[Author’s Note: This article is part of an occasional series on the unique opportunities and challenges of growing older as a runner.]
One of my favorite training books is Joe Friel’s “Fast After 50.” In the book, legendary coach Friel lays the groundwork for what it takes for older athletes to remain fit and fast. Focusing on what he believes to be the three key components of successful older athletes — lean muscle mass, appropriate body weight, and functional aerobic capacity — Friel provides a roadmap for aging athletes to follow.
As a 57-year-old athlete myself, I have recently been focusing on increasing my own functional aerobic capacity. With two replaced hips, I need to be extra careful about overstriding and straining my hip flexors, so increasing speed can be tricky. That said, in recent weeks I have incorporated Friel’s methodology to fit my own unique situation, and in so doing, have developed a three-step process toward slowly increasing my aerobic capacity.
AJW showing he’s still got it at the 2024 Hotfoot Hamster. Photo courtesy of Andy Jones-Wilkins.
1. Long Warm-Up with Up-Tempo Strides
Friel acknowledges that many older athletes need significantly more time warming up at a lower intensity before ramping things up than their younger counterparts. In my case, depending on weather conditions, it can take me anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes to “feel” warmed up. In an attempt to speed this process up, while still avoiding injury, I have recently integrated “mini bursts” into my warmup period. After about 10 minutes of easy running, I pick up the pace for 10 steps and then recover for 50 steps. Then I burst for 20 steps and recover for 50 steps, and so on, until I am up to 50 bursts/50 recoveries. Usually by then I am ready to roll into some more sustained faster intervals.
2. Progression Intervals
Central to Friel’s methodology is his belief that most athletes start their intervals too fast and fade toward the end of the interval. He believes this can be particularly detrimental to the older athlete, and urges those of us over 50 to ease into our intervals by focusing on rate of perceived exertion (RPE) rather than heart rate or pace. Attempting to apply this to my own situation, after my “mini burst” warmup, I start my first interval at seven RPE for one minute, then eight for one minute, and finally nine for one minute. This allows me to progress into the interval safely and get the necessary benefit of going hard at the end of the interval. I then recover with a slow jog for three minutes before another 7/8/9 interval.
3. Ending Runs Hard
Nothing makes me feel faster than a good finishing kick. And, even though there is no hard science out there about the physiological benefit of finishing runs hard, I always seem to get a mental boost in doing so. So, whatever the distance of my run is, I try to keep a little bit in the tank to make my last mile my fastest. Not only does it feel good, but it allows me to transition into the rest of my day with a bit more of an endorphin kick than usual.
AJW and Bryon running in Silverton, Colorado in the winter. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Perhaps the most joyful part of aging as a long-distance runner is the amount of variety and experimentation required to keep improving. It’s not always pretty, and from time to time it just doesn’t work out, but nonetheless, taking the methodology from such august professionals and applying it to my own situation has allowed me to stretch my training and fitness in ways I didn’t necessarily do in my younger, faster days. And that can be quite motivating.
Bottoms up!
AJW’s Beer of the Week
This week’s beer of the week comes from Phantom Canyon Brewing Company in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Dos Lunas Lager is a tasty Mexican style lager that is mildly sweet and lightly hopped. Like many classical Mexican lagers, Das Lunas is perfect with a touch of salt on the rim of the glass and a squeeze of lime.
Call for Comments
- Are you an aging athlete? If so, do you try to keep up speedwork?
- How else have you adapted your training compared with when you were younger?
