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I figured this had to have been discussed before, but I did a search and wasn't able to find it.
I'm just wondering if anyone out there starting running when they were in their fifties. I have been walking quite a bit to help dump some weight I gained while on prednisone for a medical issue, along with eating healthfully.
I was never really a runner, but when I was younger, say in my Thirties, and I wanted to lose some pounds, I would walk interspersed with bursts of running during my walk, and it seemed to make the weight come off faster.
I started doing this two weeks ago during my walks again. It feels great while I'm running, but I can't go really far before I have to slow to a walk again, and then I run a little more. This weekend I found I could run more times than I could two weeks ago, and that was sort of encouraging. I was wondering if it is possible at this age to work my way up to actually running a whole mile. My walk is usually around 2 - 2.5 miles long.
Most of the really fast 60/70 year olds one sees at races didn't start running until their 40s/50s. Otherwise their knees/hips/backs would have given out long ago.
Read this ^. Singh completed the Toronto marathon at the age of 100. However he started running when he was 80 years old. So no, you are not too old and you can actually become a good and happy runner.
I would sign up for a race (walk/jog) and work towards that. It's just great to have goals.
I am 50 and just finished the NYC marathon, greatest experience ever!!
If you enjoy it, do it! If not, there's nothing wrong with walking either.
You are never too old! I started running exactly one year ago at age 51 in November of 2013. I worked out my entire life. I ran track in high school but never loved it. I belong to a gym and work out on my lunch hour every day. Still I had never got into running. About 10 years ago I started walking in the morning before work while still working out in a gym on my lunch hour. I loved walking and on and off I would attempt to run but did not enjoy it and thought it bothered my knee. I wanted to like it but I just didn't. I don't know what made me start last year but I started running very very slowly instead of walking. I did this every morning before work (starting out running about 2.5 miles) I signed up for a 5K in April and since that one I have ran 6 others, each race getting faster. I am running one in November and one in December. My goal now is to run a half marathon in the spring and am going to start training for that soon. I love running and it is a regular part of my work out now I do this all year in all types of weather. I don't know what took me so long to enjoy it! And also, i have no pain in my knee anymore! Good luck to you !!!
I started running in my 50's. I was walking 5 miles a day for weight loss and I started getting resentful of the time expenditure so I started running to do it faster. I alternated running and walking and eventually got to the point where I could run the whole thing. Probably the most I have ever run is about 10 miles and I have no interest in running longer distances. It's all about the number on the scale. If I run 30 or so miles a week, I can eat as I please.
I hate exercise, including running. But I like to eat. I'm almost 60 now and I keep waiting for something to fall apart but so far, so good. I realize I probably won't hold up well enough to continue much longer. I do wear good shoes, usually New Balance. And I have several pairs so I can alternate. It's too hot to run here in the summer(Las Vegas) but it's great the rest of the year. I swim in the summer but I always gain a few lbs.
I'm in much better shape than most women my age and I'm still more pudgy than 'cut'. Darn it!
WOW, thank you, everyone who responded! What positive responses. I'm kind of excited about this.
The suggestion about the 5Ks is a good one. I live near the NJ shore area, and it seems that every week here is another 5K advertised as a fundraiser for this or that. A woman I know who retired recently says she signs up for all of them because it's her way to keep fit.
I have a niece, 20 years younger than I, who was always a bit overweight and never athletic. She started running 5Ks three years ago, and eventually got into it bigtime. She's in great shape now and completed her first marathon (in MA) last month. Last year she ran the 13.1 in Long Branch, NJ, and that was the first time I watched a marathon/half marathon. I was amazed that there were so many older people out there.
I'm not saying I'd go for a marathon--right now I'd like to work up to a mile. And I think I can do it! But mostly I am doing it for my health and for weight loss. Last year I had a medical issue (weird rare thyroid disease where a cement-like substance was forming off my thyroid and squashing my trachea, making breathing difficult). That's being treated, and I can breathe again, which is great. I like breathing! But in the course of all the poking and prodding, I learned that my heart is in good shape, and my lungs are in good shape, and except for the thyroid thing, I've been pretty fortunate in that I haven't had any major health problems. And Mom will be 86 on Wednesday, so I might be around for a while. Might as well get in shape.
Thanks a lot again, everybody, for the encouragement.
Most of the really fast 60/70 year olds one sees at races didn't start running until their 40s/50s. Otherwise their knees/hips/backs would have given out long ago.
There are many people who start running in their 50s and early 60s, but my experience has been that the really fast 60/70 year olds have been running for a long time.
I've been running for twenty years. I started seriously running when I was 39. A guy who was a year ahead of me in high school started running when he was a junior in HS. After running HS and college cross country and track, he never stopped running competitively. I run into him a couple times a year at races.
There is no evidence that runners' knees/hips/backs give out any earlier than nonrunners. I know of one runner who needs a knee replacement after running his entire life. I run into nonrunners every day who either have gotten a knee replacement or have one scheduled.
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