Almost 40 Years Since I Ran a Marathon
harrynich
Posts: 34 Member
Old. Fat. Resigned.
Except after being sent to physical therapy for a number of problems and having tremendous success I suddenly got the idea I could do this again. Spending almost 40 years not running (injury and illness) and then deciding I wanted to run again (in spite of a stroke ten years ago, seizures, difficult meds, and a series of stress fractures) has made me suddenly feel like I have a real body inside the 100 pounds I'm in the process of losing. (I lost 20 before signing up on myfitnesspal.)
I asked the physical therapist today if she would be willing to help me run a half marathon in a year and a full one in two years. She said she'd love to and that after we get through dealing with immediate problems I can come in every week once or twice. "We'll set up routines for you to do and I'll check in with you from time to time and we'll adjust as we need to and we'll try to catch problems before they become disasters."
I know how to train. I don't know, at 61, how to protect myself from injury. She has just given me a gift I can't believe.
I'm committing to this by posting here.
When I run my races I intend to have someone present at every single mile marker.
I always ran slow before injuries ended my running days. But running slow I could do 50 miles.
I'm scared and excited.
Except after being sent to physical therapy for a number of problems and having tremendous success I suddenly got the idea I could do this again. Spending almost 40 years not running (injury and illness) and then deciding I wanted to run again (in spite of a stroke ten years ago, seizures, difficult meds, and a series of stress fractures) has made me suddenly feel like I have a real body inside the 100 pounds I'm in the process of losing. (I lost 20 before signing up on myfitnesspal.)
I asked the physical therapist today if she would be willing to help me run a half marathon in a year and a full one in two years. She said she'd love to and that after we get through dealing with immediate problems I can come in every week once or twice. "We'll set up routines for you to do and I'll check in with you from time to time and we'll adjust as we need to and we'll try to catch problems before they become disasters."
I know how to train. I don't know, at 61, how to protect myself from injury. She has just given me a gift I can't believe.
I'm committing to this by posting here.
When I run my races I intend to have someone present at every single mile marker.
I always ran slow before injuries ended my running days. But running slow I could do 50 miles.
I'm scared and excited.
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Replies
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You can do this!
I NEVER ran before dropping this weight (for the 2nd time) starting at age 57--part of my exercise was "Walk Away the Pounds" videos.
Then I started walking outside; then started walking faster outside. At 200 pounds I walked my first 5K. I won a few walking awards in my age category (55-59). I reached my goal weight in April 2013.
I completed C25K after 2 attempts and took up long distance run-walking (ala Galloway). At age 58 (November 2013) I ran-walked my first half-marathon in 2:25. Since then I ran-walked 2 additional 1/2 marathons.
I'm currently in training to run-walk a full marathon (Disney) in Jan 2015 to celebrate my 60th birthday.
At my age, and given my past non-athletic background, run-walking is the key that will help insure I accomplish all 3 of my goals for any race:
(1) Show up on time
(2) Cross the finish line vertical and uninjured
(3) Finish before they cart away the "FINISH" banner
Sign up for a 5K a couple months out (holiday 5Ks abound and are always fun)..signing up for an event gives your training purpose and focus...and get out there and start walking.
...oh, and get some good shoes and socks.0 -
Thank you for the inspiration! I feel encouraged!0
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Just wanted to offer more encouragement. You can do this. You are fortunate to have the help of a physical therapist...avoiding injury, as you know, is key. Good luck!0
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Best of luck
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I didn't do my first marathon till I was 60. Looking forward to a great report at the finish line. There is nothing like crossing the finish line on your first marathon. Good Luck0
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I am so happy for you. I did not begin running until I was 66. Since December I have competed in a 5K, 5 mile, 12K and half-marathon. Now I am preparing for another half-marathon. I look forward to hearing how you are doing. Best wishes!0
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Thank you! Made my day.0
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I love your enthusiasm and excitement, you are going to have such a wonderful experience getting marathon ready and running these darned races!
I don't have any advice, certainly not something that can top what has been posted. But I'll say that my running group before I moved was made up almost entirely of retirees, and they inspired me a lot more than the young, fast whippersnappers. Train smart, listen to your physical therapist, and have a blast! Good luck on your journey, be proud it's one you're starting!0 -
Old. Fat. Resigned.
Except after being sent to physical therapy for a number of problems and having tremendous success I suddenly got the idea I could do this again. Spending almost 40 years not running (injury and illness) and then deciding I wanted to run again (in spite of a stroke ten years ago, seizures, difficult meds, and a series of stress fractures) has made me suddenly feel like I have a real body inside the 100 pounds I'm in the process of losing. (I lost 20 before signing up on myfitnesspal.)
