An acceptable strategy if you race 2-4 times a month. Otherwise the lack of time on the roads will wither away your race speed.

You definitely want to change something to keep going. Consider water running once a week. Will keep the aerobics going. Run workouts on the road (or softer, even surface) with a bit of speed once a week at minimal distance. This will keep up the speed and muscle memory. Consider upper body weights to improve core and arm movements. The legs follow the arms, not vice-versa.

The body can easily handle races at 3x workouts so a mile a day or two every other puts you in the range for a race 5K or sprint tri if combining with swimming and biking.

Doug

https://www.palmtreesahead.com/

Hopefully your limits aren't permanent joint issues for example. This sport is a lot about finding solutions in the face of limitations, and "running" with them.

I'm 58 and hoping my best days are yet ahead of me. I just use regular visits to PT, gym, yoga and relentless work to fix my posture.

Distances 5 & 10's for me but I have never been a runner and didn't run at all for 15 years or so prior to starting tri's

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Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

How consistent has your running been up until now?
Have you actually tried running hard without any recent training or have you always maintained at least a bit of regular training even if only <10km per week?

I would assume that dumping all training and only running when racing is going to make things worse instead of better. I tend to have fairly regular lapses in my run training, especially when leading up to bike only events. After skipping running for a few weeks, the first run back is sometimes okay, sometimes horrible but I generally end up with aches and pains afterwards unless I keep it short and easy. I suppose the most crucial thing is how regularly you race, how hard you intend to run and whether you'll leave it at Sprint distance or try to do Olympic too.

As much as I weekly sprint races doesn't sound ideal, I'm sure you could do it. If the gaps were 2, 3 weeks or more then I think you should do some maintenance runs in between or you'll just make things worse. If you intend to do irregular Olympic distance races without training, and you actually plan to run rather than walk, that seems absurd to me.

You need to tell us a lot more. What is the struggle? Time, injuries, motivation, unrealistic expectations, etc? I'm 58 and yes I have slowed down and certainly have profound differences from 20 or 30 years ago, but I still run regularly. I do NOT come from a running background and have never been accused of being a beautiful runner. I do still enjoy it. I 5K in the low 21s, which really isn't that bad I suppose. I seem to really slow down the longer the distance, but I do keep chugging along.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

My co-worker struggled with impact related injuries while marathon training. He ended up buying an Octane Zero-Runner, after using one a few times at the local YMCA. It was rather spendy, but he swears it was worthwhile, allowing him to keep most of his run fitness when he physically couldn't do any conventional run training.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Thanks for the additional information. Honestly, I think we are all going through that. I am a huge believer in consistency over time. Resist the temptation to overdo it.

Interestingly, I asked an orthopedic friend if he would x-ray my knees. He said “you don’t want to know“ and you are not going to change what you were doing anyway. So, I just roll along and try to enjoy it.

FYI – at one time I was consistently in the low 18s for a 5K, and mid 36 for a 10K… But those days are long gone. Good memories though :-)

Best wishes to you and hang in there,

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Sounds like me, who at 59 has been running consistently for more than 40 years. Aging happens. I was just thinking this morning that my current 5K race pace is the same as my marathon race pace was when I was in my prime. That is sobering, but age grading my race results shows I'm losing speed at the same rate as the best runners in the world that are my age.

There have been a bunch of threads on ST about building running durability. Frequency is usually mentioned as the key to building durability, although I've been only been running 3 or 4 days a week for the past 25 years. If you or I want to feel better running I think we probably need to do more running, not less. Of course, we need to use our hard-earned wisdom and patience to slowly build that durability. I'm not saying it will be easy, but I think that's likely a better plan than limiting your running to races.

Have you tried slowing down on your runs and doing most of your running off-road? Good luck!

pretty much only run in races now... sucks but it is what it is. I guess I'll just race more :)

No offense, but given what you're saying, I'm not sure what you're complaining about.

If running is so hard and injury prone for you, it makes zero sense to be running sub-8 pace for 7 miles on a random training day, esp if you're only logging 10mpw.

Also, if you actually CAN crank out that kind of a run as a one-off, you will be able to run an Oly no problem. Sure, it won't be "PR land" for you, but given how fast you were before, I'd say you're well past PR land even if you were healthy given your age. (I'm similar age as you, so not being ageist here!)

