Running as you age

I am a soon to be 78-year-old man who has been a runner for more than 30 years. That said, I am an unlikely candidate to be writing this column. My father died instantly of a heart attack at age 54, and my brother at age 62. I carry the additional baggage of a high cholesterol level.

Against this backdrop, I likely value the gift of life a tad more than most people. My odds did not look that great as I turned to a running regimen in my early 40s, and this decision is very likely the reason I am here to tell my story.

I have come to face the fact that everyone is aging and that there is a danger that older people who have put years into staying fit may become discouraged as they slow down. So I came up with the idea of sharing my experiences and encouraging runners to hang in there as they age. Also, I see this as a way to give younger runners (and at my age most of them are younger) a heads-up and positive attitude about the inevitable decline in performance we all face. The message can be summed up with a saying I recently came upon:

“Life is not about waiting for the rain to stop; it’s about dancing in the rain.”

Mother Nature quietly and inexorably sneaks up on us and provides mathematical certitude that we lose ground as we age. Running literature doesn’t do much to help the average runner like me. We are beset in the press with the superhuman performance of aged runners achieving astounding results. While I applaud their achievements, I know that I am growing slower and slower. Not only that, I am at the age where the decline accelerates.

With 30,000 plus miles and 280 races now under my belt, I bless the day I made the decision to pursue a running regimen. Over the past 30 years, I have run in more than 30 countries on four continents and have built a treasure trove of memories. Runners have to run where they find themselves, and my career as a corporate finance guy took me to five continents.

Aging runners are already in a very good place. Most are in the 30-percent category of the U.S. population who are not overweight. They also are statistically in a very good place health-wise. Even though the majority of runners may never have heard of the Stanford University School of Medicine’s 20-plus-year study of runners then 50 years old (now more than 70 years old), they are destined to live longer, healthier and more productive lives. Twenty years later the study found that runners are 50 percent less likely to die early deaths and that initial disabilities occurred six years later in runners, and they had fewer deaths from other diseases. Furthermore, running is not harmful to the legs.

You are invited to attend a presentation on running by Jack Gallagher on Thursday, May 31, at 7 p.m. at St. Margaret Mary Parish Center on Park Avenue. Admission is free, but those wishing to make a donation are requested to make checks payable to “Saint Margaret Mary/ Haiti Ministry”. RSVP to Jack at [email protected]

Another valuable study was done by the Furman Institute on the physiology of aging and the appropriate responses to what happens as we age. Yes, we will get older and slower. What is great about the Furman study is that it describes what is happening as we age and what we can do about it. The heart grows weaker, connective tissues deteriorate and energy declines. So we runners lose speed, stride length grows shorter and we lose stamina. The Furman study provides advice on how to minimize the effects and to adjust our goals. In short, it provides a blueprint to hang in there and live a realistic and happy running life for a long time.

I think most runners are like me and need a reality check that the merry-go-round slows down long before it stops, and that this process starts in our 40s and accelerates until the final curtain comes down. Luckily, I have a strong belief in the possibility of eternal happiness.