Running after 50
Our house used to have a beach front where any time of the day we can always take a dip or perhaps check on the marine life during low tide. Those were the days since ten months ago as what used to be a nice part rocky, part sandy beach is now converted to a 20-meter plus wide boulevard half a kilometer long.
The area had become a breezy venue for early morning walkers and late afternoon runners. Unless atakehon sa tapol, there’s no reason for us not to join these people because of the location’s proximity. For the first time in several years, I did some slow jogs with my wife Denise for a few hundred meters. It felt good.
I’m at that stage where my mind tells me that I’m still 30 but my body’s simply wondering if I’m not dead yet. We think we’re young but our bodies are nearing antiquity and as proof, I got my senior card last year.
We’re used to long brisk walks so doing some slow jogs was not much of a struggle but endurance was another story because of the age factor. We started with a moderately paced walk for 20 minutes then jogged until our bodies said no mas. Yeap, what the mind had concieved, the body now cannot achieve.
The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) said that no matter what kind of exercise we choose, the physical activity could add years to our lives. Regular aerobic activity increases blood flow which delivers oxygen to our brain, muscles and organs. This will relieve fatigue which slow us down during the day.
Running is the simplest and least expensive form of exercise. Especially for us older adults where slowing down and gaining those extra pounds is normal, running or brisk walking lowers our chances of getting some health issues. Running after 50 boosts our metabolism and help us control our weights.
Running after 50 lessens our risk of getting certain types of cancer as it lowers the levels of insulin and estrogen because increased levels of these hormones have been proven to equate with cancer development and progression. Regular physical activity releases the protein myokines into our blood which helps our immune system fight and even kill cancer cells.
Other benefits of after-50 running are lower odds of getting diabetes (an unwelcome inheritance from both of my parents), improved levels of ‘good’ cholesterol, better bone density, less inflammation and fewer feeling of depression and anxiety. Yes, lesser sapot nga tiniguwang.
Because the prime of our years are all but memories, we must listen to our bodies and slow down if needed, perhaps for days or maybe weeks as running for us at this stage have several risks.
Common potential injuries that could happen to us are those pain caused by our kneecaps rubbing against our thigh bone (runner’s knee), pain along the back of our foot where our heel connects to our calf muscle (achilles tendon tear), pain along the bottom front of our legs (shin splints), minor breaks in our bones (stress fractures).
Let’s start slow. Alternate walking and jogging until such time that we’ll build up enough endurance to do a 5k. CDC recommends an average of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.*