We Studied 3991 Runners Over 50 And learnt This...

[@CoachParry]

As Devlin mentioned in the video, you can save your spot in our upcoming Faster Beyond 50 Masterclass here: coachparry.com/qayc-Faster-Beyond-50-Masterclass

[@davidwilliams912]

I will be 70 years old in February and number one Recovery is everything to being healthy competitive runner! Second most important thing is Weight, strength, and cross training, (Cycling) on recover days and third and most important is diet. Eating God given food will self-heal the body and laying-off the addictive sugar products and GMO products is beneficial to having good health. Number four is to is to find the solution to getting off prescription drugs. Number five is finding inner peace within self and enjoying the Love of Running!

[@andrewspencer5220]

I'm 68. One thing I now do if I get ill, I stop running. If say I had a cold for 3 days, after the cold clears up I will take 3 more days off, so 6 days in all. For me it pays to be sure I'm healthy before I return to running.

[@nimblegoat]

I not a runner, but I do exercise. You can cause heart problems when older, if you are feeling poorly. Also see long covid; affected those who didn't rest the most . Also only do HIIT at a very intense level when feeling good , as also increases chance of atrial fibrillation when older. When a mountaineer decides to pull back from summiting, that big day ultra even you paid for , may not be best if have a virus, or had no sleep the previous night. Tired of 60, 70 people thinking they are fit like a 20 year old. Even an unfit 20 year old can party on 4 hours sleep for 3 days and nights , and get up to go to work at 6am on Monday with little mental fortitude required .

[@wbadad]

Being 52 and running for 3 years I've learned that older runners can start jogging slowly then slowly ramp up but will eventually run themselves into injury. Leg strength will grow then adapt for running and then comes the injury. Leg squats are important to build the muscle using a full range of motion. Squats may not require much weight but the range of motion is critical. Don't give up. Get stronger and run better slower.

[@71spud]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE….. talk to the older runners who are JUST STARTING…. I know there are a lot of older runners who are running for the first time. I never ran, did sports, or anything athletic beyond the occasional hike. I am 55 and just started running 14 months ago. Another video telling me to slow down, I will never be as fast as I was in my 20’s etc is not what new “older” runners like me need. Also slowing down to the point running form is impossible to maintain isn’t working for me. It is actually easier to run faster, even though my heart rate in nowhere near Zone 2. Not everyone is trying to relive their Glory Years…. Some of us never had them and want them now!

[@perro0076]

Number 1, forget about age. Number 2, forget about age. Number 3, forget about age. Put your hand on your heart and ask yourself. Are you running for fun or to compete? Next one. Cut right back on carbs and pump the protein and ideally raw veggies, as opposed to cooked. Experiment. My sweet spot is 80 grams of protein immediately after a session. I weight 72kg. Put yourself on the 5:2 diet. 2 non consecutive days a week eat only 800 calories. Stick to malt whisky and prossecco. I'm 63, training for a sprint tri and chasing 20km inside 30 minutes on the bike. Got past 17km in 30 mins last month. So chasing 18km. To get faster I do a lot of HIIT on the bike and running. I only train my race distance and train 5 times a week.

[@ian4iPad2]

There’s an old 50s song which goes, “Enjoy yourself; it’s later than you think”. Starter Older runners only need to enjoy themselves.

[@markthomasson5077]

I am 67, started 8 years ago. Did the Ben Nevis Ultra last year. For me it is about completing a challenge, albeit that many have strict cut off times. I did tha Lakeland 55k this summer, which was relatively easy. Then attempted the Tromso Skyrace a month later. That was hard, strict cut offs, not set for older folk….not to mention some very serious terrain. Yes, definitely agree with the train slow. I would also avoid road running, just leads to repetitive strain injuries. Strength training, I am starting to learn is important. And, if you do a long distance event, it does take many weeks to get over it, another month later I did the Ring of Steall, 28k, 2,00m approx, and the wheel came off my wagon on the last descent, or at least the quads did.

[@paxundpeace9970]

Slowing down is correct and important as long as you can maintain form. For many (men) it is difficult to main form when running slower then 6:10-6:20. Still this does mean run rather 5:30 instead of 5:10. Still it is important to keep for im a wide range of paces.

[@MrKingamaziah]

@@perro0076same for me it’s all new

[@cslau1836]

My name Aaron Lau living in Hong Kong, I started my first running on 57 years old. Before never engaged any sport event. In the very beginning, I felt hard after run 2km and start vomit. But after continues running 3 times a week, I can run 5km after 3 weeks and 10km after 3 months. Of course my pace was slow 7min/km. I finished my first Half Marathon after 1 yr and Full Marathon after 2 yrs. Now I am 68 and continue my running and will enjoy full marathon in the coming years.

