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OP, you should take a look at the article below. I believe it summarizes the difference between someone that does WAY too much endurance based exercise vs someone that cross trains and trains intervals. I would also take a look at Maffetone Method for your endurance training, so you're not always running on glycolysis.
I ran track in middle school, high school and college, cross country in high school and did a lot of road racing while I was in the military. I stopped running competitively around 25. I was never really built to be a long distance runner but I've always had outstanding endurance so I always did well in the mile, steeplechase, 5k, even running marathons. Towards the end of my final college season I had multiple stress fractures back-to-back however and each time I came back to running I had another injury issue pop up so I finally threw in the towel and moved more towards weight lifting.
I used to take a dreadful run about 5 days a week, 3 miles or so.
Then, HAHA, I came to my senses and admitted to myself that I found running boring, painful, dreadful, miserable, too hard on my body and nitwitish(for me).....so I quit, YMMV!
you keep running until your body wont let you...I have been a long distance runner for 16 years now. I am 36 years old....I am currently recovering from a fractured foot for a month now due to my excessive running this is my first injury ever. I haven't been able to run in a month I have been stuck doing other types of training so i am pretty much going crazy..lol this injury was a real reality check though that I was pushing my body to hard and to the extremes. Being that i am 36 and not a spring chicken anymore you become more prone to injuries....but it wont keep me from getting back out there just more cautious...so basically no matter how old you are anything is possible but you just have to listen to your body because unfortunately as we age our body also does to......
I wonder about this because I love to run so much. It makes me sad to think one day I won't be able to do it anymore. I just turned 42 and my mom is always telling me I'm going to have to quit soon because I'm getting too old to run. She is in her 60s and thinks it's weird I enter races-- as if it is ridiculous even thought I tell her there are actually people older than her still running--lol. Running for me is a release and almost like an emotional experience. Today I got up at 5 am and ran before my kids got up--and just LOVE the feeling of being alone with the sun rising. If you did have to stop running due to injury, etc. what did you replace it with? Did you get depressed when you had to quit or did you find something just as satisfying?
How many miles a week do you log? I'm your age and I do about 20 and feel I could do more if I wanted, or had the time. But running is one of those things you can do for a long time, barring any sort of joint injury. Like knees or lower back. Hell, there's thousands of people over the age of 60 in our country along that run regularly. Who run Marathons! 60 year old sub-four hour marathoners are not at all uncommon! Also, and this is the good part: running is probably the ONLY exercise you can do BETTER when you're, say, in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, then you did in your 20s!! Yep. it's true. Oh, you wont be able to run faster, maybe than when you were young, but certainly you can condition yourself to run longer. Farther. More miles a week. Especially if you lost weight over those years.
Barring injury you still have decades of running ahead of you. Make sure you have good shoes, and don't overdo it. Make sure you use a 3-prong regimen in your running every week or so. Do a long, slow day; a day of interval training (speedwork) and a tempo run day, where you run a medium distance (for me that's about five miles) at a 2/3 your fastest pace. This 3-prong training gives you endurance; stamina, and with the tempo days is the time to work on your form and style. Make sure you take days off; and don't be afraid to use walk-breaks in your runs. Jogging 8 minutes out of 10, with two minutes walking has been proven to be JUST as good for you as jogging the entire 10 minutes! Why? because your HR stays elevated. Your heart doesn't care about miles, just how longer week it is raised to a target HR level for aerobic fitness.
I wonder about this because I love to run so much. It makes me sad to think one day I won't be able to do it anymore. I just turned 42 and my mom is always telling me I'm going to have to quit soon because I'm getting too old to run. She is in her 60s and thinks it's weird I enter races-- as if it is ridiculous even thought I tell her there are actually people older than her still running--lol. Running for me is a release and almost like an emotional experience. Today I got up at 5 am and ran before my kids got up--and just LOVE the feeling of being alone with the sun rising. If you did have to stop running due to injury, etc. what did you replace it with? Did you get depressed when you had to quit or did you find something just as satisfying?
Been running since 16, now 52 still going, my advice listen and respect your body, and pay attention to your knees, run on dirt and buy great shoe's...
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