If you’re an older runner like me, you’re probably wondering at what point age is going to catch up with you?
Well, today I’ve got some good news for you!
The most substantial declines truly don’t set in until around the age of 75 years old, according to a study by Baker and Yang, et al 1.
And with the right types of supplemental strength and stability training, which you can find here, you can help offset some of the age-related performance drops you might otherwise experience.
Moreover, when you mix this in with the right type of training, you can keep making progress well into your running career.
But, what I want to address in this article is how to switch your mindset from PR chasing, even when you’re still improving slightly, to enjoyment chasing, so you can enjoy running even more. Plus, you’ll find this shift actually helps you improve long-term (I’ll explain how later).
Reset the PR clock
One mental shift I rcommend is to start paying attention to your results in terms of age grading.
New to this term?
Developed by the World Association of Veteran Athletes, age grading gives you a set of tables to compare your times by age and gender.
The tables work by recording the world record performance standard for each age at each distance, for men and women.
Here’s the deal:
If a 65-yr. old male runs a 45-min. 10k, he can compare that to the world record for his age and that distance and get a percentage rating for his performance. This allows master’s runners to theoretically even the playing field when comparing their times to their younger counterparts.
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Download your FREE Age Grading Performance Calculator now.
It makes it easy to calculate your age graded performance to compare yourself against those young guns or your former self.
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Another option is to reset that PR clock with each new age group.
You get a clean slate with each new age group, and compete against yourself throughout that five-year period. This helps keep you motivated, and look at what you can do versus what you used to be able to do.
Pursue Ultras
Many master’s runners choose this time in life to start hitting the trails, and there’s good reason for this. Trails afford runners the opportunity to switch up the muscles they use, improve smaller stabilizing muscles, and get a break from the harder surfaces of concrete or macadam.
Take all of that and translate it over to running ultras, and many master’s runners find a home.
With well-earned patience from years of running and life experiences in general, master’s runners often do a better job of pacing in the longer distances than their younger counterparts. In fact, a study by Zingg, Rust, et al (2), found that master’s runners dominated 24-hour ultramarathons over a 13-yr. period.
Beyond the competitive advantage of being a master’s runner in ultras, getting on trails definitely brings a new sense of enjoyment to running.
Imagine this:
There’s something about getting muddy, jumping over logs and roots and seeing a wide variety of changing terrain that makes a runner feel like a kid again.
If you haven’t given the trails a shot, now’s the time.
If you want to read more about ultra running, check out our recent posts on how to train for an ultra, and how to pace an ultra.
New Opportunities
You can also focus on distances you’ve never tried before as a younger athlete.
Say you spent the better part of your 30s chasing a marathon PR and never got around to seeing what you could do in the 10-mile or half-marathon distances, why not try now? Every new distance is a chance at a new PR.
Finally, there’s always the option of running just to enjoy it, without the added element of “training.” You can leave the watch at home, try new routes and maybe even find new/different running partners with which to share the miles.
Whats the bottom line?
Regardless of which avenue you choose to travel, running as a master’s means anything but the end of the road. It can be a time to hit the reset button, find a new favorite distance, or just relax and enjoy the miles without the pressure of competition.
The options are limitless, and if you want to see how other inspiring masters runners are doing it, check out our podcast episodes with Kathy Martin, Margaret Webb, and Doug Kurtis. Something to listen to while you get out there on those new perspective runs.