[@markohakkola5180]

Thanks. Turned 50 on Thursday, so this is just in time....

[@jacobrocks7]

I’m in that age group..I have reduced nay mileage from 35-40 miles weekly to 20 miles and my pace has declined from 1:30 HM to 1:50 ..but I’m happier and enjoying my runs better rather than running for time ..enjoy running while you can before you start using the walker ..

[@leafulchermasterunner]

I’m 50 and run 5ks in 16mins and do alot of speed work! Threshold and vo2max twice a week! When you get older you need to do speed work twice a week minimum!

[@edwardwilliammorris1340]

I'm 56 this Xmas , I've run 7 days a week for 30 months non stop and covered 0ver 6000 miles . If it feels right do it . Some days are only 6mph some are 7.5 mph , I let my body choose . ½ marathon every Monday, all solo miles 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

[@sukottora]

That is pretty impressive.

[@skybiz4520]

Yeah, problem is these type of videos showing people that looks 70+ and telling us that these are 50 y.o?? Nowadays many 50 y/o look no different than 30 y.o, especially with active lifestyle..

[@jarent2999]

I’m 52. I’ve worked up to 5-6 days a week, 40-50 miles per week training for a half marathon. One thing that can’t be stressed enough - keep your easy runs easy, and keep at least 80-90% of your miles ez. I swallowed my ego, running 9:30 to 10:00+ miles over hilly terrain and it’s paying off. Im running under 7:20/mi for a half marathon.

[@ErnestoBurden]

I’m 53 and just ramping back up after a year at low mileage and ran 1:29 for a half a few weeks ago. I do my easy runs between 8:15 and 9:30 unless I’m running with my youngest son, and then we do 9:30-10. I’d say 75% of my week is at that easy pace, the rest is a mix of more aerobic and threshold and intervals. But, respectfully, I’d say running “easy runs” at 30 seconds (or even 60 second) slower than half marathon pace is way faster than I’d ever do or advise. When I was running half marathons in my forties at 6:25-30 pace, my easy runs were still 8:15-8:45.

[@ErnestoBurden]

@@therapygrind I'm saying something different from the original poster - but also from your suggestion that easy pace must be within 30-60 seconds faster than half marathon pace. That seems too fast to me, especially as a rigid rule. Jack Daniels VDOT chart says 8:07 to 8:56 for easy pace related to training for a 1:30 half marathon, and that seems to dovetail very well with my experience. But hey, folks can always find an expert to contradict an expert and arguing about it online is as futile as arguing politics. Whatever works for you, do it. I was mostly sharing as a bit of personal practical experience for folks who were still undecided.

[@jimcooke7147]

Dr.Jack Daniels says most of us run our slow runs too fast and our fast runs too slow. Most of us run in 3rd & 4th gears and it should be 2nd & 5th geara

[@thepsychologist8159]

I'm 52yo. I just ran a half-marathon after coming back from a bad achilles injury. Towards the end of my recovery I started doing simple things like going for light walks, some squats and side leg raises to build my glutes. Then I did some bike riding for a few weeks. With only 5 weeks to go before the HM, I started doing some light running but always mindful of my injury to ensure I didn't re-injure myself. Gradually I became more confident and built up the kilometres. With limited time I focused on volume as there's no point in running a HM if I couldn't make the distance. Most of my training was done at easy pace, 12k/ph. With two weeks to go, I sprinkled in some fartlek sessions - total distance 8km - 2km easy pace (12k/ph), 400m @ 12.7k/ph, 400m @ 13.4k/ph, back down to 12k/ph for 800m, and repeat 3 more times, with one final 400m at 12k/ph. With one week to go on the Sunday before the race I did an 18km at 12k/ph. On race day I ran the HM in 94:52. This was nowhere near my best, but with only 5 weeks of running and coming off an injury, not too bad - an average pace of just over 13.4k/ph. Conclusion to the story. Spend most of your time training at easy pace. Sure, you need to throw in some high-intensity stuff, but volume at easy pace is most important for endurance runners.

[@roccotarulli2464]

really glad I found this. I've gotten injured and have been missing my runs and now I know a little more time off will help me get back.

[@fraserwigley]

Everything you say makes sense, but many of us think of 50 as young. How about advice for runners over 60 or 70?

