I'm only a youngster of 35. I'm at the sharp end now, but I intend to run for ever, and as long as I can, I don't care how slow I become. As long as people are still getting off the sofa to run, they are fitter than most of the population. Speaking of trail races, I love them. We have a Half/Full marathon on the trail down here this weekend coming up. Entry on the day is availiable if anyone is interested.

Good 'onya mate.You have many wonderful running/racing years ahead of you.As you age you will get just as much fun measuring yourself against your age peers as you did in open competition.

Bruce Tulloh said they all die eventually!

Don't we all!

Too true!
I would like to be posting here when I'm old(er) though!

... An aproach which does you credit, Running Fox.
If only there were more like you!

I'm frightened if I stop I'll lose too much of my fitness or, worse still, I might not get started again. At my end of the age scale fitness takes an awful lot of getting back if I lose it through time off with injuries. So, wherever possible, I try to run through them, though I don't recommend this for everyone. If time was on my side I'd rest and make a full recovery - then hopefully come back stronger and faster.
Cheers!

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Give me the hills!

Yes, Ive found that every injury is harder (and takes longer) to get back from.
I've always had the policy of:"...if it can be walked on/with...you should try to run on/with it!" Sometimes this may only amount to a few steps at a jog. But at least I know exactly where I'm at. Quite often, injuries have turned out to be much less of a problem than I've initially thought. I know it goes against all the rules (and I'm not suggesting that everyone should adopt this policy), but I don't think I've ever had a recovery lengthened by taking this line.
But I must admit that I'm not as hard on myself as I used to be. There were times when I'd go to extrordinary lengths in order to get a run in.

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GONE RUNNING

A while since I posted,bit of a downer with injuries.Pedestrian,you sound much like me,addicted to the daily run fix.
I am now in a walk/stretch/jog/run mode of training.With PF playing up,left ITB/calf soreness and now a stiff neck/right shoulder problem sometimes one wonders if it is all worth it.I think some of the injury longevity is due to not forcing myself to rest enough.
So,for 2008, I am starting a new programme of three days per week main workouts-one longish steady run/one mid distance tempo run/one track intervals session with rest days rest of week.Hopefully as time goes by,the rest days will give the injuries some more time to recover,and I will gradually be able to insert more training days per week.
Unlike Running Fox,I don't seem to get much help from Voltaren and such and am generally averse to drugs masking pain approachs.It would be nice though,to be able to really stretch out as in younger days.
Will let you know if my new approach helps over the coming months.

Good luck with that, Oz.
Incidentally, what's the longest period of time you've ever gone without having a single run?
I once went for something like 3 months, after deciding that rest may cure a (suspected) stress fracture. I could've continued, but I'd just had enough of the pain that was accompanying every run and restricting the amount/quality I was able to achieve.

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GONE RUNNING

Hi Pedestrian,been running since 1952,will be 74 in March.going by my records,apart from injury the longest time without a daily run would be approx.4 weeks on a trip to UK.I put over 14lbs in wt on in that period.Normally,probably a couple of days a f/n off now.
Alas,the last year or two I have had enforced rests due to foot operation in 2006 and herniated disc in 2007,both periods of4-5 months.
Started back with walking in May,gradually into present walk/jog/run mode with stretches along the way.Even had a few races where I managed to stay in "running" mode the whole way,even if running is stretching the term too much(65min for 10K).
My recent experience suggests to me that an old mate was quite right when he told me,as a just turned 50 yr old vet, that "we need much more rest to recover as we get older,you know".

This "rest and recover" lesson seems to be one that I'm trying my best to ignore! (... even though I know it all makes sense...)

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GONE RUNNING

This thread has lain idle for quite a while so just raising it again,not sure why.
Perhaps I can at least give injured vets of older ilk some encouragement in overcoming injury.Having got over my 2007 foot and back disc problems entered 2008 with a program that aimed to get me fully mobile,if slow,again in 2008.The program worked and I was beginning to run reasonably again in races at mid 2008.Managed a 2.24 half marathon.
Then vanity(trying to match younger athletes in back stretch exercises) struck me down again with disc problem reoccurrence in late 2008.
Off we go again,back on the rehab program in 2009 with very slow return to something like fitness.Just some four months or so later having a go at the same half marathon again this weekend and hoping to finish.
As you get older recovery from injury seems to take so much longer but you can recover if you persist with a well defined rehab program.
Wish me luck.

I admire your determination. Good luck with the upcoming race and don't overstretch

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Start weight: 18 st 4.. Best weight: 14 st 3.. Current Goal: 14st 0lb

Lots of luck to you.
Just hope I'm still putting one foot in front of the other in 30 years' time!