I asked the physical therapist today if she would be willing to help me run a half marathon in a year and a full one in two years. She said she'd love to and that after we get through dealing with immediate problems I can come in every week once or twice. "We'll set up routines for you to do and I'll check in with you from time to time and we'll adjust as we need to and we'll try to catch problems before they become disasters."
I know how to train. I don't know, at 61, how to protect myself from injury. She has just given me a gift I can't believe.
I'm committing to this by posting here.
When I run my races I intend to have someone present at every single mile marker.
I always ran slow before injuries ended my running days. But running slow I could do 50 miles.
I'm scared and excited.
You got this.
Give some thought to cross training...strength training, etc. I also find yoga very helpful. I do both twice a week, and run 5 days.0 -
You've got a PT by your side which will help a ton. Most injuries are from increasing miles too fast, which you control, or muscle imbalances (or tightness) that your PT can help identify. I think you've got this0
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I'm 69 and ran my first at 60. Doing another next year at 70. Lots of halfs,10ks in between. Happy to trade thoughts.0
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You can so do this. Most people in my marathon club are over 60. The guy I used to pace off last year was 76, he happily does several half-marathons every year all over the world in a very respectable time (around the 2hour mark). Good luck.0
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Harry:
if you've medical clearance, you can do this. Trust me. I ran my first marathon at age 60. For many years I ranged from basically skinny to in a kind of weight sweet spot. And then my life changed and I gradually put on the weight. Fianlly decided I needed to do something and started losing weight. A bit up and down until 2010 and then my final push towards a normal weight in 2012.
After walking and hiking regualrly for three years (April 2010 - April 2013), I entered my first 10K race since 1985. No training. Just entered, mostly to be able to walk across the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, SC. Took lots of pictures on the bridge, but I ran the first two miles up to the bridge, walked between mile 2-3 while taking pictures of the towers and cables and everything else, and then ran from mile 3 all the way to the end. My average pace when running was 11:40 AND I felt great when I finished.
I have several coworkers that are marathoners. One of them is really fast and I would call him a serious competitive marathoner. My other coworkers had run several marathons and half-marthons and they were really torn down by the experience. They were just about to give it all up when they stumbled upon Jeff Galloway's free workshop in our area. They were going to try it out for another run at a marathon, this time the MCM in DC at the end of October.
They pointed me to the Galloway website and suggested that if I wanted to train for a marathon...my first, that this sounded like something that I could use since I already knew that 10K distances were possible once again. I downloaded the training plans and selected the one to finish a marathon (the one for time goal is no longer on the site) and began training with an eye towards late October or early November.
As I trained through the summer heat and had moments of doubt, my endurance gradually built. My time to run a single mile dropped from 11:40 to about 8 minutes. I was using the run/walk/run method throughout my training for both the short and the long runs. The only time I ran solidly was when I did the mile time trial and when I ran a Critical Power 30-minute (CP30) test to set my heart rate training zones ( I started using a heart rate monitor just before I started running again). In August 2013, when I ran/walked the 20-mile long endurance run (in the rain, much less) and I came through it tired but okay, I knew I could commit to a marathon, knowing that I could drop back to a half-marathon if the remainder of the training went poorly. So, at the end of August 2013, I signed up for a full marathon and ran it on November 3rd using the run/walk method the entire way.
Except for stepping on a gum ball from a sweet gum tree and tweaking my left Achilles tendon at Mile 14, I was on pace at the halfway point and the 20-mile point to finish just at 5 hours. But the way the heel hurt on the uphill portions with the extra extension of the calf muscle, I just had to walk them. No problem running on the flat or downhill. I finished in 5 hours, 10 minutes.
Best of all, I wasn't at all exhausted. Tired, yes! Exhausted, no! So, I did not go home and become part of the furniture for the rest of the day. I can now easily run a sub-5-hour marathon and I'm working to push myself to the next level. My half marathon times have also dropped. In another week, if the weather cooperates, we'll see if I can run/walk a sub-2-hour half-marathon.
Of course, it took me 26 weeks to train from my initial running capacity up to the marathon level but it took me three years of walking and hiking to get to that level.0 -
Love stories like this, very inspirational. You can do it. Use the power of the Jeff Galloway system described above ^^^^ (run/walk/run), I use it too and it helps me as an asthmatic. Good luck, keep us posted: we all love happy endings. Go get it! :glasses:0
