One topic that doesn’t get much attention in running magazines, on online sites, and in blogs, is older runners, senior runners, masters runners – yikes! There lies one of the problems: what word to use. That alone is a semantics nightmare. You don’t want to offend anyone, for sure. I know I don’t; so, in this podcast, I simply say ‘older’ runners, which is exactly what I mean.
The one thing every human being shares is the inevitable knowledge, that with every day, we are all one day older. Quite a bit of trepidation accompanies that knowledge, even for young people. Oh, they don’t give it much thought, but somewhere, in some corner of their brain, they do worry about getting old, and that’s why even very young people need the information in this podcast.
The fact is that if you do just one thing, keep running, you can completely transform the last half of your life to make it as enjoyable and active as the first half – or moreso. You can extend middle age throughout the end of your life. With every year, more and more research proves this. That is both amazing and exciting, and if young people keep that in mind and take care of their bodies, even when they’re young, the chance of living an extremely vital, healthy, active life until the end of life, is even greater.
In this Mojo for Running podcast we look at the terminology, about how your running may be affected as you get older, how to counteract the negative effects of aging on runners, and how to maintain most of your speed as you age. We will also take a look at the amazing accomplishments of older runners.
Mentioned in this episode:
“For Older Runners, good News and Bad,” by Gretchen Reynolds, New York times blog, December 21, 2011
“New Research Shows Ultra Marathons Could Add 16 Years to Your Life,” by Lucie Van Den Berg, Herald Sun website, November 20, 2013
Older, Faster, Stronger: What Women Runners Can Teach Us All About Living Younger, Longer, by Margaret Webb, Rodale Books, October 7, 2014
“Running Slows the Aging Clock, Stanford Researchers Find,” by Erin Digitale, August 11, 2008, Stanford Medicine website
Not mentioned in the podcast, but I found these articles and wanted to provide the link.
A set of Running Times articles I discovered that would be helpful on this topic.
Not mentioned in the podcast, but this is an excellent book.
Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You’re 80 and Beyond, by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D., Workman Publishing Company
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