Giddy-up-n-go:

Get use to it. I never had a triathlon or running injury until I hit forty. In the last six years I've managed to get injured with two bouts of pf, two bouts metatarsal capsulitis, dislocated knee cap (snowboarding), Morton's neuroma, and last week I f*@@ed up my achilles. It feels like the wheels are slowly coming off my wagon. The first few steps every morning are quite achy. But there is nothing I enjoy more than swimming, biking, & running.

Zeke

Age brings inevitable exposure to overuse injuries. It's just another phase of life that requires intelligence and honesty in planning and executing a training regimen. As we get older, we need to pay more attention to certain things: (1) Flexibility - stretch more and mores systematically - yoga helps; (2) Rest and recovery - huge breakthrough workouts two days in a row can be tolerated when you're twenty-five. At fifty-five, they can leave you reeling and set your training back; (3) Strength - we lose muscle from mid-thirties onward; spend most of our older decades in negative nitrogen balance. Need systematic and consistent strength training to combat that loss. There is some data that alkalinizing foods can help minimize negative nitrogen balance; (4) Sensitivity to the difference between pain and soreness - Osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease - the kind we are all generating with every run!) is painful. Workouts create soreness. It's amazing how, as we age, we love to think the pain in our knees is really the soreness we felt thirty years ago during a similar workout; and (5) Consistency - as we get older, we are rewarded when we are steady in our training. None of this run-a-marathon-without-training routine.

The flip side is that, if you've been active for many years, your aerobic base is huge - as I was reminded when I took a few weeks off with a broken ankle and returned to running pretty quickly.

1) Take up stretching on a daily basis. A good place to begin is with the book "Stretching" by Bob Anderson. I've been using that book for 25 yrs and it's now in it's umpteenth edition.

2) Take days off now and then. I train every other day most of the time. My 54 yr old body needs time to recover.

....all the things these guys said plus the Motrin bottle seems to empty pretty fast.

I am a serious believer in Glocosamine/Chondroitin/MSM complex. I have gone off the stuff a few time to see if it actually does anything. It seems to keep the low level joint achiness and soreness at bay.

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Same here...started training 18 months ago after 15 years off (kids, business, life, lazy). At 44 I feel strong, fit and "athletic" for the first time since 20's. But there are times when my body just won't "go" - mostly in the mornings. Just finishing taking a couple of days off after a long ride Saturday - wasn't planning on it but my body said "not gonna do it" when I said "train".

Smarter training/nutrition/rest/meds all appreciated and used, but there doesn't seem to be any way to hold off the aging process. So - enjoy the journey and go as fast as you can!

Wait till you start having prostate issues.

I'm faster and leaner than I have been in 20 years, but stuff takes longer to heal, I get sore more easily, and stay that way longer.

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Elivis needs boats.

You got it! I woke up with a sore back...again. Read oldslowdoc post kanda covers it. Time to ride a quick 30 mi. and swim 1500m. Tri this Sat.

54 in May.

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Train safe & smart
Bob

Yeah, these mystery injuries keep popping up. Not too many 20-year olds know what plantar fascitis is.
I'm getting an MRI on my knee today. I hurt it kneeling on hardwood floors of all things. Doctor thinks it's a meniscus tear.

Doc

Good post. I hope people read it and follow your advice.

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Train safe & smart
Bob

...........Even on a good day something hurts.

Good luck Saturday :)

I'm glad I read this thread. It has made me decide that I will stay young forever.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I don't typically have the pains you describe. On the other hand, my running has absolutely gone to the dung heap after going pretty well last year. The last couple races have been a full minute per mile slower on the run.

I had a leg injury, so I expect to get some of that back. I won't get it all back though.

I have decided to keep doing Lake Placid every year though, even if I need to enter the wheelchair division. If I start finishing in the dark, that is just too damn bad.

[reply] Osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease - the kind we are all generating with every run!) is painful. [/reply]

Running does not cause osteoarthritis, nor does it aggravate the condition: in fact all the studies done so far, indicate that it helps prevent arthritis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2332409.stm
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/health/qa-arthex/t_arthex.htm

That said, getting older is indeed a real bore, new pains every day. It beats the alternative, though..

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview

The impact of injuries and muscle soreness is linear from 40 to 50, then it becomes exponential from 50 to 60..........no experience yet with 60-70 but I know it is going to be hell. Just ignore it, that's all you can do.

