Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Age Doesn't Matter

I think one of the things I love most about running is that you can excel in it no matter your age. Goals can be reached, rewritten and reached again. You can compete against yourself and come out a winner at any age or ability. From kids to 80-year-olds, you see them all at the local races running the same course, reaching for their own personal best.

I'm not saying age doesn't matter at all, but you can adjust expectations, change from a speed runner to distance, or from short distance to marathon length. I was on a running site a few weeks ago and saw a list of recent ultra-distance race winners from the U.S. Only one person on that list was younger than 40.

The mother of a friend of mine told me all about how she used to run various race distances up to marathons. She has run on the Great Wall of China and all over the world. She was saying that due to health reasons she now walks instead. Her next walk is an 800 km trek through the south of Spain. Sure, just a little stroll.

She also told me about a friend of hers who started running at age 64. The woman is now 84 and still runs marathons. She told my friend's mom, "You know what my best decade was? My 70s!"

I really started running in my mid 30s. I'm turning 40 next month and I love that my best race times are still to come!

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