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Experience

Experience January/February 2025

Making a Run for It in Your Senior Years

Thomas Edward McClure

Summary

  • Gain insightful tips on how to become a runner and learn how experienced runners adapt as they age.
  • As you age, your body undergoes changes. Cardiovascular endurance is reduced, muscle mass shrinks, and balance decreases.
  • Easing your expectations and increasing your rest and recovery are two ways for experienced runners to deal with the inevitable aging process.
Making a Run for It in Your Senior Years
Harbucks via iStock / Getty Images Plus

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About a year ago, 76-year-old Randy Burt registered for the Chicago Marathon. He and two other men in their 70s raced every year since it began in 1977. While not expecting to finish in record time, they were excited about participating in this 26.2-mile race—their 46th consecutive Chicago Marathon.

The trio were not the only older participants. Over 5,300 competitors aged 55 or older ran the 2024 race. This phenomenon is not unique. Nearly 7,000 seniors participated in last year’s New York City Marathon.

A study conducted by Lepers and Cattagni indicated that the number of NYC Marathon male participants aged 40 and older increased threefold from the 1980s to the 2000–2009 decade, while the number of older female competitors increased sevenfold during this same period. Results for local 5K (3.1 miles), 10K (6.2 miles), and half marathons (13.1 miles) across the country reveal that thousands of older participants run these distances regularly.

Run for Your Life: The Health Benefits

While we all can’t run marathons, age is not a barrier to running. According to certified running coach Amanda Brooks, there is a trend towards more athletes running after they turn 60. “As the years roll by, the significance of maintaining physical and mental wellness takes on greater importance. While the chronological clock keeps ticking, there’s a growing understanding that biological age can be shaped by lifestyle choices.”

As you age, your body undergoes changes. Cardiovascular endurance is reduced, muscle mass shrinks, and balance decreases. Running is one way to counter the aging process.

The benefits of running in our senior years include maintaining a healthy weight, increasing longevity, and building cardio-pulmonary endurance. WebMD lists additional benefits for senior runners:

  • Lower risk for getting certain cancers
  • Lower odds of getting diabetes
  • Improved levels of “good” cholesterol
  • Better bone density
  • Less inflammation
  • Fewer feelings of depression and anxiety

This article explains how to become a runner. Next, it will give tips on how experienced runners can adapt as they age. Finally, it will offer suggestions for novice and seasoned runners.

Walk Before You Run: Tips for New Runners

If you are new to the sport or are returning after a long hiatus, you need to enter this activity slowly.

Check with Your Doctor

Check with your physician to make sure you are healthy enough to start running or ready to get back into running. Schedule a physical with your doctor and discuss your interest in starting a running program during your appointment. If you have an underlying health issue, get medical clearance. Verify with your doctor that running won’t harm you.

Clarify Your Goals

Ask yourself why you want to start running. Is it to maintain a certain level of fitness or to enter certain races? If you can express your goals, it will be easier to meet them.

If you’re planning to race, you should follow a running schedule. Several plans are available online, such as “Couch to 5K” or Hal Higdon’s Training Programs. After you adopt a schedule, stick with it and don’t switch to another plan.

I use a running coach to help me reach my goals. She creates customized plans for many long-distance races.

Gradually Phase into Running

Once you have medical clearance, slowly phase into running. It’s best to start with walking. Certified running coach Laura Norris warns older runners that the “risk of injury is higher when starting a running program, since your muscles, joints, and bones are not adapted to the impact. If you are new to exercise, you can mitigate your injury risk by starting with walks.” Because walking is a form of low-intensity cardio exercise, Norris concludes that “Your aerobic system will develop in response to walking, which will make running feel easier.” Starting slow will help you build your fitness while minimizing your risk of injury.

Norris recommends that new runners start with a basic program of three 30-minute walks per week. Take four to six weeks to gradually build your walking fitness before starting a run program. Once you can walk three miles comfortably, then you can start a run-walk-run program.

I inadvertently adopted this strategy in my 50s when I was on a weight loss plan. After taking walks around the neighborhood for several weeks, I began to run. Then, I was hooked.

The run-walk-run program was developed by Jeff Galloway, an All-American college athlete and a U.S. Olympian. Under the Galloway method, you run for a fixed period, walk fast for a shorter time, and then repeat the pattern. The walk breaks reduce your heart rate throughout the run and lessen your risk of injury.

The Galloway method is a healthy way to transition into running. You can adjust the run-walk segments based on your fitness. If you are new to running, consider a one-minute run followed by a two—or three-minute walk. As you improve, increase the run intervals and decrease the walk intervals.

Some runners use the Galloway approach in competitions. AARP reports that a German study found that marathon runners who walked for 60 seconds every mile and a half, finished slightly behind competitors that did not slow down. Only 5 percent of the Galloway method runners felt extreme fatigue after the race, whereas 40 percent of the run-only group were exhausted.

I competed in the Bear Lake Trifecta last summer. This was a series of half marathons in three western states on consecutive days. Using the Galloway method, I finished first in my age and gender group (65-69 male) in all three races.