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Latest Duct tape QR Superfull fashion model

I am not in that camp. I have gotten stronger and faster with age in recent years. I sucked in my 30s, I tried to train for a marathon 3 times, gave out each time with mechanical problems etc. Now in mid 40s I am completing marathons, HIMs etc. place in top 20% overall. IM is coming. I am not sore any more. What has changed is that I have gotten much smarter about training: cross-training is the secret to most of it, that's why tri is my game. It's amazing how swimming counteracts the strains of long distance running. You can be on a bike for hours and hours, it's so low impact.

Secondly, learning about rest/recovery, not going hard every day is the other secret. Let the body mend itself. It's begging you. Get enough/more sleep, put better food in your body helps a ton. I avoid injury prone sports: basketball, snow boarding etc. I see guys my age playing racquetball and they are limping along with knee and back problems...can't be surprised about that...

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I ride a Cervelo...get over it....

i'm beat up all the time and i don't do near the volume that some of you do. but it's not just training that kicks my ass, it's other stuff too.

here are a few examples of recent activities where i thought i would have to be hospitalized after the fact:

-putting in a new kitchen floor. i was beat so bad i couldn't work for a week.

-putting in new patio. all i did was shovel sand and move some heavy pavers. the next day my back and hands were broken in 8 pieces, i swear they were.

-walking all day in heels. well, i don't have to tell you how much of a pain that is. i might just buy my first pair of Easy Spirits (kidding, i'll never do that, but you get my point). the cabbie in Chicago nearly threw me out of his car when i requested a drop off just 2 blocks down, lol. (hey, i tipped him well to make up for it!)

-wearing a bra all day. god, this is like the worst thing on earth. how did i do it in high school? thank goodness i have a home office.

-pulling weeds. this is like breaking my elbow and wrist at the same time, dang it's an arse kicker! so, i just let those bitches grow.

kitty

LOL!!!!

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

huh? what are you like 31 now?

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

I'm 49y/o TODAY {sigh}...the thing I've noticed the most is it takes me much longer to recover from work outs, especially long rides and runs. Consequently, I also get overtrained more easily. Did a brick last tuesday (granted, I went at it pretty hard) followed by my wednesday morning swim and had to take the next two days off before I felt my usual self again. Getting old ain't for wimps!

I will find out starting in two weeks what a 49 year old person can do.

I have the Napa half on May 6th. I have the oroville sprint on May 13. I then have the Auburn Half on May 20th. The mind may not be listening to the body.

Dave

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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 did not really notice anything until into my late 30's. The first thing that noticed was not recovering from hard workouts and races as fast. Things that normally would have me back in action on a day or two were taking a few days longer.

The upside was that I was still racing at the same level, but not training as much. I shocked myself, during my last year of serious training and racing in 1997, when with about half of the "normal" training that I did going into an IM race I was still able to have a great race. But then that's when I decided to throw the towel in and call it a day, at age 37. I figured it was best to go out on a good note!

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Hotties call you "sir"

Which as we all know "sir" is Hottie code for "too old" (sigh)

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"What kind of a stupid post is this?" - swimfan

Well, if you really think about it. Humans as a species used to keel over around the mid-30's to early 40's back in the caveman days, so we're really cheating nature with all this fitness and health technology crap! Ha, ha.

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My business-eBodyboarding.com

One thing the recommended training protocols rarely do is adjust for Masters athletes. If you are over 50, the plans are usually too hard or don't adequately adjust for slower recovery. It's real hard to stay with schedules represented in the latest article or training book w/o risking injury or burnout. I find at 50, I'm still able to put in some pretty tough long workouts (or tough/intense), but definitely need to allow for the addiditional recovery. Too many coaches are unaware of the tendency to get overtrained, burnt out or stale in the older athlete. Probably because they aren't there yet themselves. A 30 year old cannot coach a 50 year old. A 40 year old cannot coach a 60 year old etc. You really don't get it until your in it yourself, dealing with the nagging injuries, additional rest needs etc. Also, for those of us who pretty much hammered the living S@#$T out of ourselves in their 20's-30's, we have a battle worn body that needs special attention. I had done 45 Marathons or Ultras before turning 30. Every race was all out for blood. Not too many of my fellow M50-54 competitors were competeing then, for those of you who were, you know what I'm saying.