6 Reasons Running is So Much Harder When You Start as an Adult

Finn Melanson [00:00:10]: Hello, fellow runners. I'm your host, Finn Mulanson, and this is the Run to the Top podcast, the podcast dedicated to making you a better runner. With each and every episode, we are created and produced by the expert team of coaches at Runners Connect.net, where you can find the best running information on the internet, as well as training plans to fit every runner and every budget. What age were you when you first started running? I'm guessing you were over 18 and likely over 30, 40 or even 50. And unfortunately, as you may well have already experienced, there's something so much harder about starting when you're older, so many more obstacles, worries, and challenges that your running peers who started earlier in life never had to contend with. In today's episode, Coach Jeff is going to dig deep into many of these reasons and share with you some tips on how to make some of them a little easier or less challenging. In this episode, you'll learn the science behind why it's more difficult to stay healthy, the big physiological disadvantage you face and how to catch up, and how our approach to goals as adult runners puts us at a disadvantage. Having been someone who took up running very early in life and now someone who coaches almost exclusively people who didn't, Coach Jeff has a lot of unique perspectives and anecdotes he's going to share with you that really make some of these points hit home. If you started running later in life, you're really going to love this episode. Let's get to it. If you're recovering from a race, then you want to make sure you're maximizing your nutrition to help you recover faster. And one of the best ways to do this is with Heal from Aminoco. Later in the episode, I'll tell you more about Heal and how it can help you with your race recovery. Or you can check out the research@aminoco.com RTT. If you're tired of sweaty, smelly and stained seats after your runs, then you have to check out the car seat covers made specifically for runners from dry seats. Head to Dreats.com to learn more, and use code RC 20 to get 20% off your first order.

Jeff Gaudette [00:02:37]: I'd mentioned a guess that at least 50% of those of you listening to this podcast picked up running as an adult. Even further, I'd say that about 80% of you maybe did a little running in your youth, like maybe ran track in high school or did some non serious running for another sport but didn't take up running seriously until your maybe even your reason. I know this is because we host our annual summer and winter running retreats, and almost everyone that comes is someone who didn't start running in high school or in their youth. Now, to be sure, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this. In fact, I think it's quite awesome and I give you a ton of credit. While I did indeed start running at an early age. I have started other sports now that I've turned 40, and boy, is it drastically more difficult to start something new compared to when you're young. So today I'm going to talk about the six reasons I believe it's so much harder to pick up running as an adult. Now, some of these are mere observations, and I'm sure you'll be nodding your head in agreement. But there are a few lessons that I think you can learn from understanding what makes taking up running as an adult so much more difficult. And my hope is that you can take some of these lessons, apply them to your own training, and break through some of the difficulties that usually trip people up. So let's get started. Reason one, it's much more difficult to stay healthy. So let's start with the most obvious. It's a heck of a lot harder to stay injury free when you're younger compared to when you're older. We often joke about creaky knees and pulling a muscle, just getting out of bed in the morning as we age. And sadly, these jokes are funny because they're also true. Even worse, this problem compounds when you add in a sport like running, which is known for its high occurrence of overuse injuries, there are quite a few reasons you're more likely to get injured as an older runner compared to when you're younger. First, you've likely developed muscle imbalances or inhibitions over the years that you may not even know that you have. These inhibitions and imbalances can be caused from years of things like sitting for most of the day and old injuries that you may have. The result is that you may not be able to run and move or properly engage or fire the muscles needed to run with the optimal form for your body. Moreover, one of the first performance markers to decline with age is muscle power and explosiveness. This brings about a host of problems related to injury, mainly because the faster we want to run, the more explosively our muscles need to fire. When we try to run paces that are too fast for our primary running muscles to handle, then our body switches to engage less strong secondary muscles. There's even some research to prove this. A study from 2011 showed that calf injuries increase in occurrence the older we get. The researchers believe that this is caused by decrease in muscle strength in the case calf itself, and an increase in the amount of work it needs to do as the hamstrings and glutes produce less force. So what does this mean for the runner who takes up running later in life? Well, you're going to need to put in extra hard work on strength and stretchening and taking the time to get all of those potential inhibitions and weaknesses taken care of. Hence why this is something we harp on so much as coaches. Reason two lack of aerobic base compared to your peers who have been running their entire life. There's not a lot about training theory that is universally applied. But the one thing we do know for sure is that the aerobic system is the most important physiological element when it comes to improving as a runner. In fact, the aerobic system is 90% of the energy needed to run a marathon. And even a short event like the five k is still 85% aerobic. Now, when we coaches talk about the aerobic system, generally, we mean the systems and processes within the body that contribute to delivering oxygen to your muscles. This includes things like capillary development, myoglobin, and mitochondria. Unfortunately, developing your aerobic system to its maximum potential is not something that can happen quickly. It takes years and years of training to get near your maximum aerobic potential. Not only that, but there's some research and coaches who believe that we never really hit our max. We can always keep our improving our aerobic system, although there is a point of diminishing returns. And what's the best way to build the aerobic system? Well, lots of slow, easy mileage and lots of it. So now you can see the disadvantage of runners who start later in life. Compared to their peers who've been running their entire lives, they've had 1015 or maybe even 20 plus years of time to develop their aerobic capabilities. More than likely, they're already near their maximum potential, or at least at the point of diminishing returns. Obviously, that's a huge advantage when you consider that 90% of the energy required to race a marathon comes from the aerobic system. But what's more, these runners can get away with doing less overall mileage and volume now, because they no longer need to develop the aerobic system quite as much, they can just maintain where they're at. Less mileage means more time for strength, work, for stretching, et cetera, and a reduced risk of injury. That's kind of a double whammy. Reason Three jumping ahead too quickly with your goals and your Training when I started running in high school, the longest event we could race and train for was the two mile. That means I spent three to four years training for an event no longer than 2 miles. When I moved up to college, the longest event was the Ten k. I didn't even start thinking about training for a marathon until a few years after college. That means I had ten plus years of training under my belt before I even considered tackling the marathon. Contrast that to starting up running when you're older. What's the first distance all runners try? Couch to five K. Right. And how many of you listening were sitting a half marathon or even a marathon as your goal within the first two years? Some of you maybe even tried a marathon in your first year. You can likely imagine what I'm going to say about that when you go from not running at all or at least not running seriously and then go to tackle a marathon within a two year span. That's a big jump. Big increases or jumps in training are a recipe for injury, and that's what happens to a lot of runners who start later. You're already at a disadvantage when it comes to injuries, like I mentioned before. And now you're adding in another challenge. On top race, distances are just one aspect that progresses slower when you start younger. Another is overall training load. I'd venture to say that in my whole first year of running, I didn't run over 3 miles. In my second year, that number was likely six. And after four years of running when I graduated high school, I remember it being a huge deal when I ran 13 miles. That level of progression is obviously slow, but I think of it how it compares to the average person starting out who's likely looking to do 16 to 20 miles to train for a marathon within their first two years of running.

Finn Melanson [00:09:22]: Recovering from long races like the half and marathon is often a neglected part of the training process for most runners. In addition to taking it easy, optimizing your nutrition is one of the most effective ways to speed up your recovery. And that's what Amino company's product Heal does better than almost anything on the market. Heal is designed to reduce recovery times by accelerating muscle repair while helping maintain a healthy inflammatory response. In fact, a recent clinical trial compared the use of heel with high quality Whey protein. Heel showed a three times larger response to whole body protein synthesis and breakdown, which leads to reduced muscle protein breakdown and an increased muscle protein synthesis compared to Whey. In layman's terms, this means participants had less muscle breakdown and faster muscle repair when using Heel. So if you're looking for a nutritional advantage when it comes to recovery, I recommend you give Heal a try. Plus, we've even got a special offer for you where you can save 30% by using the code RC 30. Just head to Aminoco.com RTT that's Aminoco.com RTT and use the code RC 30 at checkout to save 30%. If you're like me, then most of your favorite runs are a little drive away. That means that it's that time of the year when you have to hop in your car after your run covered in sweat and dirt. Even if you use towels, your seats still end up wet and dirty. And unless you're cleaning them every day, the smell and damage the sweat does to your car can linger. And let's not even talk about if you have cloth seats. But you can put an end to sweaty, damaged car seats this summer with dry seats. Car seat Covers dry Seats waterproof seat covers are designed specifically for runners. Unlike towels, they are 100% waterproof and easily fit over your entire seat, so you don't have any missed spots. Plus, they are super easy to slide over your seat so it's ready in seconds, and they're machine washable so they are easy to clean. Ready for your next run. Dry seat covers will fit any bucket seat, from trucks and SUVs to compact cars, and on leather, vinyl and fabric seats. If you're tired of sweaty, smelly and stained seats after your runs, these are a must have. To make these even more of a no brainer, you can head to Dryseets.com and use code RC 20 to get 20% off your first order. That's drisets.com and use code RC 20 to get 20% off your first order.

Jeff Gaudette [00:11:58]: Reason Four lack of Training Knowledge Another big obstacle for runners who start later in life is lack of training knowledge, especially when it comes to running. This idea hit me in full force when I was talking to my sister a few months ago. She had had some bad health tests come through, and so she wanted to start getting exercise in. So I wrote her up a short, easy plan she could take to the gym with her. When I suggested going to the gym, she looked at me like I was speaking a different language. She's never been in the gym before and didn't even know how to begin. Now, that's not to say everyone who starts running later in life has no experience with fitness or working out whatsoever. Most adult runners fall into two camps here those who know a good bit about fitness in general, but maybe not much about running specifically, and those who have very little knowledge of anything fitness related. Interestingly, both can be difficult and present their own set of unique challenges. In fact, having some knowledge about fitness that isn't running Pacific can actually be more of a hindrance, because running flips a lot of our conventional training theory on its head. For example, I remember when I first started running, I would time myself every day and try to beat my time around the 1.5 miles loop we were asked to run. I wanted to beat my time every day because that's what we're traditionally taught in fitness and in other sports. You go all out every day and you try as hard as you can to be better and better each day. In running, this is actually quite the opposite. As you've heard from us countless times before, running easy and slow is the best way to improve. This flies on the face of everything we know about traditional fitness. The other big factors are that there's so much to learn and catch up on when it comes to training for running. Since you're listening to this podcast, then hopefully you're getting at least past the stage. But at one time, you probably had to learn what a tempo run was, what intervals are, vo, two max, et cetera. Even harder still, you need to learn what these mean to you paces, how they felt, how they should feel, how often and when they should be included in your plan. All of those things. Unfortunately, this usually means we spend quite a few of our precious early years in running wasting time, doing the wrong things, or doing the right things but doing them incorrectly. As most griddled running vets can tell you, they've probably forgot more about running than newer runners even know. Reason Five ingrained Bad Habits another potential related issue for adult runners is years of ingrained bad habits they may need to undo. This could be on the nutrition end, like eating lots of junk food, not getting enough fruits and vegetables, et cetera. It could also happen in the personal and fitness realm as well. Maybe you're not accustomed to pushing through those days. You don't want to run, or needing to wake up earlier every day to get in your workouts, et cetera. If you've ever tried to mix a bad habit, you know just how difficult it can be to really get over the hump. And the longer you've had this habit ingrained, the longer and more difficult the journey to fix it is. When you start running early in life, you may never fall into some of these bad habits, especially the ones that center on motivation, getting up earlier to work out, finding time to fit in your run, et cetera. Unfortunately for many adult runners, their progress in running will stall or plateau until they're able to correct some of these bad habits, which is challenging and takes a lot of hard work, especially when your peers who started when they're younger don't have to go over these. Reason Six more commitments in Life a sad fact is that as we move into our thirty s, forty s, and fifty s, we take significantly more commitments compared to our teenage or 20 year old selves. You know what they are work, family, kids, finances, all of the normal stuff that occupies our day. So you've already got all of those commitments, and now you're going to add in a tough, time intensive activity like running to your schedule and all of a sudden cut out an additional hour or 90 minutes to your already busy day. That's not easy, and it can take sticking to the routine of running, especially in the early months and years, a lot more difficult. Let me finish up this episode by saying that none of these challenges and obstacles are insurmountable, and they definitely shouldn't prevent anyone from taking up running in their later years. For all of you that are listening have, I know you can attest to just how life changing and fun running can be. But it's important to reflect on the realities of any situation and understand why this whole running thing isn't quite as easy as those grizzled vets sometimes make it seem. Congrats to all of you who've pushed through and are pushing through these challenges, or taking up running and excelling as you get older. Thanks for listening to today's episode and enjoy your run today.

Finn Melanson [00:16:47]: Thanks for listening to the Run to the Top podcast. I'm your host. Finn milanson. As always, our mission here is to help you become a better runner with every episode. Please consider connecting with me on Instagram at Wasatch, Finn and the rest of our team at Runners Connect. Also consider supporting our show for free with a rating on the Spotify and Apple Podcast players. And lastly, if you love the show and want bonus content, behind the scenes experiences with our guests and premier access to contests and giveaways, then subscribe to our newsletter by going to RunnersConnect. Net podcast. Until next time, happy trading.