[@AliciaLenahan]

Please make time to talk about the importance of balance, posture, and alignment while running.

[@NellyMin-e6d]

Thank you for the nice and easy stretch. Perfect after 12k yesterday in sub zero temperatures 😊

[@Burps___]

Adore the notion of "season's bests" versus "personal bests". Thank you

[@peterwhite7428]

Good advice. I’m 76. I took time off after I ran a 10k last June, now it’s December and I’m going back by walking first. After a week or two I’ll run slowly, very slowly, then in time run farther but not faster. At 76 I can win 10 k races by running slowly.

[@klaasdeboer8106]

I restarted running 11 months ago at 55 after a decade of inactivity. The building of running muscle went terribly slow. It was really running minutes at boringly slow speeds. Now everything seems rather normal again. I did more sprinting like things, to build muscle and flexibility, and used the bike for more cardiovascular training when my legs were limited to less than half an hour of running. Now I can ride over 150 recreational kilometers on a day, and I picked a countryside marathon for november. Running barefoot prevents me from running too tired to maintain good running form, and I stayed free of any pain throughout this journey.

[@henrycook6376]

Good video! I strained a calf a month before Chicago marathon and hobbled thru in pain at 4:23. I'm 53 and after taking a month off I've decided to only run every other day now. Like you said, take time to recover!

[@jayantnagarkar1018]

Very useful information . Thanks .

[@chandraau1475]

Great video, the presentation made the information easy to follow.

[@trainwellracewell]

As a 50 year old runner, I was recently thinking about the concept of inflation and applying it to fitness. As we get older, we experience this “fitness inflation” where we might be able to “purchase” or train for the same result we had when we were younger but we have to pay more for that same result than we did earlier. It simply takes more effort in order to get the same results which can be a scenario for being injured more often

[@perro0076]

He-he. Me too. I'm on the diminishing returns part of the curve. I figured I'm on the edge of what my body is capable of. What is working for me is to virtually give up on 'normal' carbs (sugar in any shape, wheat products, rice and potatoes) and go big on protein and veggies. In reality you can't escape a burger, a beer (at a BBQ in the summer you can't beat)or doritos, but as long as you bear in mind they are exceptions. Training-wise HIITs are making me faster. They push my anaerobic threshold further back.

[@rscott6512]

1 month into off season - recovery. Focusing on weights for strength and muscle gain. With 3 days of recovery between workouts 100% centred on compound movements: squat, bench, pull ups (or rows) and shoulder presses. Significantly reduced weekly mileage to remove any aches or pains and simply change it up. Did a fartlek last Sunday and my garmin watch decided to boost/improve my lactate threshold. My LT was stuck at a set level leading into my last race for the season (half marathon). I must have been training too hard and not letting my body recover. Guidance in your video definitely applies to me.

[@shantanusapru]

Excellent, realistic, common sense points!!

[@chu88y1]

....and reduce running on road surfaces. thanks

[@PaulMacD1978]

45 here, looking forward to continuing well into 50s and beyond. Set a half marathon PB earlier this year, however was pretty burnt out after it as ran hard pretty much every run. Trying to slow down a bit now and keep the efforts for shorter runs eg. parkrun 5k.

[@PaulMacD1978]

Also believe strength training/stretching is imperative for injury prevention

[@MrTemplerage]

Truly it is so hard to overcome the lifetime of beating it to adjust down to levels where we can still recuperate. Too much pain and not any gain.

[@jameshorgan2395]

Not one mention of Barefoot running. The difficulty and pain is caused by the biggest con in history. Cushioned training shoes. Transition to vibrams or similar. It works.

[@chilatelover]

Well I wishi would have watched this earlier. Now at 51 I have destroyed my feet after running a marathon. Plantar fasciitis is a hell of a thing

[@BrettCohrs]

I'm 52 and ran my first (very slow) marathon in the spring of 2022 where I jacked up my IT band about 11 miles in. It's been tough gaining consistency after that, bouncing from slight IT band issues to weird calf cramps that bounce between my legs. I never know which calf it's gonna be. The biggest downfall is discouragement. I know that I need to at least walk on my off days - or days when the cramping is too bad. I struggle because I can't get back to the rhythm I was in when training for the marathon. Hopefully, I'll get back there!

[@Freedomone153]

Eating really healthy will stop or soreness. Eating Avacado. Eggs... meat... dairy...

