You did the smart thing by hiring a coach.
The main thing is to stick with the training program, and give yourself lots of recovery time.
You should relax and fun with this, I'm 56 and not looking to win gold medals, use multisports to keep fit and happy I say.

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res, non verba

well to start you off your min. miles not so bad. the problem many have coming in is looking for speed{min.miles ect.} the best thing at least the first couple years is build a aerobic base so you minimize risk of injury as you try to get faster.

for sure do not stop dreaming big but let wisdom be your guide.

Good on you for getting a coach.

Here is all I will say about your upside. I will NEVER say never in this sport where genetics plays such a huge part. It's not going to do it for you, but if you have it and you work at it hold on to your nuts. Someone here will dig up the name, but there is a guy over in Europe who starts with a picture and he is extremely overweight. Never done an athletic thing in his life if memory serves. I think at year 5 in the sport he went sub 9 in an IM over in Europe. Yea! Hopefully someone will dig that guys name up and post it b/c it's inspiring and amazing. Have no idea what blend of natural talent he had, but he obviously worked really hard too. I have friends who have been dedicated for 25 years who have not broken 10 hours.

Why is Boston even in your internal dialogue? You haven't run either a half or full marathon. So you don't know what you don't know yet. Run. Learn. Train. Prepare. Run another. Repeat. Then you will have some idea about your endurance speed and stamina and what is within your possibility.

If you can get your weight down, train consistently, and stay reasonably injury-free, there is absolutely no reason you couldn't qualify for Boston a few years down the road. The M60-64 standard is currently only 3:55. IMHO, a relative novice can expect his running to improve for 5-6 years he stays with it. It takes a while to build running specific endurance if you aren't born with it. The amount of improvement is tougher to estimate. With weight loss and improved fitness, speed increases of 10+% should be within your reach. With a 264 FTP, you have a pretty big engine, so you may be able to improve more than that. You can search for specific training advice on this forum by searching "barryp". Finally, I advise against a marathon so soon. Try out some short races, learn how to race and compete, challenge your current limits, and have some fun. Harden up your body and mind for a couple of years before taking on the marathon.

Good luck!

The issue with age is that your physical potential does decline (i.e. no one is going to be as fast at 59 as they were or could have been at 24). But, there is no reason you can not improve from where you are now. How far can you go? No way to tell but you won't know until you get there so just keep going ;-)

The biggest limiter with age, (aside from the basic 24 year old body vs 59 year old body thing) is that you just can not train as hard as a much younger person can due to the need for more recovery time. So, soon if it has not already happened, you'll have gotten all the easy gains and you'll have to work really smart at that point to improve further. While you can just beat the crap out of someone in their 20's and still get improvement, a brute force attack on fitness does not work as well with us older folks. But, as others have said, that is why it is good you have a coach.

Perhaps take a look at this new book, Fast after 50. One of the local die-hard seniors said its is worth the read. It's on my list, I just turned 50 and realize the need for more recovery at the same intensities vs. 5 years ago.

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<We all know that light travels faster than sound. That's why certain people appear bright until you hear them speak>

Assuming you want to do triathlons, you need to get into a masters swim program and start swimming. When you cannot run or bike anymore, you can swim. Plus swimming is the best way
to get the lungs better without the pounding of running.

Never had a coach, and never plan to. I am 58 and still setting PR's.

As was stated the trick to training and racing when older has NOTHING to do about speed. If you cannot stay healthy, does not matter. Also the comment on genetics is huge.

I have a friend who as a cyclist. Started Tris at 60. He is now going to worlds at 75 and am trying to get him to enter all 3 events since he could probably get gold in all three.

Very very few folks, let alone coaches, know how to work with folks over 55. They generally use the same approach as they give to younger folks.

Just get into the consistency, Frequency, and duration 12 months a year. Forget about speed other than in a race.

And yep, get and keep the weight off!!!

