I have coached evergreen, Midrand runner, Judy Bird since 2002 and now as as grandmaster athlete, 63-year -old Judy continues to inspire older runners.

Judy  dominate races  in her age group and holds the 10km age group record for over 60s with a sub 40 minute performance.  

It is remarkable is how Judy has managed to retain much of her speed during the ageing process, and part of the challenge – and fun – for me as a coach, has been coaching older runners such as Judy.

There is no doubt that we do slow down as we age, and that age is not “just in our minds”. But we are also seeing more and more older runners on the roads, enjoying it, and many are fast.  Seeing fast, older runners was quite rare when I was a young runner and we are all more active and health conscious than we were back then. 

A really great read for those wanting to explore ways of improving the quality of life as we get older, and I recommend reading Outlive, The Science & Art of Longevity, by Dr Peter Attia. Runners already have an advantage in being fit, and interesting is that research seem to indicate that people with a high VO2 max tend to live longer.

In my 24 years of coaching, I have had the unique opportunity of coaching very talented and driven older runners, and in this time I have adjusted their training to cope with the ageing process. So, how do I do this? 

Biological Brakes for older runners

Before I explain how I have helped to keep older runners like Judy  running faster as she ages, let’s first look at the reasons why we slow down as we age. I call them Biological Brakes, and we need to understand these in order to be combat them.

1. As we age our maximum heart rate declines by about 10% a decade. This means that we pump less blood, and it means less oxygen transported through the body.  This in turn means a lower VO2 Max.
2. As we age, our metabolism slows down, making it harder to stay lean. Higher body fat percentages translates into lower VO2 max and slower running.
3. As we age our muscle strength declines. Muscle strength peaks when we are about 24 years old and has dropped by about 10% at the age of 50. But then the decline becomes faster and by age of 80, the decline is about 30%.
4. As we age our muscles lose their elasticity. Our muscles and tendons need elasticity to propel us forward. Think of the work that your Achilles tendon does! We also become more prone to injuries of the Achille tendon etc. as we age. Years of hard racing, high mileages and intensive training cause muscle, tendon and connective tissue damage and we become more susceptible to injury.
5. It becomes harder to stay motivated for those who have raced and trained for many year.

Golden rules for older runners

To combat ageing we need to find ways to minimise the above factors, and I have five Golden Rules for this. These are rules that I have used for runners such as Judy over the past two decades and for my other older runners.  You too can use these rules to stay injury free and run well, even though you may be a back of the pack runner. 

Maintaining  VO2 max and leg speed

As runner, whatever our age, our goal is often to run faster. This can be achieved by doing short, high intensity sessions such as fartlek, intervals and hill repeats and are also very time efficient. Tempo runs are great for increasing lactate threshold.

There is a temptation as we age, to stop doing speed sessions, yet they are very important. A word of warning though: Don’t rush into speed work if you haven’t done speed work in a long time. A great sessions for all levels of runners is the 75/45 interval session.  And if you are completely new to speed work, then seek advice from either a coach or an experienced runner. 

Add some strength training

Older runners benefit from strength training to help maintain  muscle mass. As we age, we lose lean muscle and it becomes important to maintain our lean muscle mass. This not only helps us to run well, but is good for all-round health. Elderly people are more prone to falls when they become frail, and strength training can help prevent this.

It is however easy for newcomers to strength training to overdo it and get hurt. If you are new to strength training, it would be wise to seek advice from a personal trainer as good technique is important to avoid injury. Pilates and yoga classes can be  beneficial.

Use massage and do stretching

 Scar tissue builds up after years of training and we tighten up as we age , making stretching and massages key weapons to stay injury free. It helps using a foam roller regularly, and I try use my foam roller three times a week.  Find a sports therapist or physio for massage and try it. 

Try swimming and cycling for cross training

 Cross training such as cycling and swimming provides variety and helps us to get in good cardio training while using different muscle groups.  You will be pleasantly surprised how you can drop your weekly running  mileages and yet still run well if you incorporate some cross training.  For older runners, the cross training replaces some running sessions, they are not additional sessions.

We are what we eat

Fighting body fat is tough and requires discipline in our eating habits.  I am a happy to say that in my early 60s, I still weigh the same as I did when I was 19 years old. Most of us take in too much sugar and processed carbohydrates such as fizzy cool drinks and white bread. Cutting out the sugar, fizzy drinks, alcohol (or keep it minimal) can make a huge difference.

We are what we eat and I am always amazed at how quickly my body responds to changes in diet. I believe in a balanced diet and not in diet fads. If you feel that you need to look at this, then consult a dietician.

Being a runner does NOT mean we can eat whatever we want to. Recovering well becomes tougher as we age, as in our 20s and 30s we can bounce back 48hrs after a hard session. But for older runners it helps to increase recovery time so that you have two to three easy days between hard sessions.

Most older runners can manage one or two quality sessions in a week, although there are of course exceptions. Runners like Judy often do three quality sessions a week, but their overall mileage isn’t high as we focus on good recovery between the hard sessions.

Good hydration is also important and something that we easily forget in the hustle and bustle of a busy day. 

We can enjoy our running as we age and stay fast. And an important bonus is that doing so helps us to cope with life and stress. I hope to be running around an old-age home when I am in my nineties … see you there!