As you phase into running, you should build up your mileage and speed gradually. As an older athlete, you need more time to achieve what you could accomplish in your youth. A fitness level that may have taken ten weeks to attain in our thirties may now take over twenty weeks to accomplish. Don’t worry about your speed when you start. Build up your base through slower running. If increasing speed is vital to you, you can introduce speed training later.

If you aren’t following a running plan, consider applying the 10% rule. Limit the increase of your weekly mileage to 10% of the miles you ran in the previous week.

The Long Run: Suggestions for Seasoned Runners

If you are an experienced runner, you may have difficulty accepting that you are not the runner you used to be. Here are three suggestions.

Ease Your Expectations

As we age, we lose muscle mass and aerobic capacity. We need more recovery time and don’t perform at the same level. Just because you can’t run as fast doesn’t mean that you can’t experience a sense of accomplishment. Harvard psychologist Dr. Jeff Brown offered this advice in Runners World, “Embrace changes in your body and your abilities . . . Instead of trying to set PRs [personal records], seek different but still measurable goals. Try to hit 1,000 miles for the year or to run in three states where you haven’t run before.”

Two years ago, I realized that I couldn’t set a new personal record. So, I decided to run my second-ever marathon. My time was much slower than my 2012 marathon. However, I was elated when I finished the race. Last year, I set a goal of completing half marathons in five new states. I didn’t have a new PR, but I met my goal.

Don’t be demoralized by your reduced capacity. Instead, be content with who you are now. Be proud that you’re an active runner.

Increase Your Rest and Recovery

Rest and recovery are important for runners of any age, and even more important as we age. “Recovery is one of the most important parts of training for runners over 50,” says running coach Amanda Brooks. This not only reduces the risk of injury but also improves performance. According to New York City running coach Ben Navarrete, “All the muscles and the fibers that you tear while you’re exercising, you let them rejuvenate themselves. And you’re rebuilding your energy level.”

Add an extra rest day during the week. You might be surprised how much better you feel if you take off two days instead of one. As I’ve gotten older, I nap after I take a 10+ mile run to energize.

Mix Up Your Routine

Include variety in your training. Change up your distances and throw in some sprints or short hill repeats. Run in different locations. Keep your things interesting. Likewise, if you are strength training, alternate your exercises.

It Keeps You Running: Advice for All Runners

There are recommendations that both experienced and beginning runners should follow to enjoy the sport for years to come.

Warm-Up

Make sure to start each run with a brisk warm-up. You also should include a few exercises to limber up. When you stretch, use active rather than static stretches. Your active stretches consider forward and lateral leg kicks, arm rotations, and lunges. You should also stretch after your run.

Choose Good Shoes and Appropriate Clothes

Find the running shoes that fit you best and provide enough cushion and support. Try on several pairs of shoes and choose the ones that feel right. You should replace your shoes every 300 to 500 miles. Try owning a couple of pairs to alternate.

Wear moisture-wicking clothes to help you feel more comfortable. Lightweight material is less likely to cause friction that leads to chafing. If you’re running in the dark, wear reflective clothing.

Add Strength Training

Running coach Laura Norris suggests that runners should incorporate two to three days of resistance training per week in their training. “The aging process can result in muscle loss and decreased bone density after age 30. While running provides many health benefits, it does not significantly increase lean muscle mass or improve bone density. However, resistance training does promote both increased muscle mass and bone building.”

Improve Your Balance

Balance and the ability to sense the position of your body in space start to decline during your senior years and put you at risk for trips and falls. Add balance exercises to your routine. When you run, you are standing on one leg at a time. An easy way to improve your balance is by alternate standing on one leg for 30 seconds. You can also improve your balance through basic yoga balance moves. If you have good balance, you’re less likely to fall and more able to regain your balance if you begin to stumble.

Because my balance and night vision have declined, I stumbled and fell several times during early morning runs. I now incorporate balance exercises in my training and no longer run in the dark.

Properly Hydrate

Drink before, during, and after your runs to prevent dehydration and muscle cramps. The sensation of thirst decreases with age, so you need to remember to hydrate. When I run, I drink every mile, even if I’m not thirsty. Water is fine for short runs. But for longer distances, drink a sports beverage such as Gatorade. When the weather is hot and humid, take electrolyte tablets.

Heed the Pain

If you’re hurting, stop and walk the rest of the distance. Our younger self would work through aches and pains. “No pain, no gain” is not a winning strategy. It’s better to take off a few days rather than aggravate your injury and extend recovery for weeks. You are older and wiser now. Don’t tough it out. Instead, listen to your body and immediately react.

Runnin’ Down a Dream

By using the wisdom that comes with age, we can engage in an exciting activity and reach measurable goals. Although Randy Burt’s 2024 Chicago Marathon time was more than two hours longer than his PR for this race, he completed his 46th Chicago Marathon. He has no plans to stop and hopes to compete again. If Randy can live his running dream, you can, too!

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