Good luck.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I'm 65 and I say that your potential will be mostly limited by what you think it will be. You're brand new. You don't have all the wear and tear that the rest of us have at this age. I used to know a guy who started running in his late 40's, in his 50's he could still break 40 minutes for 10K. All of us broken down runners in his age group couldn't stay with him.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Good for you! Consistent every day training is key. At your age which is similar to mine you will need to eat smartly and keep your weight down. I think your biggest challenge aside from consistent day in day out training is recognizing a significant injury from pain you need to work through. Generally speaking people give up too easily when faced with physical discomfort. Good luck!

sounds a little like me. :)

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I think I'm the "most seasoned" of your responders so far and believe the wisest advice has come from STP.

"The biggest limiter with age, (aside from the basic 24 year old body vs 59 year old body thing) is that you just can not train as hard as a much younger person can due to the need for more recovery time. So, soon if it has not already happened, you'll have gotten all the easy gains and you'll have to work really smart at that point to improve further. While you can just beat the crap out of someone in their 20's and still get improvement, a brute force attack on fitness does not work as well with us older folks. But, as others have said, that is why it is good you have a coach."

But there many tips here that come from folks, like this author, who've made mistakes they don't want you to make. Wishing great success and best of (injury-free) training.

John

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John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA

A 20 year old is more likely to over train than an older athlete. A 59 year old with limited athletic history may start with a big effort but in the long run will undertrain leading to sustained soreness, injury, and lack of motivation.

The biggest issue I see with a new athlete of any age is not correctly interpreting body signals. This can lead to major injury sure, but in a majority of cases will lead to an overreaction to issues that occur as a part of increasing one's fitness.

Thanks for all the feedback. Looks like the general consensus is to train consistently, train smart, not worry too much about speed, and stay injury free. And then, whatever genetics has blessed me with, will begin to show up. Have I got that about right? :-)

Here's a little more insight into where I am.

I've got a competitive mentality....background in sales for 30+ years has honed that in me. I naturally look for challenges, set goals, break them down into segments, and work to achieve them. I'm looking to be the best that I can be within the time constraints; that's why I hired a coach......I know I need help especially because beginning this adventure in later life means my time to improve is limited.

I've been very pleased with my coach's approach. I'm attempting to follow his plans religiously, even though there are times I really would like to be going harder. He had me doing base building only for the first 3 months (threatened to put a heart rate shock collar on me if needed). With running, has had me doing lots of drills to help improve efficiency and protect against injury. I've gone from severe heel strike to mostly forefooot, cadence up from low 80's to low 90's and mid 90's on race day. He's gradually introduced some intervals/speed work, but 70-80% of my time is spent at Z2, mostly low Z2. We set some aggressive targets for a Sprint Duathlon in April and I managed to hit them, coming in 6th in AG and 2nd on the bike.....running time's were my drawback (serious deficit) against the more seasoned competitors. I've also done a 10K and a couple 5K's since starting work with the coach; had done several of each prior to really beginning training.

The bike is my favorite; but for me racing crits or even road racing is out of the question from a safety perspective. So my competitive side is being fueled by Duathlons and running. I think I'm fairly strong on the bike for my age, but it looks like running literally takes years to develop. Which is why I posed the initial questions. Starting at 59......

Regarding Boston.......I work best with a goal.......it may be unobtainable.....but, why not dream, break it down into segments and work to obtain. If I never make it, I'll still be better for having tried.

Thanks again. Any further input or advice is still greatly appreciated!

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"I am ultimately responsible"

I started in 2001 when I was 55. As a kid, I went into team sports rather than carry-over sports - who knew? I had a modest running background. I was a pretty good recreational swimmer but had never competed. I hadn't done much at all with biking since I was a young teenager - and that was mainly for transportation. I've had a coach for the past eight years. She schedules my workouts for me and watches me swim when I ask her. She always has pointers.

My biking is still weak relative to most of the people who pass me in races, but I have improved a lot and do OK in my age-group. My biggest improvement has been in my swimming and while I can't run as fast as I did when I started marathon training in 1982, my running form has improved a great deal.

