Fitness and a 52 year old.

basil

Distinguished Member
Next year (September) i and a workmate who`s almost the same age intend to do the Bristol Half Marathon for my Childrens Unit charity at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton. I said `do` and not run because we don`t intend to run it all, most of it but completion is the objective.
I`m after a bit of advice as to how to build up to this event as at 52 the body has slowed down and doesn`t do what it used to. I`d rather start now and make it a slow, steady process over the twelve months.
I`d very much appreciate any advice.
Thanks.
 
Start off slow as you say walk 500 yards then jog 500 yards do that 3 miles then build up to 5 miles then start jogging 1 mile at a time you would be very surprised at how quickly you will build your fitness , take glucosamine and cod liver oil for your joints , and porridge for breakfast is very good for slow energy release
​atb Jim
 
Basil,

Start on aerobic non impact. That means static bikes. Once you get bored with that you will be ready for outdoor "stuff".

​Stan
 
good luck Basil.

We nearly lost my youngest daughter when lupus sent my wee girl into a coma after a 3 week fight in southampton hospital. I wanted to do something like this for them at the hospital but can't due to Knee problems,

but i have done it in other ways,

We (me the wife and my oldest daughter) have sold loads of stuff that we don't need anymore, i have even got my best shooting buddies into it and we raised a bit of cash and a very large hamper was donated by my work place to auction at the Lupus fund raising night,

i wish you well and admire what you have chosen to do.

all the very best bud,

bob.
 
Come on Thar where are you with some great advice!
Although i can't claim to be as experienced as Thar i have run a few 1/2 marathons, though not for quite some time but i do keep myself quite fit and do some running at the age of 53.
12 months is more than enough time to get fit enough to run it rather than jog/walk, all i can say is if you can eventually build up to about 8 miles then you will be able to carry on and complete the 13 1/2 miles without any issues.
​Maybe have a check up with the doctor first.
Cheers
Richard
 
I am here, read my post on my 70 mile run to get an idea of what a 50 year old can achieve :- Thar and his EPIC run

I am 49 years old and I am fitter than I have ever been, I have been training at some level for 17 years. I have a club mates that did their personal best in their 50s. On the DNA level your body physical capabilities with training peak in your mid-twenties to mid-thirties, at 19 and 60 your capabilities should be equal if you have trained, after 60 then the aging process starts to catch up with you. It takes 12 years of proper running training to reach your bodies physical limits. So if you start now you will get better and better for a decade.
In endurance events you improve with age, the double world Ultra-distance running champion was 56 years old. The winner of the recent Tour of Spain was 42. A half Marathon is an endurance event.

You can train for a marathon in 3 months, so 12 months for a half is more than adequate, if you do train join a local club would be the best thing you could do, there will be people just starting out like you, while training you will have a great laugh and it won’t even feel like training. I would say train 3 times a week, two small runs in the week and a longer run at the weekend. As said once you can run 8 miles in training you will be able to run 13.1 miles in the race, whatever you run in training you can run 2 1/2 that on race day. For my Bob Graham round in training the biggest training run was a little over 30 miles.

As said start by walking for 10 minute then running for 5 minutes just for 30 minutes, build this up slowly by cutting back the time walking and increasing the running until you can run for 30 minutes. They normally say do not increase your weekly training by more than 10% per week, so you don’t get injured, but given the amount of time you have I would say that an increase of 5% would have you well fit enough to run it all. In fact if you do start training in 6 months you will be thinking about getting round in under 2 hours not if I can run all the way.

If you need any advice just PM me.

The only thing stopping you achieving this is the thing between your ears! Your 53 year old body is easily capable.:cool:

ATB

Tahr

Basil
 
Don't push to hard mate before you get a thorough medical. We had a neighbour die training for a 10k only two years back.
 
Don't push to hard mate before you get a thorough medical. We had a neighbour die training for a 10k only two years back.

Good point Dave, make sure you have no genetic heart problems, although exercise can improve the condition it real needs to be medical monitored. If you have any doubts you can train with a heart monitor, a lot guys do. But for **** sake do not go into this High Intensity Training, H.I.T. fad, yes it works but IMO you need to be fit first before you use it.

You are at far great risk of death by not exercising than by doing it, the scientific data is absolutely overwhelming.

ATB

Tahr
 
You are at far great risk of death by not exercising than by doing it, the scientific data is absolutely overwhelming.

ATB

Tahr
Very true there also no better feeling than the high you get immediately after hard exercise a real rush :) , sadly runing is out for me since my accident and I will really miss it but I'm after a bike so it ain't all bad :)
 
Very true there also no better feeling than the high you get immediately after hard exercise a real rush :) , sadly runing is out for me since my accident and I will really miss it but I'm after a bike so it ain't all bad :)

I use a bike too Jimbo, it is good exercise it can work well as a recovery exercise after a hard run.

ATB

Tahr
 
Good on you for giving it a go Basil. I cant really offer anything apart from moral support, and to say that if I can do it, anyone can.
Iam 52 and was lucky enought o be sponsored onto a 3 week Outward bound course down in the beautifull, but rugged Marlborough sounds last July/Aug. I built up to the event slowly doing long bush walks and some jogging over shorter distances. I was not however training for a half marathon as they dont tell you that you will be doing one till about 12 hours before the event, on the last day of a 21 day build up. AMAZING experience and great feeling of self acheivement. I would do it again tomorrow. Good luck.
PS. The 1/2 marathon that I did was a bush run, not on roads.
 
I am only 44 and started running in July. I had a reasonable degree of fitness but I started off running very slowly for a mile in the first week, 2 miles in the second and slowly increasing the distance. I can run up to 8 miles now and it definitely gets easier with time. I also got the "Ok" from my Dr. Good luck and easy does it
 
Go for it, my daughter started jogging as a a way of trying to loose weight and get fit, 2 years later now aged 43
she runs 8 miles every day further on a weekend she has ran several half marathons, recently ran a full marathon
and shes just received word that she has been granted a place in next years London marathon.
 
I am 52 on Sunday, 6'2'' and 17st
During the summer I interval train on the beach, run walk run walk. In the autumn months I exercise with the Beagles on the hills.
Recently I read a book entitled born to run about the tarahumara tribe of mexico. These guys are exceptional runners and can run continuosly for up to 500miles. They get their meat from persistance running ie run their prey animal into the ground. The book states a 90 year old chap running 40 miles and asks why he could do it, the answer was nobody told him he could not do it, nobody told him that he should be waiting to die. There diet is basic, they live off iskiate - chia seeds, water, lime juice and honey and pinole - ground maize and water.
And so my breakfast is porridge, chia seeds, wheargerm, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, ground maize and mixed nuts. I will never be able to run 500 miles but I can hold my own up against men much younger than me. I take glucosomine and chrondontin etc and believe it helps my joints. You can do it, just work up gradually, a lot of it is in the mind.
 
What do you do if you start to suffer lower back pain?
I used to love running, but after years of not doing it, I started running again. 1min run, 4 min walk for 30 minutes for the first week, with walk time being reduced and run time increased as the weeks went past. I did find I wasn't "flowing" when running and this mayve caused the back problems I suffered.
Start slowly, and build up. It seems to take a few months to find youre stride, which makes running a whole lot easier.
 
Back
Top