I read through all the posts again and a lot of technical stuff to do this or do that. Since you are 47 as you noted in the original post have you had your doctor do a complete and detailed physical on you including a stress test on your heart since you "had just started up again"? The work your blood vessels are doing by moving your blood around a lot faster can rip stuff that might be clinging to the walls of your internal pipes and pump it right on up to your heart.

timely thread...

I'm 48 and a week ago I re-starting running.. First thing I did was purchase a Garmin watch with a built-in HR monitor. While I'm working out I can see and hear (based on alarms) if my HR has reached a threshold.

At 'our young age' you have to be more careful.. cause you may still have endurance but your blood vessels, heart, lungs, joints, etc.. may not.. so you don't want to kill yourself..

I've heard it over and over.. that stuff of couch to 5k are BS.. You need to hear your own body and do it as far and as long as you're comfortable.

Join the running room and you'll find it way more interesting and way more fun to do your running. You will find talk to people who have trained others..

Stay safe! (happy to hear people look after themselves before is too late)

Yeah, we plan to get outside to run, but until I got to a certain level of fitness, I wanted to do the treadmill. Actually, I guess I'm at that certain level now. Maybe for my run tomorrow, I'll go outside and play. I'm curious to see how it turns out when I don't have the treadmill to tell me how fast I'm going. I will need to take my phone for timing and distance, but I'll manage.

Not what you mean, but this is what I run in. Also, yeah, I don't run in these in the old heel-toe fashion. That's been the hardest part of taking up running again, getting used to that and my calves getting used to that.

https://www.trekkinn.com/f/2/26187/v...s-spyridon.jpg

I'm not one to push myself too hard. If something starts to hurt, I stop.

I'll check out the video. I've seen some videos on how to run in barefoot-style shoes. I suspect they are similar.

Yep, I did that a few years ago, and I am aware.

I haven't done any exercise since retiring in March 2015. I had a physical job so I was always lifting pipe and climbing stairs.
I started running in Nov. 17. At first I could only run maybe 200 yards. I couldn't catch my breath. Slowly I'm building up my running distance. I run every second day including the bitter cold weather.
Now I can do 4 km. I slowly build up my distance every couple of weeks.
I do feel pretty good after running.

The post about running or cycling outside is great information. It also helps to run with others too as I found out. When I had been running for about 3 years I used to go to Mission Bar every Saturday and do the exercises with a fellow named Ozzi Goontang and for some reason his huge sessions attracted many "healthy" young women? Anyways one Saturday Scotty and I started off a bit behind 5 or 6 women who had told someone we heard say they were stewardesses. Great shorts, ETC so we followed and followed and followed and suddenly saw we had run into Mission Beach! About 12K or so ONE WAY so we managed to get back to where we started but never did that again!

Come out with us and do a bootcamp in Memorial Park. Twice a week in the evenings, for an hour. We average 2.5-3 miles plus a buttload of bodyweight exercises. Sun, wind, bugs, dogs, heat, humidity, other people, all the things that you miss out on with a treadmill in an air conditioned house. Mix of street and trail running, etc. Instructor to boss you around and keep you on your toes. No Vibrams, you wouldn't last one outing, those thing would have you curled up in pain after the first 50 jumping jacks.

I hate running, I use it as a way to catch my breath between rounds of calisthenics.

I would NOT run in those vibram. ESPECIALLY starting out and also not EVERY run!

Get a low drop running shoe, but don't run barefoot. I am speaking from experience ...

G

What issues did you have?

Some achilles tendon, but worse big toe joint issues from not having enough padding. The theory is nice on the bare foot running, but in the end, you have nothing that keeps the ground from hitting your joints on the foot.

My podiatrist recommends wide toe shoes for me with having some toe issues and is okay with zero drop. She thinks you want at least some cushioning to protect your joints (from impact) ...

G

Good to know, thanks.

I run Altra shoes these days. Pretty neutral shoe with big toe box. Also had good success with PureFlow (Brooks) after getting off the Vibrams.

Keep us posted - have fun!

G

I think an 8.5 minute mile is a little fast for your age. Most runners that I see in this age group are in the 9-10 pace for any distance running. Maybe for a 5k it’s okay, but for those distance runs, 5+ miles that seems to be more the norm.

Caveat, I’m not a runner, but my wife is an avid one.

I started the first day of week 9 today which is 5 min warm-up walk, 30 min run, 5 min cool-down walk. I'd been running 8.5 min miles last week at 28 mins, and it was kicking my rear at the end, so I slowed this whole run down to a 9 min mile. This was much easier to get all of the way through the full 30 mins of running at that pace. It also dropped my heart rate down a bit which is probably why it was easier to get through the whole 30 mins at a constant pace.

How's it going?

Maybe I'll get a heart rate monitor then I'll know my HR....I'm 67 and have run all of my life and simply know when I'm pushing it or not...just the rhythm.

I use Newton shoes that are poise runners...no heel padding but padded on the ball of the foot...heavily padded conventional running shoes make you run in an unnatural manner with a stronger heel strike (the large padded heel comes in contact by design when it should not)...the ball of your foot should strike first and your heel (with a stretching rebounding motion) after the fact. This also keeps your Achilles properly stretched/flexed naturally with a shock absorber effect that heel strike ruins. When you have a ball of the foot strike first with the slight flex down to the heel after you are saving your knees. If you heel strike the shock goes directly north to your knee with no rebound.

Anyway, has worked for me for years and I have 20 more years on my machine (body) than you...knees/hips ankles no pain at all and work as they did when I started running.

Run across country/varied terrain if you can....running on a machine is the same motion over and over for your knees/ankles...iotw, you are not exercising/strengthening the joints evenly or thru their range of motion. Not healthy in the long run. I run across the desert...sandy washes, rocky areas, up/down and around and that keeps joints fully rotated and strong....if you pay attn. to the terrain.

Keep at it and good luck.

You shouldn't worry about how fast you are going in the early stages of training. Establish a heart rate that lets to talk with some effort and run at that rate - always. As your level of fitness improves your CV system becomes more efficient and you will have to run faster and faster to maintain that heart rate. If you start out going 2 miles in a 30 minute run and keep running at the same heart rate you will eventually be going 4 miles in the same 30 minutes at that heart rate.

Solid advice....too often folks that are motivated/excited about their new project over do it ...creating an injury or burn out.

I'm 56, and have been running seriously for about 9 years.
Train 30 miles/week.
Run on average 30 sanctioned races a year, mostly half-marathons.
I had my stride analyzed early on to determine proper footwear.
I run New Balance exclusively (just my preference), and have separate trainers, race flats, and trail shoes.
Average training runs: 7:38/Mi
Average 5k: 21 minutes
Average 10k: 46 minutes
Average Half: 1:40

With all my travel, my routes and elevations change frequently, and it keeps things somewhat fresh. I swap training shoes every 250 miles, which is expensive, but it makes ALL the difference, in both performance and injury prevention.

I've carefully honed my pre-run and pre-race diets to what works for me---helps me stay energized, doesn't make me want to ***** my pants mid-race, etc.

I can say that Vibram has multiple lawsuits against their FAD "footie" shoe, or whatever it is, but I have never met a serious runner who wears them--I do know this one kid who runs races barefoot--but he has such serious pronation issues I don't know how else he'd run.

Anyway--do what's right for you..correct as needed if you develop an injury, and pay attention to your body. You'll find it incredibly rewarding.

Good info, Todd.