much more control over what we eat and drink and the environment is much cleaner than it was even in the 80's. Paradoxically we seen intent on eating and sitting ourselves to death though we are at a point in Western history when for the bulk of us we are/can be healthier than any generation before.
I really dont understand why we are not all taking advantage of this. It confuses me to see 20 something men with pot bellies and man-hips ( you've seen them you know what I mean).
Im running till I cross the line
Just don't dye your hair, it's really sad.
Good words Stephen. Significant ages are a bit like the start of the race, you want to get there as fit as possible and perform to your best, and always with the aim of being better the next time. Running should help keep that line in the distance.
Congratulations, now you can thrash all the older guys in M50!
Do some nice stretching of the Achilles and get running outside.
Joe (49 and a bit)
50 ? youngster ...
I find it means any niggle or injury takes longer to fix.
I must remind myself not to try and get faster and faster - there comes a pace for when 'faster' means something will break.
So now I'm thinking 'longer' ...
Oh yes - and the great fun at races of being one of those old chubby bald types (add a beard to FB's picture - it could be me!) who finish ahead of a lot of younger, thinner people. Especially fun if you can overtake them, & have a chat as you do it, on long uphill sections !
I second that! And no matter what, do not even think about a wig.
Hear hear Stephen Forde plus why do they start smoking? nowadays there is no excuse. I am really enjoying being faster than when I was 30 (am 59 in Aug).
Its a bit like the other thing XXX we can still do it but we have to try harder and the results are usually acceptable.
Wouldn't consider a wig, don't have enough to dye, so I just cut very short - (back to the wood)
So I suppose a dyed wig is not acceptable, then?
I do. I'm going down disgracefully.
50 is definitely the new 20. I'm in my mid 50s, (female) work in a support job in a university (so attending lectures with students) and have been assumed (by the lecturers) to be a student. And that's thanks to dying my hair.
50 is no big deal, are you any different today from yesterday?
Well, it seems to suit JB
I turned the big 50 earlier this year and last week I completed the fastest HM in years!!
I'm aiming for a sub 50 mins 10km and would like to do a sub 1.50 HM this year just to celebrate and am even contemplating my second marathon ever just to make it a good year.
Don't really notice a difference in age - last week I overtook lots of people clearly younger than me which boosted my ego tremendously. Admittedly I have had both my cataracts done, but that's a whole different story and now can see perfectly (left eye long sight, right eye near sight - brill!).
Embrace your age and enjoy it!
I did this for Muttley Jnr (18) recently. He'd never seen it before, let alone thought of doing it.
He tells his mates that he has an immature father.
I'm 52. I can grow old but who says I have to grow up?
Agree that your problem seems to be much more injury-related, rather than to do with age.
Get the achilles sorted and there's no reason why you can't run and race for many, many more years yet.
If you're relatively new to training seriously, you can also still look to improve and set new PB's. Admittedly, if you were racing in your '30's and '40's (let alone earlier), declining race times are a fact of life, but nothing to get hung up about.
Beyond 50, cross-training and stretching become more important, as the one thing you want to avoid is injury and I believe they do help a lot.
DJ (53)
Thanks DJ39 I can still dream though - since I started again (after 12 years) I am trying to concentrate on lesser mileage but more quality (used to do high mileage and lots of hard steady runs (6s and better)) - haven't got the time or energy - but have still set my mental goal of going under 30 minutes for 5 by the end of 2013 - I have eb=ven been known to have a day off once in a while!!! unheard of in a past life.
Hi Grendel3. 5 miles in under 30 mins as a Vet 50 will be a great achievement (well beyond me I'm afraid!). Best of luck and l hope you "nail it".
I think your plan to concentrate on less mileage/higher quality is definitely the way to go if you're focusing on racing at distances of 10K or less.
Anthony, I'm 37, started running 2-3 years ago, run the 10 miler sep 2011 trying to finish below 1:30hrs. as I was reaching 6-7km there was an older bloke running at similar pace so we chatted for a while finding out that our target time were the same. then he had to wait for his colleague and told me to keep going. sadly I 'died' on the 13km mark and saw him passing by with his 'struggling' colleague. I congratulated him after as he finished in 1:26 while I only managed mere 1:31:26. I checked the results later - he was in vet70+ category.... flipping hell, I wanna be that fast when I'm 70
David Jones 39 - I have to have a target - the 'lad' I introduced to running in 1989 is still going sub 30 and as we were on par - if he can do it so can I - the only difference is he hasn't had a 12 year break - but my target is to run something close to my previous bes even if I can't make it -
I'll be 50 in two years time.My attitude is f*ck em, i wont let it stop me doing anything. However, you have to be realistic, recovery does take a bit longer, its a fact of life. I dont train on consecutive days, and at the first sign of any niggle, resort to cycling.
Started running at Xmas, pb HM is 1:39:50. My target is sub 20min 5K and sub 40 min 10K.