What is so limiting about you running 20mpw anyway? If you don't have a major arthritis issue, and it's just 'feeling like I'm slow', that doesn't cut it. (I had thought I had career-run-ending joint bodies in my ankles that would require a major surgery to fix and possible an ankle replacement, but turns out my joint bodies are 'stuck' to a wall in my joint and don't move, so I dodged a bullet on that one since I'm not wearing down my cartilage by running on rattling joint bodies.)

this is probably right..
58 this year, running for 43 years. Up until my early 50s I could still run 19min 5k based on one or two runs per week, 10-15mpw. This worked for about fifteen years, after switching to tri from a pure runner doing six runs per week, due to assorted and repeated running injuries.
Now I can't break 25min.. and it feels like I have forgotten how to run, I mean actually physically how to move the legs around. It's very curious. My plan is to run more frequently this year, injuries and health permitting, and see if it helps..

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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

I don't think anyone has mentioned this...

What kind of shoes do you run in?
I'm 60 and am going through the same soreness issues as you. I was running in Newtons for about 5 years. I switched to Hokas and it helped tremendously. Especially on my long runs.

It didn't eliminate the problem completely, but it was definitely noticeable.

The cushioning does make a difference.

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

Runner 66: I'm 61 now and when I turned 50 it seemed the wheels fell off. This injury then that one. I changed the way I trained and had great success with running really short, every single morning. This enabled be to race Olympic distance events at a pace much, much faster than my easy, daily jogs. If memory serves me - maybe 10K run split at just under 7 min pace. At around 55, I quit running and concentrated on cycling and cyclocross. I got stronger in cycling than I ever had been as a result. Now at 60+ I am carefully trying to get my running going again. Much slower than before and I'm not sure I'll be able to do any real training - like 1600M repeats - but we'll see. Nationals in August a possibility if the ankles, knees, feet, etc hang in there.

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Geoff from Indy
http://www.tlcendurance.com

60 and in the same boat. I have also been considering running only in sprint tri's and more likely super sprints just to be able to continue....I am going to read this thread now with interest.....

I have been in a major struggle this past year.....both knees scoped, meniscus tears cleaned up, major arthritis in knees, bone on bone on my left..will need to eventually get a full or partial knee replacement in both knees.....my ortho has told me I should stop running after he did meniscus surgery on my left and had a look...."your knees are older than you are..." and the knee pain got worse in my left after the meniscus surgery and has never felt good since....unfortunately the surgery increased my pain and made in permanent....

I have tried an uploader brace, Hoka's, and some prescription anti-flams....this all helps about 10-15%......I have tried to run with my brace and can tolerate the pain for 3 miles but pay a price in pain the next day......my legs feel like stiff glass........it doesnt feel good to run but I want to continue to do very short sprint triathlons....

I am embarrassed to say this but last year I ran 5K in 26:50 as a 59 year old...this year I run 5K, going full out in 34:00.....yeah, going full out....think about how much that sucks and how I feel about it....

I have been doing triathlon since 1985 and have 289 triathlon/multisport races completed in my 33 years of training and racing...I would at least like to finish 300 and then can call it a day......that would be a good run and an nice way to take my leave at my 300'th finish....

I have stooped running for the moment and considering what my next move might be....for the moment I am cycling and doing a bit of weights and like that my knee doesnt hurt as much......

My plans for the moment are:

-look for triathlons with less than 5K runs....I have found a few with 2.5 and 2 mile runs....
-Mainly just train on the bike and swim a bit to get me through these triathlons with the very short runs...
-I am considering my only run training as running a mile off the bike on a dirt trail with an uploader brace
-perhaps run a mile on grass or a soft trail twice a week just to get a bit of running in.....
-I might look into water running after my swim workouts to help (but the boredom!...perhaps I could do it for 20 minutes a session once per week)

...and honestly I dont know how much the above will help me keep from running ridiculously slow in the run leg and/or run with tolerable pain....but its the best I can think of.....I will see if this will still make it worthwhile to be able to participate in triathlon.......honestly, its now hard to think of training hard in biking or swimming knowing my run will kill any thought of a good time for me....

sooooo....my plan is to bike and use triathlon as an afterthought I can do to stay involved in events and the scene I have always loved....but I have no guarantees any of this will work...

I'd say on the bright side, for you to still be biking and swimming legit at age 60 = WIN. Keep up the good work, even if it means less/no running!

