Good for Age?!*?

Running towards retirement has its compensations.  If you're running, you're not getting old....right?  From behind, with the right lycra content, you could pass for a decade or two younger.  Right?  Well, maybe some of you.  Running, they say, wards off Alzheimers and dementia-related illnesses. It keeps your bones strong and your heart healthy.  But best of all, running races such as the London Marathon gives you the opportunity to brag to anyone willing to listen that, despite their private opinions, you are - as set out in print - Good for Age.  If you can get to your mid 50s and complete your 26.2 miles in under 4 hours 15, then you earn the dubious compliment of being Good for Age.  It might feel a bit back-handed, but it's a useful way of ensuring a guaranteed race place.  And it sure as hell beats being referred to as over the hill.

If you are a menopausal, mid-life marathoner, please join me in celebrating our determination to keep going, aches and all.

I couldn't manage a 4:15 marathon when I was in my forties

But you might get better as you get older.  It's called running away from the grim reaper.It's also got something to do with trying to keep up with your 10-years-younger running partners.

And proving something....not sure what....but something!

Yes, you're right.  But I'll take whatever's on offer.

I thought that GFA for London was sub 4 for those in their 50's.....its is 3:50 for those in their 40's

Hi seren nos....You have to be female, then you have to reach the ripe old age of 55, then....you are lucky enough to have an extra 15 minutes' allowance.  Sub 4 for 50-54, sub 4.15 for 55+.

And Stilts:  I'm not sure I can do sub 4.15 again...but I'm also determined to keep at it.

Who is Martin Rees and, more to the point, what's he on??

he is from wales and he will be 60 this year............only took up running at 38 I believe  by accident.....he was unfit and overweight and now he hold loads of age group records.......

Impressive! And it gives me four years to shave 40 minutes off my half marathon times.  I think it can be done (but only in my dreams). 

Come on ladies - I did my first marathon (Halstead) last year in 3.38 and I'm 57.  Sticking to a training programme (RW's) certainly helped, but even if it's a half, which I did 14 years ago (yes, it took that long to decide to do marathon) the feeling when you're running at the same pace, or overtaking, blokes and women that are half your age is well worth the effort apart from your personal sense of acheivement!

thats a great time teresa..hope you have many more years running 

thanks Seren - I've got in as a good for age for London so training for that at the moment.  I'm also sure that running and exercise helped get me through the menopause with only a couple of night sweats as symptoms - I only found out I was post menopausal when I had a test!

Teresa - that's an amazing time - I'm jealous!  Are you happy to share your training schedule?  I also think that running is helping me emotionally through the menopause - I  only scream at my nearest and dearest a few times every evening  - and it's definitely helped me stay fit and less couch-potato than I might otherwise have been.  Unfortunately, as far as night sweats are concerned, I seem to be drenched more often lying under the duvet than I am whilst pounding the streets of North West London.

Thanks HH - if you click on the Training tab on this Website you can pick a running schedule for the distance and speed you want to do - and they're free!  I'm doing the Advanced marathon this time (3.30 but can't manage the half marathon time I should be doing at the moment - I think that might be due to too many hills round here!)  I stuck to the 3.30 - 4 hrs when I did Halstead - it's not so much about lots of long runs but hill and interval work as well (I hate intervals).  I must admit to aches in my glutes and problems with my toes at time but then again I reckon most people get some sort of aches and pains at times!  Have you done London?

Hi Teresa - Sorry about the weird Lilliputian print.  If you're anything like me, (late 50s, reading glasses and all that) small print is the last thing we need!  I can see why you're doing so well.  Following an advanced schedule is serious stuff and I wish I had the physical ability and mental focus to do the same.  Yes, I've done London several times and am also planning to do it again next month.

This time I am hoping - for the first time in many years  - to avoid the sickness issues which have always blighted me towards the end and after the race.  I've spoken to Paul Chamberlain, a great sports nutritionist with a sensible attitude to race fuelling, and he's given me a plan to try out on my next long training run and pursue all the way through to the marathon, which I hope means I won't be on the ground requiring the services of St John's Ambulance at the Finish!  I'm happy to share his advice if anyone's interested.....

Anyway, there's more to life than running (so I'm told by my long-suffering husband) and I'm just off to watch Spurs beat Inter Milan!

Now that's strange - the typeface is miniscule as I'm typing and then it comes out normal once I've submitted my reply, so disregard what I wrote at the beginning of the last thread.