[@kevztunes]

I've been pounding the pavement since my late teens, so more than 52+ years now. I still run/train pretty hard with 12K runs (5x times) per week, and one hard interval session at the track. Plus, I also do a 5K race-walk on those 2 non-run days...which includes a series of steep 100m hills. I'm naturally a hard runner, and have never adopted the 80/20 rule...that just isn't me, simply because I find it rather "unnatural" to run slower than, say 5:00 per/Klm pace. However, since the age of about 63, or so...I have gradually slowed a bit...which is just the inherent aging process, as obviously my feet, legs, and skeletal system, etc., are getting worn out (and tired) after all these years. Fortunately, I've had very few serious injuries over the decades, and I have to chuckle, coz I pulled my first (and only) hamstring at age 62 😎 People who start out running in their 40's , 50's or even older obviously have the advantage of not being subjected to all that "wear n tear" from a much younger age...so, hopefully (in theory) they should be able to run well into their much later years. I know one guy who begai his running career at age 57 and went on to be a regional-national best for his (60-64) age group. I have found (over the decades) that running "easy" will of course prevent injury AND keep a certain level of decent fitness. However, in order to maintain a quick race pace...one has to run at a decent threshold level regularly...otherwise that threshold ability will (over time) simply drop lower and become the "new" normal. I noticed this every time that I had a minor injury...and then deliberately ran "easier" for a while...my race pace clearly suffered, as that "optimal edge" simply wasn't maintained. That's my personal experience regarding this subject...

[@Sabrina.LC17]

Is it possible to run my first marathon at age 59 with only 10 months of training? I'm not looking to be fast, just to finish in less than 7 hours. Thank you!

[@gregtracy9007]

I have no running genes. I got in to ice water swimming at age 52 and walking at 55 one day I got drawn in like ice water swimming I would see the ice water an jump in the ice would cut my legs. My first quartor mile run was like that at 55 years. I was now a runner. Now I'm 63 I have no back issues or stomach. What I see people are born to run! Most will suck at it like me. I had a double bypass in 2020 I ran 3 miles a month before. After that I run 12 miles a week. My heart was better after I could wear out my legs.

[@runningaddiction3442]

Hello , does this apply to new runners (>50)? Or all, since i am 53 yo and been running for more than 20 years, and running daily, 400 km min / month, do lots of slow runs focusing on 2 or 3 Q session/ wk

[@qingshanf2110]

My runs seems not clear cut easy or hard. For a structured hard workout, I still have the easy part as warm-up and warm-down. For a non-structured easy run, I like to progressively get faster. So it is not quite easy toward the end,. The bottom line is recovery. As long as we can reasonably recover on the next day, we should be ok. i like that idea 1~2 sec slower per year, after we past the peak years. There might be some statistics data back it up.

[@chuckperry3313]

I have only been running since 4/2020, it was my anti-social distancing effort. I am on a number of forums. My sense of this, amongst others, of your videos is that they skew towards road runners. 95% of my runs are on trails. They are not training runs per se. Races are not my thing. Greater distance runs per year are. The word running to me means trail runs with variable and sometimes substantial vertical. I feel the word running to others means roads or racing where vertical is minimized. Scaling your suggestions into these 2 different worlds takes some inconsequential effort. You say "don't run with pain". I gotta be honest, something always hurts at my age. I have a relatively persistent pain in my back. Going to a doctor, at least in the US, for persistent back pain does not have a path to wellness. The DCs push, pull, and crack you. The MDs medicate you. Neither are fixes. IMO at 66+ something always hurts. If it is a known pain and I understand it, I run. If it is a new pain and running aggravates it, I go through a little multi-step process to recover or identify it. Pains are not that fixable in my relatively long experience. I also find the term "age appropriate" vague. I can't imagine ever running a sub-4 hour marathon. I feel that term should be capability appropriate. We are not necessarily defined by our biological age as much as our physiological age. One of the top distance runners in our group, who is on a multi-hundred day running streak, is older than me. I disagree with how long it takes to lose conditioning. 1 week off doesn't effect much. If I take two weeks off it takes at least two weeks to get back. That goes exponential at greater than 2 weeks. At least for me. Oddly I am at a point with the way I train that I am continuing to get faster. Not really a goal of mine, but I do most of my runs in zone 2 (I call it low and slow). My overarching point here is that age is a number. We all stand somewhere in a capability spectrum. For some they may be headed down, for some up in capabilities. Kind of like Max HR calculations vs reality. One size does not fit all. YMMV ;)

[@crstepstudy]

I love Titanic 🚢 Great example 👍 PlayStation 😱🤣

[@GhostYT_lat]

"learnt"...wtf?