I'm a few years younger than you, but what helped my "stiff running" issue was functional strength workouts. Plyometrics, squats, core work... I got a video with these types of workouts geared towards runners and substitute one of my weekly runs with it. It tore me up the first few weeks but a month into it, I was running like a spring chicken. My upper body felt solid, my legs felt springy and I could really feel power coming from my glutes. I also invested in a standing desk and I think it has really helped with my posture, running or otherwise.

For those of you struggling with this issue, I'm curious as to what age you started running/triathlon.

I'm quite a bit older than you (67) and did not run in school, but probably have 40 years in now. You really do need a fair amount of VERY easy running; I tell myself if I can't breathe only through my nose while running easy, then it's too hard. Pace will always vary and yes, you will slow down. Better than not giving it a shot. Like many here I have had issues through hebyears; both knees scoped, broken back, achilles tendonitis, patellar tendonitis, plantar fascia issues, and all have gone by the wayside. I feel much of my tenure has been because I do the majority of my runs on trails. Besides the use of extra muscles to stabilize, the softer ground is welcome and I also feel running in nature is a huge help. Ignore your pace until races, just learn to run for sake of the sport. Maybe a mindset like that will help. I also had a local sports lab at the University of Wisconsin do an analysis on treadmill with motion capture. They showed my form issues and I bought a metronome to help increase my cadence her their suggestions. If you have such a facility i'd definitely take advantage.....for my some nagging issues were gone within a day with form changes. Good luck, and keep rocking, albeit a bit slower. Speed kills.

Try running for 2 min and walking for 2 min or some variation of that. Walk 1 run 2 for me is 930 a mile 1/3 is 900 a mile. But it is easier. And it gets you out the door and into the sunshine.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

[/quote]

There have been a bunch of threads on ST about building running durability. Frequency is usually mentioned as the key to building durability, although I've been only been running 3 or 4 days a week for the past 25 years. If you or I want to feel better running I think we probably need to do more running, not less. Of course, we need to use our hard-earned wisdom and patience to slowly build that durability. I'm not saying it will be easy, but I think that's likely a better plan than limiting your running to races.

Have you tried slowing down on your runs and doing most of your running off-road? Good luck![/quote]

This! Consistency, slower runs, and running off-road. I'm the same age as OP (51). My n=1...b/c of chronic health problems related to running, I stopped running in 2009. Kept swimming and cycling. Found an off-road tri last year that included a 6 mile run which was basically an epic hike up a mountain (race was Sea to Summit, epic, awesome and fun), but I wanted to have some basic run fitness to prepare. So in Dec 2016 I bought some Hoka's (trail running) and only ran trails and kept all my runs slow (>8 min/mile pace). The aerobic engine was there so it was hard to throttle back. I started running 2 miles, then 3, then 4 then 5. Once I got up to 5, I decreased the mileage per run but upped the frequency from 1x/week to 2x/week, intentionally doing a linear build in mileage. Again keeping everything easy. The body felt great and wasn't feeling sore/beaten up.

After a couple of months, I did do a harder tempo run and while overall it felt OK, I noticed soreness that wasn't there w/ the easy runs. So continued w/ the easy runs and continued w/ the build. After that, I would make every 3rd or 4th run a harder run (steady tempo rather than true speedwork) and the soreness got better.

The combination of Hoka's, only running off-road, having most runs be easy and slow, and keeping the consistency has the body feeling like a quasi-runner again w/ light feet vs. plodding. I won't be the runner I was back in college (90-110 mpw) or in my 20's/30's/early 40's w/ times and mileage, but it's a joy to be out there running again, and that's good enough. Still fun to bang out 5k. Hopefully will get in some sprint Tri's.

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Tad

It took awhile, but I finally discovered that its not the destination that's important, but rather the journey.

What's the name of the video?

It's the IronStrength video. Can't remember the coach's name but you can google it. Other STers had recommended it so I gave it a try and it's been a good supplement, albeit pretty tough.

The fact that you ask the question in the first place probably explains why you are having the problem.

I know a couple ex-college runners.
They are constantly trying to go from “taking a year off” to running 70 mpw. This is constantly associated with injuries and another year off.

Imagine instead...... that you are an older athlete trying to slowly build running durability.
Forget how fast you might once have been. The goal is to train well so that you can race well.