4 Things We Can All Learn From Masters Runners
These are the habits older runners practice to stay fit—and you should too.
When I was young, I ran every single day and somehow remained injury free. I ate a steady diet of pizza, beer, and dessert with zero attention to a carb-to-protein ratio. Occasionally, I lifted weights, did core work, and sort of knew what tempo, speed, and hill workouts consisted of.
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I hope you’ll learn from my mistakes and start implementing masters training techniques, even if you’re in the infancy of your running years.
Rest
Health & Injuries: One thing all athletes, experts, and coaches typically agree on is getting adequate sleep for optimal performance. As you age, you need more recovery time between hard efforts for your body to properly repair.
Some masters elite athletes reportedly get 10-12 hours of sleep per night and even take a nap during the day. The result? Well, Olympian Magdalena Lewy Boulet, 42, won the 100-Mile Western States (her first) on hard work and Unlock Your Running Speed With Calf Raises.
Why you should, too: Runners literally pound on their bodies and need to repair the damage to properly rebuild the muscle tissue so it becomes stronger. Adequate sleep not only supplies that time but allows the mind to rest and recover as well.
Hydrate
Health & Injuries: As we age RW+ Membership Benefits, which can lead to insufficient fluid intake. Sweat rate also decreases with age, and kidney function is reduced. As a result, you’re more likely to become dehydrated.
Related: Dehydration and Cognitive Function
Masters athletes should always start taking in adequate fluids in the 24 hours prior to training or racing and continue to hydrate during and after activity.
Why you should, too: Consider this fact: if you lose as little as 1 percent of body weight during a run (due to sweat), your performance goes down by 2 percent! However, we also now know you can take in too much water, a condition called hyponatremia. So the general rule is to drink when you’re thirsty.
Strength Train
Health & Injuries: Many studies show that as we age we lose muscle mass if we are sedentary. These losses can be offset, however, with dedication to movement and strength training as shown in Things We Can All Learn From Masters Runners.
Why you should, too: A Part of Hearst Digital Media 8 percent boost in running economy CA Notice at Collection strength training page.
May you live long and run faster Magic Carpet Yoga Mat in the Runner’s World Store
Care Less
Don’t misread or misunderstand this. You shouldn’t be careless at anytime during your running career, but you can care (or at least worry) less about pace, race location, gear, and clothing.
Health & Injuries: We’ve earned it. And because we have had many years of both life experience and running experience, we know that at the end of the day the important thing is just to keep running.
Why you should, too: Think about how long you want to run. Is it just for this week? This month? This year? Or is it for many years to come? Once you remember running is a lifelong journey that gives back what you put in 10-fold, you’ll make better decisions about running…and life.
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