The key for me is that I really enjoy the training lifestyle. Friends assume that I'm driven to improve so I can improve to become more competitive - and there is some truth to that, but the main reason is that I love what I do. While I'm not aggressively competitive, I do enjoy being called up to the podium after a race. That used to never happen, but as I have kept at it and moved into older age-groups, I find myself getting more swag - which is fun. I'm looking forward to next year. I'll be retiring from work and moving into the 70-74 age group.

By the time you even have a chance to BQ you'll be 60. If I understand it correctly the qualifying time for
that age is 3:55 as I'm pretty sure you know. So, to be in the hunt you may it helpful to have certain
equivalent running goals along the way.

For intance you'll probably need to be capable of running a 1:52 half marathon if you are going to
be able to run sub 3:55. Use this calculator to help with shorter races leading up to trying a Boston
qualifying race.

http://www.runnersworld.com/...race-times-predictor

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

I'll weigh in just to re-validate most of the advice you've gotten. At our age, speed kills (at least as speed relates to consistent running workouts). From what you are describing, it sounds like your coach is doing a good job of keeping your speed reined in. I believe that we get better conditioning at lower risk for injury by running more often -- e.g. at a given weekly total of run mileage it is better to divide it among 6 or 7 days rather than 2 or 3. I do not know why this works, but it seems I need more than twice the recovery time to recover from a run twice as long and when I take a day or 2 off, I often feel that the days off inflict some damage. If I can recuperate overnight with a good night's rest, I am doing it about right.

I am like you in that I like to set goals. BQ is an admirable goal -- but it might be a little too far in the future. It might be better to instead have some shorter term goals. Once you achieve those, you will be in a better position to set further goals. Do I think you have a good chance at a BQ? Yes, but why let this define your training. If you eventually get there, fine. But in the meantime, enjoy the ride wherever it takes you. Celebrate each PR (and each "I only slowed down X amount despite getting older") as it comes and then shoot for the next milestone.

Good luck

Well you have a great FTP and solid running speed, so IMO the sky is the limit.

What I'd recommend is consistency of training, and definitely don't neglect speed work as some have mentioned. Older age groups need speed work! And nobody can really say that because you are a certain age you require lots of recovery time. The older I've gotten the quicker I seem to recover. But that just comes with consistent training and racing.

As far as how long you can improve, again, don't allow yourself to feel "limited" by opinions of others. I'd say you can improve throughout much of your 60-64 age group and be ready to kill it at 65.

I met Chris Wren at Kona this year. Won 65-69 age group the past 2 years there and has only been in the sport a few years. He trains with a big group in DC area I think and trains just like most younger folks

Good luck and have fun

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

Boy do I disagree on the "speed work", which I take as track work flat out for older guys. But, I love it when the folks in my AG focus on this and are not on the starting line at races with me. :)

Consistency, 12 months a year, and not get hurt are the folks I see on the podium all the time.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

''Regarding Boston.......I work best with a goal.......it may be unobtainable''


It is attainable! Keep it in your head. Work the plan that the coach is giving you but always keep it in mind that you are on the road to Boston.


It won't happen quickly but in time you will get there!

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Joe Friel and I disagree with you...and there may be a few others around here as well ;)

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

The day everyone beats me in the run, I will rethink my training plans.

.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

The day everyone beats me in the run, I will rethink my training plans.


Hmm, I dunno...not sure I'd wait for every single person to be faster than you before rethinking...but that's your call I guess

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Coach at KonaCoach Multisport

Yes and no.
A huge yes to the first sentence. That is the biggest factor in gaining fitness.

No to the second sentence. If you don't want to leave anything on the table, you need to include some type of speed workouts (VO2, Threshold, Tempo, strides ect) in your training. It's a tricky balance between how much, how often and how fast, but it needs to be a in your weekly training schedule. That balance changes as we get older, obviously. It also changes based on where you are with your training.

To only use races as your "speed workouts" isn't enough IMO. You want to be your fastest when you race.

Put the work in prior and reap the benefits at your races.

Personally, I like riding that line between hard work, the constant little niggles that pop up and an injury that keeps me from running.

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz