Never Too Old to Run

Hi, Friends & Fellow Runners:

Happily, I seem to have emerged as a “go to” guy for Canada’s National Post when it comes to questions submitted by older readers to the paper’s weekly Each Coach running column – probably because there are relatively few marathon runners older than yours truly. Here are a couple of questions that were forwarded to me from 50+ athletes in the last few weeks (paired with my answers):

Q.  I’m 62 years old and I like to run four to five times weekly.  I cover approximately 30K in those runs.  I run with a heart monitor and I’m worried at my age that my heart rate is too high.  Average H/R 142, with a peak at 165.  I don’t feel winded or sore after my runs.  Am I spending too much time worrying about my heart beat?

A.  The short answer is yes – for two reasons.  First, monitors tend to spike erratically in the early stages of a hard run as the heart responds to the abrupt stress of a start that’s too fast.  Avoid that by warming up sufficiently before settling into your pace.  And secondly, all standard formulas used to estimate Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) rely primarily on age and become notoriously inaccurate when applied to older, physically-fit runners.  Thus, a measured Average Heart Rate that is perfectly appropriate can seem too high because it is compared with a formula-based maximum rate that, for 60+ runners, is invariably too low.  (Case in point: the formula used by most monitor and treadmill makers is 220, minus one’s age – which would put your MHR at 158, a totally absurd figure since your actual heart rate regularly exceeds that level.)

Q.  I finished my first 5k running clinic in June 2009, followed by my first 10k running clinic in the fall 2009. I ran my first half marathon in the spring 2010. Then deterioration. Knee surgery Jan 2011. Started over again in August 2011. I am 56 years old. I am not fast. I have arthritis. My goal in 2013 was to run one race / month, which I did. Smile. I participated in track in the summer months and achieved personal best times in all my races (5k, 8k, 10k, 15k and half marathon). So, before I get any older, any slower, or (heaven forbid) ill, I want to run a marathon. I am thinking I need six months of training so looking at fall of this year, considering Niagara Falls International Marathon. Masters program for beginners?

A.  Here are some hopefully helpful thoughts from a twice-a-year marathon runner who’s old enough to be your father.  Your challenge is not so much to complete your first marathon as it is to follow a training program that will get you to Race Day without injury.  Group clinics or pre-packaged programs are out.  Forget running 5 or 6X a week for as many as 60 or 70K, and trying to do that on a steady basis for as long as six months.  Instead, think 3 or 4X/week, a 50K maximum, and 18 weeks at most.  Take up the slack with cross-training (cardio- and strength-based).  It’s the salvation for older runners like us.

Coach Stephen