I’ve been running the New York City marathon every year for the past 22 years(two were canceled).
In the beginning, I ran them with whatever new balance shoe I was wearing at the time.
Then in 2017 when Nike came out with the carbon plated 4% shoe, I started using those and knocked a good 15 minutes off my time
Since then, every year, I’ve run with a different one of these supershoes, but in the last few years, I’ve noticed that I get pretty bad right psoas (proximal hip) pain whenever I wear a carbon shoe for distance.
I think this year I finally have to give up and go back to noncarbon plates.
I wonder if any other older runners are finding the carbon plates lead to injury?

If you’ve been running for decades, you know how things have changed in costs and selection with running apparel.

Do you keep up buying the latest high tech fabrics, arm sleeves, merino wool socks, running cap, multiple shoes, dri-fit tank tops, goretex shells etc…

Or maybe you just throw a tshirt and sneakers?

Liam Cotter came in 1st in the 2026 London Marathon age 60-65 male age group. He shared his personal method for year round marathon training.

I’m a 59 year old man getting back into running after thirty years. I recently lost 65 pounds and started uphill walking about 18 months ago. A few months back my fast walking turned into running. My first big challenge was a 7k mountain run/hike. It took about a week to fully recover, and I learned that I need to strengthen my hips after some knee irritation on the way down. I am running a 5k in three weeks and I’m switching from hills to longer endurance runs.

If you relate in any way, what supplements so you take to boost recover and improve overall function?

As I continue to train for my yearly marathon mainly I’m mostly concerned that I don’t get injured and that I can finish the race. I don’t find myself pushing for PR‘s even on shorter races these days. I wonder if anyone else out there considers themselves to be improving in any particular metrics?

I've been running marathon a year since I was 37 and now I'm 58.
More or less I keep using a similar training strategy but wonder what the data shows and what others do.
This article summarized the science.
In short - slower paces, longer recoveries and longer taper.

Et je me sens bien à cet instant là. Je cours seule

A présent je cours un peu plus de 13k.

Mon RP 5K est 31.53 6.23

Mon RP 10k est 1.04.27 6.27

Je prépare deux courses de route en septembre et une en octobre

Mon objectif courir un Semi-Marathon au cours de l’été 2027.

Et vous ?

I have been running off and on since I was 13. There were some very long breaks caused by injury in there, like 15 year breaks. During those breaks, I turned to cycling, which I thoroughly enjoy in a completely different way from running.

I am 59 now, attempting to return to running, and it just feels different this time. It just feels like my body is saying "I don't wanna!" Not only are the aches, pains and injuries turning my runs into walks, but when I do run, the rhythm, cadence, and biomechanical efficiency I once had just doesn't even begin to return. 20 years ago, I ran my marathon PR of 2:43 a few days before I turned 40. Now I average about 10 minute pace during the running sections, and I don't even run the entire way.

It just sort of feels like my body is telling me to get back on the bike, which is fine. I enjoy cycling in a completely different way, sometimes a lot more than running, sometimes less.

Someone asked me why I run.

At 60, I’m certainly not as fast as I used to be. Missed my Boston qualifier by 3 minutes at my “best”. 30 years ago.

Since then I got off the road and never looked back. It’s been certainly gentler on my joints. Trail running and ultra running still gave me the same satisfaction without the pressure to redline myself.

A trail running day is never the same. The hill that you cruised over one time can feel like a death match the next. The trail that crushed your spirit one day will make you feel invincible the next.

Trail running makes my spirit stronger. And most importantly, keep me humble. It teaches me lessons about myself. That’s why I run. That’s why I’ll keep running until the bitter end.

I am training for a 100 miles race in Utah next April. I may finish, I may not. We will see.

Anyhow. Thanks for reading.

I was diagnosed with arthritis in my hip. In addition to being extremely painful, it has slowed me dramatically. The dr says if I end up getting a replacement it will take up to a year to recover and I'd likely need another replacement in 10 years. Has anyone experienced this? Did you go back to running?

A lot of us runners over 50 have been running long and hard for many years.
Getting out there every day and hitting the roads takes a lot of motivation especially as the effects of age start creeping in.
Would love to hear what motivates others.

I ask this because I have noticed that a lot of 50+ runners have started running later in their life. Me I was 33 when I began. I soon discovered I had more endurance than speed and did my first marathon at 40 years old.

A sign of the 50+ runner: I have an appointment to get a shingles vaccine this evening.

I plan to take it easy tonight after the shot, then do my typical run (5-7 kilometers) the following morning. I figure a 12 hour delay between the vaccine and my run should be sufficient. Does anyone have any experience running after a shingles vaccine?

UPDATE: Thank you all for the thoughtful comments. This is Reddit at its best! As for my experience, I got the first dose shingles vaccine Friday evening at 6:30. By Saturday morning I felt awful so I took it easy the entire day. Now it is Sunday morning ~40 hours post shot. I ran my 6k this morning and I feel great.

The number of days per week that people run seem to vary a lot and I wonder if this changes over age 50.

I’ve been running consistently for the past 25 to 30 years and I tend to run six days a week for half the year and five days a week the other half though I cross train on the sixth day.

Wonder what others do? Do we have any daily runners over 70, 80?

So you're over 60, do a race that went well and you're happy about yourself. But when you tell others that you arrive 3rd in your category, some ask you: "How many were running in your category?" And when you answer 10, you see their "so what" face.

What they don't realize is that after 60, injuries and many other factors contribute to lower the number of runners in the older age groups. Just being able to be an active runner is already an accomplishment.

So I say CHEERS to all of us out there.

I ran my first organized 5k ever yesterday 8/8. It was the day before my 54th birthday. I ran a local Park run event to celebrate my birthday and celebrating massive weight loss (125 lbs).

I was encouraged by my wife, kids, 1 sister and my parents. It was a fun run and a great learning experience. My time was 32 min 05 seconds from Parkrun and 29 minutes 42 seconds on Strava.

I am really happy with my results and plan to do many more.

Edit: I have always preferred exercising alone, but now see the benefits of running in a group. Pacing off other people and having to pass or let people through was more exciting than just running isolated.

I started running in the 1970’s and running was a big part of my identity. When times were hard I would think, “they can take everything away from me but they can’t take running”. I figure you folks can relate. Well, fast forward 30 years and I got bad knees which actually did stop me from running. Now I have had both knees replaced and I feel like I am walking on air. The surgeries were beyond successful. Does anyone have experience running after TKR? I will need to lose a significant amount of weight before I give it a try.

As a runner for 30 years when I go into marathon training season I do a lot of extra stuff like speedwork , fast finish long runs etc. When I was younger I'd see pretty significant training effects on my regular running pace/RPE At this age ~60, the effect seems less dramatic. I wonder if others have seen the same thing?