Champ from ’80s is still in the race

IN THE summer of 1984, American Joan Benoit Samuelson, at age 27, won a gold medal in the inaugural women’s Olympic marathon, running a time of 2 hours 24 minutes 52 seconds.

Samuelson has set numerous records during a long running career, and she continues to do so at the masters (older-than-40) level. Her next goal: to run a marathon in less than three hours after she turns 60 in May. She recently spoke to the Washington Post about continuing to run, and stay fit, as you age.

A. Balance is critically important. Balance in life, balance in diet, balance in everything. I always think of the mind/body/ spirit triad and try to make sure those components of my life are all in balance. It’s easy to go overboard in any one area.

I used to run a lot of double workouts – morning and evening – but now I only do sin- gle workouts, except on rare occasions. In the winter, I’ll go for a run every day, but I also cross-country ski to maintain my upper body strength rather than lift weights.

In recent years, I’ve been running about two-thirds of the mileage I ran when I was on top of my game, although I still go for a long run once a week of 13 to 15 miles (21 to 25 kilometres).

Trying to maintain a certain amount of speed in my training is what I find the most challenging, so I play games on the road – for example, racing cars from behind and ahead of me to specific landmarks such as utility poles, fire hydrants, trees, etc.

I also do a lot of gardening, kayaking and downhill skiing so that I am constantly using my upper body – much more so than when I was younger.

I don’t recover as quickly as I used to from harder workouts. I think it’s easier for me to overtrain now compared to when I was younger. I’ve gone over the edge a couple of times when I have pushed myself and gotten injured.

I love being outdoors. That’s why I’ve always trained well in Maine, where I live. I’m most comfortable here. I’m close to nature and the things I love. I motivate myself using what I like to call storytelling. I try to come up with a story, usually a goal that motivates me to go out – for example, running sub-2:50 marathons at the age of 50 and beyond, or trying to run within 30 minutes of my Olympic time 30 years later.

In 2013, I ran Boston. I was trying to run within 30 minutes of my time 30 years earlier, which I did, running 2:50:29. Then in 2014, I ran it with our two children. I never thought that I would be running marathons when our children became of age to run marathons, nor did I think they would want to run marathons. I came in at 2:52:10. Anders [her son] ran 2:50:01 and beat me. Then I waited for Abby [her daughter], who came in 3:15:49. All of that was about the storytelling, the narratives I make up that keep me going. Running a sub-3-hour marathon after my 60th birthday.

It’s mind-boggling when I think about what I used to do. So I look forward. If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, at least I’ve tried. If I am fortunate enough to break three hours at 60, I will definitely back away from competitive marathons. I may run them with other people, but not for time. I’ve never run a marathon in the state of Maine, and my career won’t stop until I do.