Continued from How to run a marathon (parts 0 to 13).
In the beginning, I used to think that sports was only for young people. This is hardly surprising, since most people do in fact have that opinion. Football players retire from the game in their middle thirties. So do practically all other sports persons. A 40-year-old sports champion is a remarkable exception.
So imagine my surprise when I found out, as I took up running at the age of around 28, that a good proportion of runners are what used to be called 'veterans', and nowadays 'masters', i.e. older than 40. As an aside, I can't understand why a woman is considered to be a 'veteran' (mistress...?) at 35, whereas men only reach this grade at 40. Surely, it makes the mistresses feel 'old' at a rather early age, doesn't it? Anyway, that's beside the point.
Even now, at 46, when I line up for a race I'm very much in the middle of the pack as far as age is concerned. The impression I get is that I'm younger than a good proportion of my competitors. Which is all good news. Not only do many runners keep enjoying their activity practically into old age, but they also manage to clock in some quite excellent times.
In fact, long distance running is considered by many to be a sport for "mature" people. Whereas in most sports the best performances are obtained in the mid to late twenties, in long distance running, and particularly the marathon, it's very common for the top performers to be in the middle thirties. After that, age does start to have an effect on performance, but the decline is gradual, and hardly as dramatic as for other sports. One reason could be that long distance running is a combination of physical AND mental effort. You need to be very disciplined and mentally focussed to maintain the long-term regularity of training for a marathon, and this you acquire through life experience. One other reason may be that it doesn't involve the severe momentary stresses required by other sports. So, while there are probably hundreds of thousands of long distance runners who are over 60 throughout the world, you would find many less sprinters of that age.
If you're over 40 and just beginning to run, in fact even if you don't do any sport at all, you should carry out a general check-up of your state of health every one or at the most two years. If you don't have any particular problems, then you should have no problem whatsoever to take up, or to keep on, running. What you will notice, and this is inevitable unless you're a walking miracle, is that your performances will start to deteriorate slightly. It will become increasingly difficult to establish a personal best time at any distance. But if you train well it will still be possible to overtake a good number of rivals, most of them younger than you, during races. You may also aim to obtain an improvement on your performance the previous year or several years. This is perfectly possible. Besides, you can still aim to beat the 'usual' rivals, who are also not getting any younger.
Or you could take a different approach, and start a collection of completed marathons. For a marathon, the completion time doesn't matter very much. Whether it's sub-3 hours or 5-hours, a completed marathon is still another feather in your cap. If you just accept the fact that you're no longer at the very peak of your physical strength, you will be very happy if you manage to keep your optimum fitness. You will both feel as well as look younger than your contemporaries. Allow more time for recovery from strenuous training sessions, like very long runs and speed sessions, and (the overriding golden rule for all ages) don't overdo it. This, plus a sensible lifestyle with no exaggerated excesses and a slight dose of good luck should enable you to reach a well-advanced age in good shape.
That would be a great life achievement!
For the time being, most of us have a good lot of things to look forward to before we can crow about this achievement. Such as Weeks 22 to 25 of our beginners' schedule to running a marathon, which doesn't vary much, by the way, whether you're 28 or 58. We're now beginning to get close to our target. Here are my suggested workouts:
Monday to Sunday, easy pace, unless indicated otherwise:
Week 22: rest, 10k, 10k tempo, rest, 10k, rest, 2hr
Week 23: rest, 10k, 10k tempo, rest, 10k, rest, race / forced stoppage / 10k
Week 24: rest, 10k, 10k tempo, rest, 10k, rest, 2hr15
Week 25: rest, 10k, 10k tempo, rest, 10k, rest, 2hr15
Enjoy your running!
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